Recently, an article from Good reported that segregation is still rampant in schools across the country, with Chicago in particular exhibiting an alarming image of racial isolation that has some students thinking segregation is still legal. For the students in Chicago schools (and in other schools throughout the country), racial division is the norm and integration is a concept far off from any of their experiences.
In Chicago, 70 percent of black and 40 percent of Latino students attend schools that suffer from “extreme segregation,” with many students moving from K-12 without ever having classes with students of another race. Good draws on observations made by students of the class of 2012 for WBEZ’s Race: Out Loud series, demonstrating the imminent need for desegregating schools and creating inclusive, integrative societies for the well-being of our youth. While some students interviewed appear complacent in their remarks, speaking as if integration is not a realistic or desirable alternative to their segregated situation, many of the students express longing for a more culturally inclusive education that would have better prepared them for entering a diverse college setting or workforce. (Read the student reflections here.)
It’s sad to think that nearly 60 years after the Supreme Court legally ended segregation in schools, racial separation in the classroom remains the norm. Currently, many people favor building quality schools without attention to race rather than promoting integration as a method for improving school performance. “We need to ask ourselves whether we have the desire to integrate schools,” concludes Liz Dwyer, author of the article in Good. “Have we just accepted de facto segregation as the way things will always be?”
What do you think?