IN LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS
Hi to everyone! I am going to start by saying the last few days have been very exhausting. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I have been trying to share resources and stories highlighting black businesses, political movements, etc. I’m not going to lie, it has taken a lot out of me. But I feel that we have a lot of people watching and listening for the first time and I have to keep going, keep sharing and keep pushing.
Today, I started having a conversation with one of my best friends about racism in schools. It is something that I think is highly overlooked or ignored by white people. I told her that reading a lot of stories and social media posts over this week has brought up so many unpleasant memories. My first experience with racism in school was in the first grade. I was really surprised and saddened because I could remember the incident so vividly. I won’t go into it on this post because it is already a long one but, I share this because so many people think that kids cannot sense or do not remember things that happen to them. I will say with 100% certainty that while at the time I did not realize that racism was this teacher’s guiding force, I do remember how I felt due to her actions and that it took me years to process. And I am a firm believer that while kids act like they aren’t bother, they are absorbing these things and they live in their psyche. These memories never leave them.
Like many black people, I continued to experience more incidents throughout my school years. From microaggressions to overtly racist actions and comments, I could fill this entire blog with stories. I’m sure any black person can confirm the same. My third year of law school, I took a Civil Rights Remedies class. It was one of my favorites in law school, primarily because I attended a predominately white, private law school. It was interesting to hear different perspectives while also having the platform to share my own experiences with racism and actually have people listen. For our final, we were allowed to pick any topic dealing with Civil Rights and write a paper and give a presentation. I immediately chose education. Several women in my family were educators and as I stated earlier, I experienced racism throughout my time in school. I wanted to really delve in and see how the structure of our education system affected minorities, specifically black people.
I decided to search my email to see if I still had the paper. Luckily I found it and I thought in light of recent events, I should share it here for anyone who wants to read it. I wrote this 10 years ago so I’m sure some of the data has changed. But, I know that many of these issues are still prevalent today. If you have kids and even if you don’t, you should definitely read this so you can get a picture of how racism has permeated our education system.
“All that glitters…”
Has integration really improved minority achievement?
By: Marche’ Robinson
I. Table of contents
I. TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................. 1
II. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 2
III. HISTORY OF INTEGRATION............................................................................................. ..3
IV. EFFECTS OF INTEGRATION................................................................................................ 6
A. THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.................................................................................... 10
B. GREENSBORO.................................................................................................... 10
C. WHAT’S TO BLAME?........................................................................................ 13
1. TRACKING........................................................................................... 14
2. MAGNET SCHOOLS............................................................................ 16
V. THE REMEDY: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY................................................................... 18
VI. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................... 22.
II. Introduction
As I sat in my 12th grade AP English class, I was the only black student in the classroom. All my classmates were white. This was nothing new. Every class that I had been enrolled in since I could remember was filled with students that looked nothing like me. It was surprising to me if I was ever assigned to a black teacher.
One day, the class was reviewing our assigned reading, Absalom Absalom! by William Faulkner. Our teacher informed us that the book, centered on slavery, was one of the hardest books to read in the English language. During this class, we reviewed a group of chapters that were particularly difficult. The challenge for me was not the level of skill needed for the reading but with the amount of racial slurs included in these chapters. I could not get through one sentence without stumbling over the word “nigger”.
When I read these words in the privacy of my own bedroom the previous night, I didn’t feel anxious. But, when I was in class however, my teacher made a point of not reading the word aloud so that she wouldn’t make me uncomfortable. Instead, each time she passed over “nigger,” my classmates would turn around and gawk at me as though they had bet on what my reaction would be. Some even stared at me with pity.
After class, some of my classmates apologized to me that I had to read this book. They thought it must have been difficult for me to get through the material. At the time, I thought nothing of it. It was just a book and my teacher was merely trying to spare my feelings. Surely she wasn’t trying to make me feel inferior to my white classmates who thought nothing of the word “nigger.”
This incident takes on a very different meaning to me today. As I read about integration, I think about why it makes some people uncomfortable. I think about the thousands of Black students who find themselves in this situation. That day, was the book we read a lesson for my fellow classmates, or did they learn something more that day? Did they learn how to empathize with those different from them? Did they learn that black people can stay calm under pressure? Or, did they learn what many critics of integration argue, that the benefits of integration are more for white students than black students?
