Resegregation in United States’ Schools, Research Paper Example

Abstract

The issue of segregation in education is troubling to many educational personnel, school districts, and is negative for the general morale of the public school system in the United States as a whole. Segregation between various ethnic groups results in an unequal level of education for minority students, furthers the gap between minority students and success, and reinforces negative stereotypes regarding minority students in the eyes of the public. “[There is] evidence that schools with higher percentages of black students have a lower-quality of human resources…greater teacher turnover, particularly with white teachers, have fewer teachers with advanced degrees, and have more inexperienced teachers.” (Boger & Orfield, 2009, p.148) While segregation based upon ethnicity was a forced act before the Brown v. Board of Education decision to abolish it in 1954; today it happens for reasons that are beyond the control of the students and of the government. Issues such as poverty, cultural norms among minorities, and a growing number of ethnic groups becoming dependent upon the government for financial assistance are all contributing factors to educational issues within the public school system; especially resegregation.

History of Segregation in the United States

Minorities, particularly blacks and American Indians, have always struggled to obtain the basic things that their Caucasian neighbors so easily enjoyed in the United States. After the abolition of slavery by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865, the slaves were technically free. However, they were not totally free. Segregation is what kept them in a form of bondage that would haunt them for many years.

Segregation didn’t just occur in schools. Blacks had separate bathrooms, separate restaurants, and they were even prohibited from entering some stores. They were often prime targets for police brutality and some might argue that they still are to this day.

Segregation within the public school system in the United States was perhaps, the most devastating form of segregation. Quality education opens the doors to academic and financial success later in life. Without access to quality education, many minority students were not able to obtain jobs that paid a living wage and their children and spouses often had to help the head of their household because one source of income was not enough to care for a whole family of African-Americans at that time.

Thankfully, segregation was not able to continue to bar minority students from receiving a quality education and decent financial opportunities later in life. “The desire of [racial minorities] to achieve equality within American society led to a protest against segregation in public schools” (Fiss, 1965, p.564). This protest led to the Brown v. Board of Education decision and paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement. In each of the cases included in the Brown v. Board of Education decision, [black minorities], seek the aid of the courts in obtaining access to public schools in their community on a non-segregated basis. (Warren Court, 2005, p.1)

Changes in the Structure of Education in the United States

The structure of public education in the United States since the Brown v. Board of Education decision has changed significantly. Black students were now able to attend any school in their community. Despite this, change was slow and many black students remained in their current schools out of fear of how the white students would act towards them.

However, the issue of segregation still remains due to cultural norms among black communities and the severe level of poverty that continues to plague them to this day. Many black children are raised in communities that have a negative mentality towards the education system as a whole. Young black children quickly adopt this mentality and thus, it has become a cultural norm.

Some argue that the reason black communities feel so negatively towards the public school system is because they are not able to gain access to nicer public schools which are usually located in more upscale, predominately Caucasian neighborhoods. If this is the case, it would mean that black families without the means to afford housing in at least a middle-class neighborhood would be forced to enroll their children into predominately black schools within the ghettos of America. Since many school districts assign schooling based upon location, this could one of the reasons that the issue of resegregation is appearing.

Resegregation in Recent Years      

While many southern states experienced noticeable declines in black-white segregation between 1970 and 1980, Georgia didn’t. In fact, Georgia’s black-white segregation increased by 3.2 percent during the 1970’s. (Boger & Orfield, 2009, p.149) This is most likely due to cultural barriers between white students and black students as well as economic differences which caused differing geographical location for minorities.

The issue of resegregation is not just problem that black students face. Many Latino students also suffer from segregation in the public school system as well. “The exposure rates for whites to Latinos in the twenty most segregated large districts are comparable to those of blacks.” (Frankenberg, 2002, p.15) This data clearly demonstrates that many minority students are unable to be exposed to whites and also the opportunities that are given to many white students.

Another issue that contributes to segregation in public schools in the United States is the unwillingness of white students to attend predominately black schools. There were nearly six times as many blacks that attended predominately white schools than whites who attended predominately black schools. (Frankenberg, 2002, p.17) There are several likely factors that may contribute to this phenomenon in the educational system of the United States. White students may feel intimidated by black students as predominately black schools tend to usually be located in inner-city urban areas with a high level of violent crime. White students may also feel as though they may lack academic opportunity because predominately black schools tend to have fewer resources available to students.

“Since the Supreme Court issued Brown II in 1955 giving district courts discretion to craft desegregation plans unique to each school system, school districts have used a variety of plans to desegregate schools. Some districts tried to encourage voluntary desegregation by creating magnet schools in inner-city areas, while many others, including the vast majority of southern districts, had mandatory desegregation that included busing in urban districts.” (Frankenberg, 2002, p.13) These plans have good intentions behind them, but they do not appear to be working. For example, even when desegregation is forced, in many schools minority students will segregate themselves, such as blacks sitting solely with blacks at the lunch table. Self-segregation among minorities is also a major contributing factor to resegregation.

The issue of resegregation in schools in the United States receives very little attention but addressing this issue is the responsibility of the leadership of the school districts. “Any decrease in integration is problematic, especially if it harms the opportunities available to minority students.” (Boger & Orfield, 2009, p.148) Resegregation prevents students from learning about other cultures, brings fewer resources to minorities, and doesn’t allow minority students to be given a fair chance at a quality education. This can cause them severe difficulties later in life, such as not being able to obtain a decent-paying job. Integration is crucial to quality in education.

References

Boger, J. C., & Orfield, G. (2009). School Resegregation: Must the South turn back? . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

Fiss, O. M. (1965). Racial Imbalance in the Public Schools: The Constitutional Concepts. The Harvard Law Review Association, N/A, 564.

Frankenberg, E. (2002). Race in American public schools: Rapidly resegregating school districts. Cambridge: Civil Rights Project, Harvard University.

(2005). Warren Court: An entry from Thomson Gale’s West’s Encyclopedia of American Law. Chicago: Thomson Gale.