Despite this program, by the mid-1930s, white schools in the South were worth, per student, more than five times what black schools were worth per student (in majority-black Mississippi, this ratio was more than 13 to one).
There is no vitamin B17. The term is inaccurately applied to laetrile, a discredited cancer drug, and amygdalin, the natural substance from which laetrile is made. Amygdalin occurs in the seeds of apricot, peaches, and almonds.
Vitamin B17, also called amygdalin or laetrile, is a controversial natural compound because it contains molecules of cyanide. Cyanide gas is deadly in high doses, but the small amounts of cyanide found in B17-rich foods are essential for health.