In this paper, I will determine what exactly integration has taught students. Specifically, I will focus on whether integration has actually increased Black students’ achievement. I will explore the history of integration including Brown v. Board of Education.[1] and other important cases. Following this review of this history, I will examine the effects that integration has had on students, primarily minority students. After I illustrate the effects on minority students in the entire country, I will focus on the impact of integration on minority students in Greensboro, North Carolina. Grimsley Senior High School and James B. Dudley High School will be the focus of this section. The effects of the integration of these schools will mirror much of what was seen in many different schools around the country. While many things can be attributed to these effects, I will focus on two different mechanisms, tracking and magnet schools. Lastly, I will focus on what I propose is the most effective remedy. While there are small changes that can be made, their focus is the same: in order to advance of minority achievement we must choose quality over quantity. We must choose the quality of education over the quantity of diversity within a school.
III. History of integration
While there are many cases that dealt with public school integration in the country and
Kansas in particular, Brown v. Board. of Education.[2] is the central case in the history of public school integration.[3] The Court in Brown held that segregation of children in public schools based solely on race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[4] The Court further held that it was unconstitutional even if the facilities and tangible benefits given to each group of children were equal.[5] This holding was different than the Supreme Court’s holding in 1896 when the Court ruled that racial segregation in public accommodations was constitutional under the doctrine of “separate but equal.”[6] However, Brown did not explicitly overrule Plessy, but merely refused to extend its holding to public schools.[7]
In Brown, African-American students brought suit when they were denied admission to schools attended by White children.[8] These students were prohibited from attending these schools based on laws that were deemed constitutional under the so-called “separate and equal” doctrine.[9] Under this doctrine, treatment of each race is deemed “equal” when facilities afforded to each race are “substantially equal,” even if they are “separate.”[10] Plaintiffs argued that segregated public schools were not and could not be “equal,” depriving them of equal protection of the laws.[11]
The Court’s path to its answer started with the history of the Fourteenth Amendment.[12] The Court deemed its analysis inconclusive based on evidence that supported both parties’ arguments.[13] One major piece of evidence was the non-existence of the education of African-American students in some states.[14] Since the Court was unsuccessful in gathering any information about the Amendment’s intended effect on public school education, it moved on to subsequent case law following Plessy.[15] While examining six cases involving the “separate but equal” doctrine in public education following Plessy, the Court failed to find any discussion on the validity of the doctrine itself.[16] The only issue concerning the Court in those cases was whether the facilities and tangible benefits provided for those students were actual “equal” under the doctrine.[17]
Next, the Court, determined to find an answer, looked to the effect of segregation itself on public education.[18] The Court stated that education is the most important function of the state and local governments, citing both compulsory school attendance laws and education expenditures as evidence.[19] Following its reasoning in other education cases, the Court recognized that intangible benefits of education are just as important as the tangible benefits afforded by education.[20] Intangible benefits include but are not limited to access to educational opportunities, the ability to study, the opportunity to engage in discussions and exchange views with other students, and the opportunity to learn one’s profession.[21] Finally, the Court ended its reasoning with the argument that segregation based on race generates a feeling of inferiority in minority children, especially those in grade school and high school.[22] This feeling of inferiority could go on to stunt a minority child’s motivation to learn and retard their educational and mental growth.[23]
Following its discussion of the history of the Fourteenth Amendment, public school segregation case law, the importance of education and its benefits, and the psychological harm imposed by segregation, the Court went on to state one of the most famous holdings in the history of the Supreme Court.[24] The Court reasoned that in the field of public education, “separate but equal” has no place.[25] Because separate facilities are inherently unequal, the Court found that the segregation complained of deprived Plaintiffs of equal protection guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.[26]
Key integration cases that followed Brown dealt with the remedy necessary to achieve school desegregation.[27] These methods often meant busing African-American children to predominately white schools.[28]
IV. Effects of integration
Many argue, as the Court did in Brown, that racial integration in public schools produces both tangible and intangible benefits.[29] When most people think about where they want to send their child, it can be argued that tangible benefits are what they are most concerned about. These benefits are easier to quantify and include the quality of academic buildings, the quality of the curriculum, the qualifications and salary of teachers, amount of extracurricular activities, and much more.[30] However, intangible benefits can reasonably be seen as just as important if not more important than these tangible benefits. Examples of intangible benefits are not limited to just the ones stated in the Brown opinion.
