Resegregation of American Public Schools
Abstract
Even in the 21st century the United States public school system is once again becoming segregated by race. Results of research show there are several factors involved in this trend, including housing discrimination and the United States Supreme Court granting the states sovereignty to govern their own policies on school desegregation; even going so far as to say the policies employed by states to desegregate based on race were unconstitutional. This topic addresses the issues causing resegregation and the ideas set forth to alleviate the problem and insure equal education for all children, regardless of race or socio-economic status.
Resegregation in American Public Schools “In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education." -Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954. In the 56th year of the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education, which made racial segregation of American public schools unconstitutional, this country is now seeing a troubling trend towards once again segregating, mainly by race. The demise of racial desegregation in public schools is due not only to weak judicial enforcement on every governmental level, but also the apparent inaction of local community developers and leaders to improve the socio-economic status of the communities where racially segregated schools are predominantly found.
According to Orfield & Yun (1999), “Reversing the trends of intensifying segregation and inequality will be difficult, but the costs of passively accepting them are likely to be immense” (p. 11). Several Supreme Court decisions handed down in the 1990’s, made the tactics school districts employed to desegregate their schools unconstitutional. The basic conclusion of the Court surmised that it was unconstitutional to take race into account in order to end segregation. Such decisions showed a dramatic reversal of the rulings made in the civil rights
Even in the 21st century the United States public school system is once again becoming segregated by race. Results of research show there are several factors involved in this trend, including housing discrimination and the United States Supreme Court granting the states sovereignty to govern their own policies on school desegregation; even going so far as to say the policies employed by states to desegregate based on race were unconstitutional. This topic addresses the issues causing resegregation and the ideas set forth to alleviate the problem and insure equal education for all children, regardless of race or socio-economic status.
Resegregation in American Public Schools “In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education." -Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954. In the 56th year of the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education, which made racial segregation of American public schools unconstitutional, this country is now seeing a troubling trend towards once again segregating, mainly by race. The demise of racial desegregation in public schools is due not only to weak judicial enforcement on every governmental level, but also the apparent inaction of local community developers and leaders to improve the socio-economic status of the communities where racially segregated schools are predominantly found.
According to Orfield & Yun (1999), “Reversing the trends of intensifying segregation and inequality will be difficult, but the costs of passively accepting them are likely to be immense” (p. 11). Several Supreme Court decisions handed down in the 1990’s, made the tactics school districts employed to desegregate their schools unconstitutional. The basic conclusion of the Court surmised that it was unconstitutional to take race into account in order to end segregation. Such decisions showed a dramatic reversal of the rulings made in the civil rights
References: Boger, J.C., Orfield, G. (2005). School Resegregation: Must the South Turn Back. The University of North Carolina Press. Carr, James H. (2008) Segregation: The Rising Costs for America. 1 ed. New York: Routledge, Holme, J. (2002). Buying Homes, Buying Schools. Harvard Educational Review 72(2) 177-205 Massey, Douglas S. (1990). “American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass”. American Journal of Sociology 96(2): 329-357 Missouri v. Jenkins, 515 U.S. 1139 (1995). Retrieved August 25, 2010 from https://www-lexis- com.kaplan.uah.edu/research/retrieve?cc=&pushme=1&tmpFBSel=all&totaldocs=&tag edDocs=&toggleValue=&numDocsChked=0&prefFBSel=1&delformat=XCITE&fpDocs =&fpNodeId=&fpCiteReq=&brand=&_m=ed0c2b09eed9b982eca920a40d15dd69&docn um=1&_fmtstr=FULL&_startdoc=1&wchp=dGLbVzbzSkAb&_md5=861b8cc39e0b7cb 94122ec8f084b2c7d&focBudTerms=&focBudSel=all Orfield, G., Lee, C. (2007). Historic Reversals, Accelerating Resegregation, and the Need for New Integration Strategies. The Civil Rights Project Harvard University/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (pg. 29-30). Orfield, G., Yun, J. (1999). Resegregation in American Schools, The Civil Rights Project Harvard University United States v. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 500, 974 F. Supp. 1367 (D. Kan. 1997). Retrieved August 25, 2010 from http://www.justice.gov/crt/briefs/madison2.htm