Final answer:
Different schools took varying approaches to desegregation. Some used busing to reassign children to achieve racial balance, while others employed massive resistance, leading to school closures and the establishment of private white academies. The legacy of Jim Crow laws and decisions like 'Plessy v. Ferguson' contributed to the challenges of desegregation until 'Brown v. Board of Education' spurred legal and social changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Desegregation of Higher Education
In the desegregation of higher education, different schools employed various approaches. A common tactic in some areas, particularly in urban school districts, was reassigning children from predominantly one-race neighborhoods to schools with larger majorities of another race, and vice-versa.
This form of desegregation sometimes involved the controversial practice of busing, where students were transported to schools outside their neighborhoods to achieve racial balance.
However, in places like Virginia, a more resistance-filled approach was taken. Strategies of massive resistance led to public schools closing and the creation of private academies that were exclusively white. These tactics showed a clear preference for exclusionary tactics over integration.
Across the states, the system of Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation, only being effectively challenged after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, which overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson.
Yet, even with these legal victories, full integration took years and was met with significant obstacles, including social and economic resistance, loss of employment for black teachers, and the transformation of black educational institutions.