Eboni Nelson argues in her article Examining the Costs of Diversity that there are three categories of intangible benefits that are central to the arguments supporting integration.[31] Although they are often all described as “educational benefits,” Nelson believes that they can be divided based on what they are intended to produce.[32] These benefits are social, democratic, and educational.[33] Social benefits generally concern the positive benefits that result when members of different races interact with each other.[34] She cites the “contact hypothesis” which predicts that interaction between those of different races reduces racial prejudice and stereotypes, resulting in students harboring fewer feelings of inter-group hostility, distrust and fear.[35] Some students may even create friendships that cross racial lines.[36] Democratic benefits are those that in essence teach students to become the best citizens they can be.[37] This is achieved when education instills and preserves cultural and civil values that are the foundation of our society.[38] Schools prepare students for society through the use of racial integration by instructing them in an environment that reflects society.[39] Educational benefits concern the academic achievement experienced by students taught in a racially diverse school.[40] These benefits find support in a wealth of social-science research that has found a correlation between diversity and minority students’ achievement.[41]
While the intended benefits of racial integration in public schools are very appealing, it is important to determine whether integration “based on race” actually ever afforded minority children such benefits.
A. the entire country
Although there is extensive research that tends to prove that minority students fare better in a racially diverse environment, there is an impressive amount of evidence that tends to paint a different picture. Some evidence supports the argument that racial diversity not only has no effect on minority achievement, but in some instances, harms minority students.[42]
The most common method used to measure student achievement is standardized test scores.[43] Researchers suggest that minority students who attend a racially diverse school, experience increased levels of academic achievement when measured by test scores.[44] These scores have been attributed to the increase in critical thinking skills that these students develop as a result of being exposed to students of different backgrounds. [45] When compared with their counterparts who attend racially concentrated schools, these students experience higher high-school graduation rates, higher rates of college attendance, and higher college graduation rates.[46]
While minorities have steady been on the rise in terms of achievement, the benefits racial integration have not managed to close the achievement gap between white and minority students or ensure educational equality for minority students.[47] There have even been proponents of racial integration who have admitted that the impact on minority student achievement has been “modest at best.”[48] The National Center for Educational Statistics offers six indicators to measure student achievement.[49] These six indicators are: trends in reading and mathematics achievement, reading and mathematics achievement, international comparisons in mathematics, advanced course-taking in high school, amount of AP courses taken, and performance on college entrance exams.[50] Based on these indicators, the Center found that Whites students continue to outperform Black students in both reading and mathematics. White students also have a higher completion of reading and mathematics courses than their Black counterparts. In terms of AP courses, while the number of Black students who have taking the AP exam has increased by a higher percentage than the number of White students, more Whites are enrolled in AP courses and Blacks account for the lowest scores on AP exams.[51] White students also outperform Black students on both the SAT and the ACT.[52] Although it is an accomplishment that the amount of black students taking advanced classes and college entrance exams have increased,[53] the achievement gap between white and black students overshadows that achievement.
Some researchers have even gone as far as stating that racial integration harms some minority students and poorly impacts their confidence and performance.[54] Black students who attend predominately white schools often feel that they are catapulted into a hostile environment which in turn has a detrimental effect on their performance.[55] Black students are often faced with “occasional blunt racism, recurrent subtle remarks or unconscious behavior, and an ever-present white norm that is the foundation of institutional racism.”[56] It is also hard to imagine that integration would not create feelings of inferiority in black students, like segregation. If black students are bused for long hours to schools that are predominately white in order to receive what is deemed a “better” education, they must feel inferior to those students.
