When I look at the schools that are in the district I work in I don't instantly think of them as being segregated. There are students from all races and backgrounds. But then I look deeper. The district I work in is East of Austin, Texas and back in 1957, just 66 years ago, Lyndon B. Johnson, was a senator that started a segregation process of whites, African Americans, and Hispanics. He removed Emancipation Park and pushed African Americans and Hispanics to the East side of Austin. This pushed many out of Austin and into areas East of Austin. When I look further into the Manor and Elgin areas I see that the student demographic is predominately African American and Hispanic. Digging even deeper the schools are labeled as Title I because they are in low-income communities. The segregation after slavery was abolished still has lasting effects on the descendants that can not recover from not having the generational wealth that the white families have been able to benefit from.
The generational wealth that white families have benefitted from gives them higher-class neighborhoods that provide better funding to their schools, thus giving their students a better education. Whereas the neighborhoods dominated by African American and Hispanics are full of families that are unable to get higher paying jobs and are still looked down upon as if they are in the slums or ghettos. The properties have lower local taxes because of this discrimination which brings less money into the schools. With this lower funding, the schools are not on the same level as schools in predominately white neighborhoods.
There has to be a change in the system to make education a level playing field for all students. The real question ends up being, how do we do this? And where do we start?
Hey Chavon! Thank you for your insight in this week's blog. Many of us want to outright deny that the issues of the past still affect our society today. Unfortunately, the more we open our eyes to the situation, the more we can recognize that it is true. To identify why there is inequity in public schools, we have to look into the demographics of those schools. Nearly all of them are low-income, majority black and brown students. If we look further, one question arises. Why are these densely populated areas overwhelmingly black and brown? Some people with prejudice might say that they are just less capable than white people. However, there are multiple factors that contribute to this. The inability to cultivate generational wealth due to decades of systemic maltreatment has negatively impacted generations of black Americans. Hopefully more and more people will come to this realization.
ReplyDeleteI really feel that unless the education of students starts now as to why there are more African American and Hispanics in one area because of our countries past then they will continue to go through life thinking that they are just lazy, lack ambition to do anything, or aren't smart enough to do more with their lives. The only thing is that education has to be universal across the board and not just in these areas that are already low-income. We have to make sure that all races are aware of the history instead of hiding it away and keeping it out of textbooks.
DeleteHI Chavon, Loved your blog and to read others points of view! Thinking to the different areas in states it is crazy to think that some are mostly all white and some are mostly all people of color. It was really cool to read that you haven't experienced the all white school and you have been able to work in a place that is diverse. My question to you would be how do you think we can create this atmosphere in more regions? What do you think it will take for this to happen? I know you asked the question at the bottom but I want to know your opinion or point of view. I loved being able to read your personal experience as well as your thoughts on it.
ReplyDeleteI really wish I had a solution. I think the start would be to stop washing away the history of our country. No country has great and perfect history. We are basically a "toddler" nation compared to the nations around the world so there is no reason to think that we would have a clean record. We are still learning how to accept the consequences of our actions. I was lucky I suppose. The town I was raised in for six years is a very all white small town in Oregon. If my parents hadn't moved around so much I wouldn't have the experiences I have today. My own children won't have that type of life skill because I refused to move them once they started school. My oldest has only lived in two homes his entire life.
DeleteHey Chavon! I enjoyed reading your thoughts about this week's blog! This was also something that I was not very aware of as I was growing up, especially in my school district. However, I do think this is a very important issue to understand especially when becoming a teacher. It is disappointing to see that segregation still exists within our education system. The students who come from lower income households or minorities are mainly affected by this situation and don't have access to the education that school with higher funding, that are primarily white obtain. What ways do you think you can help your future students to make their education fair? It is not an easy task to tackle, however as we are becoming teachers it is important to understand in order to better assist our future students. There will be many learning curves as you enter the classroom environment, but that is the beauty of teaching, growing and learning along with your students to help them become the person that they want to be.
ReplyDeleteYES!!! Becoming teachers in the society we now live in is the ultimate way to change the education system. Beyond us coming in with the understanding of why there are low-income, minority districts will give us better understanding on how to relate to the students and find a way to educate all students and some staff on why the district is the way that it is. One way to start is by stopping the "whitewashing" of our education system. Being aware that our history isn't perfect, but we can still learn from it will be a great start.
DeleteHi Chavon, thank you for sharing your thoughts on why schools are still segregated! Like you my first thought about the schools in went to was not that they were segregated; but upon deeper reflection it becomes apparent that the location has everything to do with the races of students that go there. The high school I attended was 98% white but the town around it was a poor white neighborhood until a farmer sold his land and richer families started to build houses which completely solidified the history of it being a rich white school. To top it all off the reason people started moving there was because the school is one of the top 3A schools in the state therefore giving a better education to the families that could afford it. The point is as much as we want to believe things are better, there is still a long way to go. Again, thank you for sharing your blog! 😊
ReplyDeleteWhile the district I work in doesn't look like it would be Title I from the outside looking in because it is surrounded by large farms and if you know anything about farming you know that it takes a great deal of money to accomplish, but also leaves you dirt poor despite having acres and acres of land. While taking with co-workers this past week I realized I live on the side of town considered the "ghetto". People do not talk kindly about the one elementary school that is in a very African American neighborhood. It was just interesting to me because my neighbors are all Hispanics, two white neighbors and our personal land was owned by the African American woman across the street before we purchased it. I do not see a "ghetto" when I look around me. It made me realize how uneducated people are about why certain races live where they do even in our little town.
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