Martin King

Wherever there was hard work, dirty work, dangerous work—in the mines, on the docks, in the blistering foundries—Negroes had done more than their share.

In the words of the poet, they had long asked: “Why must the blackness of nighttime collect in our mouth; why must we always taste grief in our blood?”

The Pupil Placement Law was almost as far-reaching in modifying and limiting the integration of schools as the original decision had been in attempting to eliminate segregation.