B. Greensboro
In 1954, shortly after Brown, the Greensboro school board began its effort to desegregate the city’s public schools.[57] Three years later, small numbers of African-American students enrolled in predominately white schools in Greensboro and other North Carolina cities.[58] This was an example of what came known to be “token” integration where a few elite African-Americans were allowed to integrate in order for cities to appear as if they were making efforts integration efforts.[59] Along with this “token” integration, Greensboro also enacted the illusive “freedom of choice” plans and pupil assignment plans to avoid desegregation.[60] Greensboro used these methods from 1955-1967 until the United States outlawed “freedom of choice” plans across the South.[61] Finally, in 1970, a federal court ordered Greensboro’s schools finally to desegregate.[62] This court order mandated a 70/30 ratio: predominately white schools were required to have a student population that was thirty percent black and predominately black schools were required to have a student population that was thirty percent white.[63]
The two schools that were most affected by integration were James B. Dudley High School and Grimsley Senior High School,[64] where I attended high school. The 1971 desegregation plan faced a lot of opposition from black leaders, primarily for its impact on black community schools like Dudley.[65] Young black leaders were concerned that the integration of public schools went in one direction.[66] Black students were being pulled from neighborhood schools and sent to predominately white schools, resulting in the closing of Black neighborhood schools and the termination of many Black teachers.[67] There was even an initial plan to close Dudley; however, Black protest had that idea rejected.[68] Other schools were not so lucky.[69] The closing of Black neighborhood schools – with their traditions, yearbooks, mottoes, fight songs and halls of fame – ripped the centerpiece out of some communities.[70]
Many would think that based on integration, Dudley and Grimsley would be equal in terms of diversity and student achievement. Since integration was meant to provide social, democratic, and social benefits, it would be reasonable to expect Dudley and Grimsley students to have received these benefits through integration and be on equal footing today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Dudley and Grimsley are far from equal in terms of diversity and in terms of student achievement.
In 1971, Dudley, previously all black, had a 66/33 black to white student ratio.[71] In 2004, that ratio reverted back to what it was before 1971, 95/1.[72] In 1971, Grimsley, previously all white, had an 87/13 ratio.[73] In 2004, that ratio improved to 60/34, which is much closer to the mandated 70/30 ratio.[74] Based on these numbers, these schools, especially Dudley, are close to where before desegregaton. This can be attributed to many things, including slow residential integration, white flight, and economic segregation (poorer parents do not have options.)[75] Since the average Black family in Greensboro makes 2/3 of what the average White family makes, the economic segregation segregates different racial groups as well.[76]
In 2007-2008 North Carolina issued of End-of-Course (EOC) tests to assess high school students’ performance in select courses: algebra I, algebra II, English I, biology, US history, physical science, physics, chemistry, civics and economics, and geometry.[77] The EOC is a standards-based test.[78] The purpose of the test is to measure how well students are mastering specific skills.[79] These skills are defined for each grade by the state and the goal of the test is to have all students score at or above the proficiency levels on each test.[80] When comparing the scores of students attending Grimsley with those who attend Dudley, students at Grimsley outscored Dudley students by 10% on the algebra test, 21% on the English test, and 27% on the biology test.[81] The differences do not end there. Grimsley is home to Torchlight, the oldest chapter of the National Honor Society in North Carolina.[82] The school was also the first school in Guilford County and the 4th in NC to offer the prestigious IB Diploma Programme.[83] The school also outnumbers Dudley in the amount of teachers that are fully licensed, the amount of teachers with advanced degrees, and the amount of extracurricular activities offered.[84] While these differences by themselves may not seem that large, taken together, they illuminate a school system in Greensboro that offers fewer opportunities to Black students.
Two prominent figures in Greensboro history and black history have spoken about this inequity. Josephine Boyd Bradley, the first African American student to attend Grimsley high school and graduate from a predominately white high school in the south asked “Why did people make that kind of sacrifice only to have us wind up in the same place?”[85] David Richmond, one of the participants in the Greensboro Woolworth sit in, proclaimed “I would’ve hoped that things would’ve been better, but they’re not getting any better, they’re getting worse.”[86] It says a lot, or maybe a little, about the state of education in Greensboro. Only one question remains, what’s to blame?
