How America’s Segregated Schools Show Racism Is Here to Stay
By: Allison Gaines
Tags: Equality, BlackLivesMatter, Education, Race, Segregation

School Choice led to resegregation

They began to talk in terms of, ‘school choice,’ rather than saying they wanted to keep black children out of their white schools. Now, you hear the term when advocates want to boost the idea of charter schools as a matter of choice. Unfortunately, charter schools are worsening racial segregation of schools, with segregation itself being an unspoken goal of many charters (Taylor, 2020).

After Brown v. Board of Education, segregationists searched for a new way of keeping white students separated from Black students. They used the concept of “school choice” as a coded language to rally white supremacists. By implementing strict guidelines for entry, white school administrators could deny Black students access without mentioning race in their policies. For example, limiting admission to schools based on zip code can maintain segregation without uttering a word. As the justices determined in the landmark case, separate-and-equal are not substantial remedies to segregation. They understood that “separate” does not lead to “equality.” Instead, it perpetuates inequality.

Public and private schools compete for federal funding. That is the same as a wealthy man competing against a homeless man at the food line. Even though these schools have the money to fund their programs adequately, they still have their hands out. This competition takes away capital from Black schools and those in marginalized communities who cannot compete. Public schools are on the decline because of the rise of charter and private schools — this is by design. While many think that private schools reflect the epitome of American education, that is only because of the enormous amount of money they have to purchase resources and pay teachers a livable wage.

School segregation really lies at the epicenter of racial inequity in this country. Students in schools that are segregated by race and poverty have a much harder time graduating from high school and going to college, which makes it harder to get a job and to earn an income that allows them to support themselves and their family (Natividad, 2020).

Over the past summer, many conservatives expressed pure white-rage after hearing the phrase, “Defund the Police,” popularized throughout the racial justice movement. Ironically, these same conservatives failed to condemn “Defund the Public Schools,” which has been a long-standing silent campaign.

Opponents to the term often misrepresent what the slogan means, with many purposefully tainting the well. In reality, “defund the police” is not a rallying cry by abolitionists but by reformists. “Defund the police,” refers to the advocate’s desire for cities to redistribute funds away from police departments so they could invest in deeply impoverished communities. In other words, they understand that crime is the byproduct of poverty and disenfranchisement. However, those who view Black people as inherently criminal will always look at the problem and not the solution.

Treating community members with respect, expanding mental health professionals’ roles, decreasing racial profiling, “stops and frisks,” and declining violence are all part of defunding the police. They dared to want accountability, and conservatives effectively vilified the movement.

Advocates hoped to pressure departments to reconsider how they treat Black people in their communities and make city officials question how they allocate their city funding. Depending on the city, between 25% to 40% of a city’s budget goes to police departments. However, we will save the nuance of this argument for another day.

Modern segregationists overplayed their hand in their opposition to the “Defund the Police” slogan. See, their support for defunding public schools while increasing police presence in Black communities tells the true story about their intention. Racism is here to stay because equality would require redistribution of resources. It would take more than platitudes, and history shows America is more likely to talk a good game about equality than to follow through for Black people.

The Brown decision led to the closing of black schools, the firing of black educators and the assimilation of black children into white schools. Over time, white students departed from these schools while white teachers remained. The results of school integration have devastated black children. Black students are disproportionately disciplined, and the schools they attend are dilapidated and underfunded (Miller, 2020).

Integration, which seemed like a great idea, did not help Black students. Forcing white students to attend school with Black students led to massive defunding in public Black-run schools, and white parents asserted their right to select their school of choice. Americans have been living in denial about the negative impacts “school choice” has on Black students and their communities. America’s schools are separate and far from equal, and white parents’ “choice” often refers to their choice to separate their children from Black and brown ones.

While desegregating was a nice gesture, Black students need a higher quality of education, which could happen with better funding for public schools and teachers. Low teacher wages disincentivize their employment in public schools. Inequality is maintained by underfunding public schools while adequately funding private and charter schools. Taking children out of underfunded schools instead of advocating for increased funding has left Black and impoverished students behind, contrary to the “No Child Left Behind” policy.

Under this mantra, the federal government took an active role in determining each school’s educational value. They punished those who could not make improvements, ignoring the unequal legs of their academic tables. If I place a vase on a sturdy table, I can revel at my success, and if I put that same vase on a table with a wobbly leg, I will see the vase crash to the ground. However, it would be wrong for me to blame the rickety table. Instead, it would be my fault for ignoring the inequity.

Not every child can attend private or charter schools. The rise of these institutions pulls white students out of their public school districts, decreasing the likelihood of attending schools alongside their Black peers. These different conditions also further a racial divide, with white students seeing Black students as “the other” instead of equal community members. The separation amongst students causes an ongoing social rift. In the absence of Black students, white students often rely on harmful stereotypes to understand Black people. White parents want their children to attend “good schools,” and they do not care if this furthers segregation and deprives public schools of adequate funding. They would not want to trade their cookies. Schools desegregated, showing the persistence of racism in American society.