The early 20th century was marked by global tensions at the cusp of World War II. The U.S. government saw this as an opportunity to reinforce Americanization and disseminate critical war information. Public school, they decided, was the best way to reach many Americans while advancing this agenda. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Naturalization began working with public schools to sponsor a citizenship education, pruning American youth to support the war effort. Congress “established a Council of National Defense…commissioned…to [spread] war information” in civic education classrooms starting in 1916 (Beadie & Burkholder, 2021).

Public education did not shy away from addressing Nazi doctrine. In fact, it initiated an “unprecedented anti-racist educational campaign,” reflecting the “tense atmosphere in the world at large” (Boas, 1941). This enabled students to read newspapers, war campaigns, and global doctrines while considering what it means to nurture patriotism here in the U.S. However, discussions of anti-racism couldn’t ignore America’s own racal tensions, especially regarding racial segregation in schools (Beadie & Burkholder, 2021).

The Supreme Court led the evolution of public education integration. The court ruled in the historic Plessy v. Ferguson that classrooms should be “separate but equal” between White children and children of color (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896). But just decades later, in Brown v. Board of Education, the court ruled that segregated education is inherently unequal. The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling strictly stated that segregated accommodations did not violate the rights of citizens so long as they are equally kept; Black children, though, were afforded less resources, facilities, and opportunities than White children, which violated the law (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954). Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote:

"[Public education is] perhaps the most important function of state and local governments…It is required in the performance of out most basic public responsibilities…It is the very foundation of good citizenship" (Brown v. Board of Education,1954).

After years of debate over the “separate but equal” clause, the court ruled that segregated schools hindered the “foundation of good citizenship.” The court determined that integrated classrooms, where students of all demographics could learn together, were essential to a healthy citizenry. This ruling echoes the arguments of Frederick Douglass a century earlier: mixed classrooms are a “powerful symbol of equal citizenship” to align with the democratic ideals that called for education in the first place (Brown V. Board of Education, 1954).