C. What’s to blame?
Despite the efforts to racially integrate public schools, an achievement gap between Black and White students still exists. Greensboro, like the rest of the nation, is faced with a more intractable form of separation that is insidious but not illegal.[87] However, it is important to determine why Black students are not performing as well as their White classmates even when they are educated in diverse schools. When talking about Black students’ performance, one must not ignore the hurdles that face many of them. Those who often attend neighborhood schools are often faced with challenges that range from overcrowded classrooms, lack of resources and parental involvement, and less qualified teachers.[88]
Many students who overcome these obstacles are still faced with a lack of awareness of the necessary steps to achieve their goals.[89] A lot of the students are also confronted with pressure from peers who devalue their own education.[90] However, there is a lot affects Black students who attend both neighborhood schools and racially diverse or predominately White schools. The employment of educational programs such as tracking and magnet programs ensure that even schools that are racially diverse on their face, are not truly diverse offer Black students fewer opportunities for success.[91]
1. Tracking
Tracking is a form of intra-school segregation.[92] Tracking groups students based on their “ability” and uses curricular tracking, special education, and gifted programs in order to execute this grouping.[93] Schools often market these programs as a way to help student achievement by teaching students based on their abilities and targeting their weaknesses.[94] However, these methods were used historically to segregate intentionally Black and White students, and they continue to have such an effect today.[95] With the use of tracking programs, many minority students are assigned to lower ability groups, non-college-bound tracks, and special education programs often meant for students with special needs.[96] As stated by Judge Robert L. Carter,
Even ostensibly integrated schools channel their resources into predominately white “honors” classes, while blacks are tracked into unchallenging lower level programs. Black children are more likely to be placed into low ability or special education classes early on in their education. These decisions essentially seal the fate of many black children for a lifetime.[97]
Grimsley, with a population of 1900 students, was similar and also utilized a tracking program. Grimsley offers five categories of classes: Special Education, CP (College Prep), Honors, AP (Advanced Placement), and IB. Because the school was often ranked highly among other schools in the nation, the school placed special emphasis on Honors, AP, and IB classes. Although CP classes seemed to be challenging classes based on their label, they were not considered impressive and were considered the lowest classes a student could take. If you went into a typical Honors, AP, or IB class, you would see no more than two black students. The opposite was true of a typical College Prep class. The first class I enrolled in that had more than two black students was my African American History class senior year in high school.
This may not seem like a big deal, but for a black student at Grimsley, this was troublesome. Many of my white classmates took for granted the privilege of being in a classroom full of people that looked like them. When my AP English teacher read that chapter from Absalom Absalom! In class that day, I would have given anything just to have another student that could relate to what I was feeling. Many Black students may feel burdened by having to give the “Black” perspective on many issues. I’m sure many Black students who find themselves in “gifted” programs don’t feel like they have been given much of a gift at all.
Recently, Black students at Grimsley were interviewed and many of them stated that there were still racial tensions present in the school.[98] Several of them felt that they were not offered the same opportunities as White students based on the stereotype that Black students cannot perform academically as well as White students.[99] This suggests that some students who attend racially integrated schools experience feelings of inferiority. Combine this with the fact that Grimsley, like other schools, weighs grades from Honors, AP, and IB courses on a greater scale, and this deepens this belief. Also, White students will leave Grimsley with higher GPAs and college credit more often than Black students, given them a head start in college and perpetuating the problems with tracking. In the end Grimsley is so focused on the achievement of those students who have the greatest potential to go to college, that they ignore the needs of many of its black students. Just take a look at the EOC scores for Grimsley students as broken down by race. 90.8% of Grimsley’s White students passed their EOC tests, while only 53.3% of Black students passed. It seems to show that although students are performing better at Grimsley than at Dudley, Black students performance is still low regardless of the school they attend. This trend is certainly nationwide as stated in the previous section.
2. Magnet programs
Magnet school programs are also commonly used in public schools today.[100] These programs are created with the intent to integrate and diversify public schools.[101] They are used in order to attract White and upper-class students to otherwise low-income, high-minority schools especially in the face of White flight by many families to avoid integration.[102] These programs are often started at existing schools and offer some sort of specialized academic courses of study such as foreign languages, science, mathematics, or the performing arts.[103] These programs have helped diversify many schools; however, they mask the existence of racial inequality much like tracking programs.[104]
Classrooms within magnet programs, much like those in schools with tracking programs, are often not diverse at all.[105] The majority of magnet program participants are white, middle- and upper-class imports from neighboring suburbs.[106] This creates a “school within a school” with the imported students being taught together in the magnet program and other students being taught together in courses outside of the program.[107] The magnet program often has more qualified teachers and more funding with magnet schools on average spending ten to twelve percent more for each student than other schools.[108] The other students often have to deal with problems most of those that attend neighborhood schools encounter: less qualified teachers and overcrowding.[109] Many argue that magnet schools often make inequalities worse by funneling the best teachers and resources into the magnet program which is often majority White, while draining those resources from the Black students who attend the school but not the magnet program located within the school.[110]
Many of the magnet schools in Greensboro are housed within majority minority schools. My younger brother, a seventh grader, attends a magnet school. The school, Lincoln Academy, was previously a predominately Black public middle school. After reporting low test scores, the school was turned into a magnet school for the visual and performing arts. Unlike in Lincoln’s past, my brother attends school with a diverse population of students, half of whom are White. However, in all my brother’s classes, there are no White students. It is only when my brother goes to his electives that he has class with White students. Out of my brothers 6 classes, he only has one class with students that are not like him. So, while Lincoln boasts its new diverse student body, the students who attend that school do not experience any diversity.
