Race, Class and Schools

By Kevin P. Chavous, Huffington Post

For most African-Americans, the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is like the Holy Grail.

[…]

The primary thesis of Brown back in 1954 was that segregated schools exacerbated the inherent second class treatment of African-Americans that was a natural by-product of slavery. To address this problem, the Brown Court reasoned, the U.S. government had a responsibility to end segregated schools and the states were ordered to integrate their schools with “all deliberate speed.”

But, what do you do when the blood, sweat and tears of your history clashes with the realities of today?

[…]

The average white child in America attends a school that is 77 percent white, and where just 32 percent of the student body lives in poverty. The average black child attends a school that is 59 percent poor but only 29 percent white. The typical Latino kid is similarly segregated; with a school population made up of 57 percent poor and 27 percent white. But increasingly, a growing educational gulf exists between the haves and have nots in our country, irrespective of race.

[…]

Does forced integration of races and classes in our schools today have a role in helping us get better educational outcomes for all?

Read more here.

Learn about how schools are still segregated.

More stories about Black history and culture.