Segregation 2013: It’s Real!

            

Brown vs. Board of Education 

               On the website on the Brown vs. Board of Education I was able to gain a lot of knowledge about the different historical aspects of this legislation.  This legislation was enacted in 1954 and was supposed to remove constitutional sanctions for segregation by race and make equal opportunities in education for all children. To many white Americans the issue of racism ended when this legislation was enacted, but to many colored individuals the issue of racisms is still very alive in our current society. One example of current racism is pointed out by Tim Wise in his book “Between Barak and a Hard Place”. In our current society if Barack Obama was to have made some of the same life choices George Bush made, he wouldn't have been taken serious during the presidential elections. If Barack Obama ranked 5^th in his Naval Academy, attended five schools in six years, or crashed five airplanes he wouldn't even be considered a valid candidate for president or vice president like George Bush was. It’s hard to believe and see that putting Barack Obama in the white house can have a negative impact on our society. Wise points out the fact that we “don't want society to assume that in order to be a successful black or colored man you must look like, be like, and have the same style as Obama” if we believe and feel this way as a nation we are missing out on the potential of a lot of smart and successful colored men and women.

           Racism is also very prevalent in how our current schools are set up. In the article “Separate and Unequal” the author talks about the fact that children of any ethnicity living in poor communities typically attend schools with poor teachers and parents with low involvement. Studies have shown that poor children from any ethnicity do academically better when they attend schools with middle class peers. Teachers, community members, and parents need to help improve all around school environments, integrate and create better teachers, have fewer classroom disruptions, create students who are more engaged academically, and get parents more involved and engaged in the school and their children’s academics. Improving schools includes integrating different economic statues including racial and ethnic integration which can create a bittersweet resistance for some individuals.

        I strongly feel like racism and segregation is still very prominent in our current culture and society. In our current time racism and segregation are like a secret that everyone is aware of, but doesn’t speak of.  In the article “White Privilege  Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” Peggy McIntosh talks about how white-power is the ‘new’ form of racism in our present culture. The idea of how children are educated on how white individuals are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is see as world that will allow ‘them’ to be more like ‘us’. It is unfortunate that we see the changes we have made as eliminating the issue instead of realizing that there is still more work to be done. Like Tim Wise said, “If racism had stopped then wouldn't it have been front page news?”

               After doing this assignment I started to think about my service learning and some of the things that take place in the classroom. I couldn't stop but think about how many students in the school come from poor or disadvantage homes and how the teacher sends the students home with snacks every single day. I am aware that these children are very lucky to have the teacher they have who supplies them with snacks for after school, but it only makes me wonder about the other students who don’t have a teacher to supply them with things like this what they do after school for snacks?