Yet again, these magnet schools are just a mask for what really is going on in public schools. Like tracking, magnet programs perpetuate a feeling of inferiority in minority students.[111] Both of these programs separate black and white students and indicate a superior white ability, social importance, or academic potential. The problem with these programs and the idea behind racial integration itself is the belief that, as long as black students attend school with white students, they will achieve. Attendance in a diverse environment alone is not enough. How can we remedy this?
V. The Remedy: quality over quantity
Based on research, integration has worked in some cases, but in many cases it has not. Now it is time for school officials, civil rights activists, and scholars to take the next step and determine what will work. Eboni Nelson recommends that three steps must be taken immediately. First, we must recognize the disconnect that exists between the theory of racial diversity and the reality of educational equality.[112] Next, we must temper our reliance on race-based and race-neutral measures that are primarily designed to achieve quantitative goals of racial representation.[113] Lastly, we must develop and implement reform that effectively addresses the qualitative educational challenges confronting many minority students.[114]
The first step is achieved by acknowledging the flaws that exist in race based integration and existing programs such as tracking and magnet programs.[115] The second step, Nelson argues, requires us to move away from these programs and the idea that lies behind these programs.[116] The application of the “diversity rationale” that lies behind Brown and other integration cases is flawed according to Nelson.[117] This rationale is applied in order to justify the use of numbers and mandated ratios. These ratios, much like the 70/30 ratio mandated by Greensboro schools, ignore what is at the root of the problem.[118] The school board at population mandates as ceilings under which they are required to do no more than just diversify public schools.[119] Because this requirement distracts schools, resources are taken away from the quality of the education Black students are receiving.[120]
The problem is that schools are using the positive correlation between racial integration and minority achievement to prove causation.[121] However, it is well known in the social science world that correlation does not prove causation.[122] There is a missing link that these schools fail to see connect integration and minority achievement, and that link is the allocation of resources.[123] As stated earlier, many predominately White schools like Grimsley for example, offer more qualified teachers, more course offerings, and more extracurricular activities than many neighborhood schools.[124] The increase in certain minority students’ achievement can also be attributed to “peer influence, role modeling, and educational expectations,” many of which are missing in the Black community[125]
The third step, Nelson argues, requires replication of such resources in racially identifiable schools.[126] This way, we can actually address the problems with education in the Black community.[127] Nelson quotes one of Derrick Bell’s students when discussing this proposition. His student stated that,
We must not let white people and bootstrapping black people use the presence of the “talented tenth” to condemn the less fortunate nine-tenths. Rather, we must scrutinize the opportunities, encouragement, family structure, and academic rigor afforded the talented tenth in order to replicate it through public and private initiatives with the goal of achieving a talented nine-tenths (or even ten-tenths)![128]
Even though there is evidence that tends to prove that some Black students experience an increase in achievement when they attend a diverse school that does not validate the school board’s lack of effort in improving education for all Black children. There is much research that suggests that educational spending designed to decrease class size and improve the quality of teachers might reduce the racial achievement gap and that Black parents would prefer a rigorous curriculum, timely advice on foundational courses and proportionate, fair discipline rather than integration.[129] Hal Sieber, the former executive editor of the Carolina Peacemaker, alluded to this when he stated that many black people desire “equal but separate” accommodations.[130] To play off of what Josephine Boyd Bradley and David Richmond stated in response to race relations today, many people who fought for integration probably had no idea what the state of education would be today. Many black children are being neglected in our education system while they make schools aesthetically pleasing.
There is evidence that Black children can thrive in minority concentrated schools.[131] KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program, is a network of sixty-six charter schools throughout the country that primarily serve minority and low-income student populations and is considered the most successful network of charter schools in the country.[132] More minority concentrated schools could take the wheel if resources and efforts were directed towards these schools instead of racially diversifying other public schools.[133] Judge Carter spoke to this issue stating,
Although integration is a very important goal that I refuse to give up on, the Supreme Court has forced us into a corner. It is no longer possible to wait for integration. We must focus on the crisis in our inner-city schools which have been abandoned. What is desperately needed is decent schools that will provide the means for a toehold on the ladder to mainstream employment. We need to develop legal and social programs to rescue poor African-Americans from the pit of human debris and waste to which society has cosigned them.[134]
Minority concentrated schools also positively impact the communities in which they are located.[135] Many neighborhood schools are a reflection of the community in which they are located.[136] Residential and socioeconomic segregation is so prevalent that neighborhood schools are bound to be segregated too.[137] There are many problems that plague these schools. They include lack of financial resources, fewer college prep classes, and less experienced software.[138] Improving these schools would most certainly be a challenge.[139] These schools are often characterized as low income or high poverty and find it hard to recruit qualified teachers and have greater academic and non academic needs.[140] If these schools are improved, it can help erase the feeling of inferiority that Black students feel when they are sent to predominately White schools for a better education.[141] It would reject the assumption that anything predominately Black is inferior and would instill pride, cultural values, and high academic expectations in minority students and communities which were lost when many black schools were closed as a result of integration.[142]
Many people might argue that minority concentrated schools would fail to infuse its students with the social, educational, and democratic benefits that underlie the public school integration cases. However, they are effective. They teach minority students to have high expectations for academic achievement; they teach minority students cultural values and skills; they also embrace and improve minority communities.[143] Not to mention, these schools are designed to respond to the social ills disproportionately visited upon Blacks.[144]
The bottom line is, before we can implement any programs or any remedies, we must recognize that the quality of education is far more important than the quantity of diversity in every classroom.
VI. Conclusion
Brown was a very important and ground-breaking decision. Fifty-five years later, schools are still trying to get integration right. The actual problem was never recognized or remedied. The root of the problem was the quality of education as a whole. Education as a whole must improve in order for Black students’ achievement to be improved.
I understand that replicating resources offered at predominantly White schools in predominantly Black schools would be chalked up to wishful thinking. Some may say that even with some districts spending more in Black schools than in White schools, Black students still under-perform. However, money is alone is not the answer. Providing tangible benefits is just half the battle. There are still intangible resources that Black children are not being provided and money cannot necessarily buy.
While Black children and White children are not educated separately, they are certainly not educated equally. Even though some Black students may experience an increase of achievement when they attend integrated schools, all Black students do not improve at integrated schools and the majority of Black students are left at underperforming neighborhood schools. In my eyes, the success of only a few Black students is not enough to counteract the harm done to those left behind. In the end, a miseducation of one is a miseducation for all.
[1] 347 U.S. 483 (1954)[2] Id.[3] See Bd. of Ed. v. Tinnon, 26 Kan. 1 (1881); Knox v. Bd. of Ed., 45 Kan. 152 (1891); Reynolds v. Bd. of Ed., 66 Kan. 672 (1903); Cartwright v. Bd. of Ed., 73 Kan. 32 (1906); Rowles v. Bd. of Ed., 76 Kan. 361 (1907); Williams v. Bd. of Ed., 79 Kan. 202 (1908); Thurman-Watts v. Bd. of Ed., 115 Kan. 328 (1924); Wright v. Bd. of Ed., 129 Kan. 852 (1929); Graham v. Bd. of Ed., 153 Kan. 840 (1941); Webb v. Sch. Dist. No. 90, 167 Kan. 395 (1949) (challenging the 1879 Kansas law requiring racial segregation.).[4] Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954).[5] Id.[6] Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).[7] Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954) (stating that any language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.).[8] Id. at 488.[9] Id.[10] Id.[11] Id.[12] Id. at 489.[13] Id.[14] Id. at 490.[15] Id. at 491.[16] Id.[17] Id. at 492.[18] Id.[19] Id. at 493.[20] Id.[21] Id.[22] Id. at 494[23] Id.[24] Id. at 495[25] Id.[26] Id.[27] See Green v. Cty. Sch. Dist., 391 U.S. 430 (1968) (holding that the remedy must be more than allowing parents to choose which school to attend.); Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sch. Dist., 402 U.S. 1 (1971) (holding that the remedy can include busing.); Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974) (holding that the remedy cannot combine cities with the surrounding suburban school districts, unless the lines separating the school district were drawn with discriminatory intent or actions in one district caused segregation in another district.); Bd. of Ed. v. Dowell, 498 U.S. 237 (1991) (holding that the school desegregation suit can end, even if the schools will be immediately re-segregated and even if some schools were never segregated so long as the defendants did not cause the re-segregation or the failure to segregate.)[28] Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sch. Dist., 402 U.S. 1 (1971).[29] Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch. V. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 127 S.Ct. 2738 (2007)[30] Brown v. Bd., 347 U.S. 483, 492 (1954)[31] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 586 (2009)[32] Id.[33] Id.[34] Id. at 587[35] Id.[36] Id.[37] Id. at 589[38] Id.[39] Id. at 590[40] Id.[41] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 591-2 (2009)[42] Id.[43] Id. at 591[44] Id.[45] Id.[46] Id.[47] Id.[48] Id. at 592[49] National Center for Educational Statistics: www.nces.edu.gov/pubs2007/minoritytrends/chapter3.asp[50] Id.[51] Id.[52] Id. (White students average verbal and mathematics scores on the SAT were 527 and 536 and Black students average verbal and mathematics scores on the SAT were 434 and 429.) (White students average English and mathematics scores on the ACT were 21.5 and 21.5 and Black students average English and mathematics scores on the ACT were 16.2 and 12.8)[53] Id.[54] Id.[55] Alex M. Johnson, Jr., Bid Whist, Tonk, and United States v. Fordice: Why Integrationalism Fails African-Americans Again, 81 Cal. L. Rev. 1401, 1403 (1993)[56] Id.[57] Eyes on the Prize: NC Civil Rights Years: NC Timeline[58] Eyes on the Prize: NC Civil Rights Years: NC Timeline[59] Id.[60] Brock Historical Museum of Greensboro College: J.C. Price School if these walls could talk an oral history. www.museum.greensborocollege.edu/jcpriceschool/desegregation.php[61] Id.[62] Id.[63] Id.[64] Id.[65] Id.[66] Id.[67] Id.[68] Id.[69] Id. (discussing the closing of the J.C. Price School)[70] Eboni S Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 622 (2009)[71] American Educational History Journal[72] Id.[73] Id.[74] Id.[75] Id.[76] Michael Riley, Greensboro, North Carolina: The Legacy of Segregation, TIME Magazine, June 25, 1990, at 20[77] Great Schools: Involved Parents. Successful Kids. www.greatschools.net/modperl/schievement/nc/834#from..Tab[78] Id.[79] Id.[80] Id.[81] Great Schools: Involved Parents. Successful Kids. www.greatschools.net/modperl/achievement/nc/834#from..Tab [82] Grimsley High School. www.schoolcenter.guilford.k12.nc.us/education/components[83] Id.[84] Great Schools: Involved Parents. Successful Kids. www.greatschools.net/modperl/schievement/nc/834#from..Tab[85] Michael Riley, Greensboro, North Carolina: The Legacy of Segregation, TIME Magazine, June 25, 1990, at 20[86] Id.[87] Id.[88] Eboni S Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 604 (2009)[89] Id. at 605[90] Id.[91] Id. at 606[92] Id.[93] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 606 (2009).[94] Id.[95] Id. at 607[96] Id.[97] Robert L. Carter, Public School Desegregation: A Contemporary Analysis, 37 St. Louis U. L.J. 885, 889 (1993).[98] American Educational History Journal[99] Id.[100] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 609 (2009).[101] Id.[102] Id.at 610[103] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 609 (2009).[104] Id.[105] Id.[106] Id.[107] Id. at 611[108] Id.[109] Id.[110] Id.[111] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 612 (2009).[112] Id. at 604[113] Id.[114] Id.[115] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 606 (2009).[116]Id. at 613[117] Id. at 612[118] Id.[119] Id.[120] Id. at 613[121] Id at 616[122] Id.[123] Id.[124] Id.[125] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 617 (2009).[126] Id.[127] Id.[128] Id.[129] Id.[130] Michael Riley, Greensboro, North Carolina: The Legacy of Segregation, TIME Magazine, June 25, 1990, at 20[131] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 621 (2009).[132] Id. at 623[133] Id. at 618[134] Id.[135] Id.[136] Id. at 619[137] Id.[138] Id.[139] Id. at 621[140] Id.[141] Id.[142] Eboni S. Nelson, Examining the Costs of Diversity, 63 U. Miami L. Rev. 577, 623 (2009).[143] Id. at 624[144] Id.