Short Introduction to Racial Inequalities in American Education

Short Introduction to Racial Inequalities in American Education
Author: Marta Zapała-Kraj
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 47
Release: 2019-06-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 3668960224

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject History - America, grade: 5.0, , language: English, abstract: Education affects every part of human beings’ lives. For the majority of people education level is the factor which decides about the level of income, place in the class system, and even health care. Without the education on an average level from the very beginning, the person immediately is exposed to a severe disadvantage in comparison with those who receive it. During the process of gathering the materials for this thesis, the author of this thesis has found the most important obstacles in the history of American equal education. Sadly, the problems of education inequality are deeply rooted throughout American history. In the South segregation was justified in the Supreme Court in the Plessy vs Ferguson Case from 1896 which mandated that schools should to be segregated into black and white. Basically, in the North there were no segregation laws, but school administrators consciously arranged the districts with the purpose of segregation. Segregation caused inferior education for Blacks because the districts in which they were taught obtained definitely less money. This meant that the schools could not afford quality teachers or sufficient facilities. The American nation had to wait until 1954 when the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, and finally reversed the position it held since 1896. By 1980 the federal courts largely succeeded in eliminating the system of legalized segregation in southern schools. The federal government also investigated many northern cities and ordered that the school districts need to be re-arranged so that they can include minorities. Interestingly, the government also, in some cases, ruled the busing of minorities to other districts in an attempt to make education equal between districts. In order to present what factors led to such a situation in American schools, the author decided to divide the paper in three parts – each discussing different period of inequalities found in educational history.

Education and Racism

Education and Racism
Author: Zeus Leonardo
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2018-09-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1351588400

Education and Racism is a concise and easily accessible primer for introducing undergraduate and graduate students to the field of race and education. Designed for introductory courses, each chapter provides an overview of a main issue or dilemma in the research on racial inequality and education and the particular approaches that have been offered to explain or address them. Theme-oriented chapters include curriculum, school (re)segregation, and high stakes testing as well as discussions on how racism intersects with other forms of marginality, like socio-economic status. The focus on particular educational themes is the strength of this book as it paints a portrait of the systematic nature of racism. It surveys multiple approaches to racism and education and places them in conversation with one another, incorporating both classical as well as contemporary theories. Although conceptually rich and dense with critical perspectives and empirical study, this expanded edition contains several powerful vignettes that illustrate the commanding roles racism and structural inequality continue to play in the classroom. Perfect for courses in Multicultural Education, Sociology of Education, Ethnic Studies and more, Education and Racism is the ideal primer for engaging students new to race and education without sacrificing the content for those who are already familiar with the field.

Because of Race

Because of Race
Author: Mica Pollock
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2010-10-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1400829011

In Because of Race, Mica Pollock tackles a long-standing and fraught debate over racial inequalities in America's schools. Which denials of opportunity experienced by students of color should be remedied? Pollock exposes raw, real-time arguments over what inequalities of opportunity based on race in our schools look like today--and what, if anything, various Americans should do about it. Pollock encountered these debates while working at the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights in 1999-2001. For more than two years, she listened to hundreds of parents, advocates, educators, and federal employees talk about the educational treatment of children and youth in specific schools and districts. People debated how children were spoken to, disciplined, and ignored in both segregated and desegregated districts, and how children were afforded or denied basic resources and opportunities to learn. Pollock discusses four rebuttals that greeted demands for everyday justice for students of color inside schools and districts. She explores how debates over daily opportunity provision exposed conflicting analyses of opportunity denial and harm worth remedying. Because of Race lays bare our habits of argument and offers concrete suggestions for arguing more successfully toward equal opportunity.

Education and Racism

Education and Racism
Author: Zeus Leonardo
Publisher:
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2018-08-15
Genre: Racism in education
ISBN: 9781138118768

Education and Racism is a concise and easily accessible primer for introducing undergraduate and graduate students to the field of race and education. Designed for introductory courses, each chapter provides an overview of a main issue or dilemma in the research on racial inequality and education and the particular approaches that have been offered to explain or address them. Theme-oriented chapters include curriculum, school (re)segregation, and high stakes testing as well as discussions on how racism intersects with other forms of marginality, like socio-economic status. The focus on particular educational themes is the strength of this book as it paints a portrait of the systematic nature of racism. It surveys multiple approaches to racism and education and places them in conversation with one another, incorporating both classical as well as contemporary theories. Although conceptually rich and dense with critical perspectives and empirical study, this expanded edition contains several powerful vignettes that illustrate the commanding roles racism and structural inequality continue to play in the classroom. Perfect for courses in Multicultural Education, Sociology of Education, Ethnic Studies and more, Education and Racism is the ideal primer for engaging students new to race and education without sacrificing the content for those who are already familiar with the field.

Measuring Racial Discrimination

Measuring Racial Discrimination
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2004-07-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309091268

Many racial and ethnic groups in the United States, including blacks, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and others, have historically faced severe discriminationâ€"pervasive and open denial of civil, social, political, educational, and economic opportunities. Today, large differences among racial and ethnic groups continue to exist in employment, income and wealth, housing, education, criminal justice, health, and other areas. While many factors may contribute to such differences, their size and extent suggest that various forms of discriminatory treatment persist in U.S. society and serve to undercut the achievement of equal opportunity. Measuring Racial Discrimination considers the definition of race and racial discrimination, reviews the existing techniques used to measure racial discrimination, and identifies new tools and areas for future research. The book conducts a thorough evaluation of current methodologies for a wide range of circumstances in which racial discrimination may occur, and makes recommendations on how to better assess the presence and effects of discrimination.

Just Schools

Just Schools
Author: David L. Kirp
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 390
Release: 1983-12-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780520050846

Examines the goals of equality in education, reviews the experiences of five communities, and recommends policy measures to improve educational opportunity in the United States.

Stepping Over the Color Line

Stepping Over the Color Line
Author: Amy Stuart Wells
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 398
Release: 1997-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780300081336

This important book takes the discussion of racial inequality in America beyond simplistic arguments of white racism and black victimization to a more complex conversation about the separate but unequal situation in many schools today. Amy Stuart Wells and Robert Crain investigate the St. Louis, Missouri, school desegregation plan, a unique agreement that since 1983 has given black inner-city students the right to choose to attend predominantly white suburban schools. After five years of research and hundreds of interviews with policymakers, administrators, teachers, students, and parents, Wells and Crain conclude that when school desegregation is examined from these many perspectives, more strengths than weaknesses emerge. They call for a reexamination of now-popular school choice policies across the country so that these policies may help to bring about more racial and social-class integration. Stepping over the Color Line intertwines data on student achievement and racial isolation with stories of the people who participated in the St. Louis program. The authors set these individuals within a broad historical and social context and demonstrate how important linkages between the past and present help explain why efforts to overcome racial inequality--in St. Louis and in the larger society--are so difficult. "The authors do a superb job of explaining how this innovative program came about, placing it in a broad context that takes it beyond its immediate and local implications. The book is at times heartbreaking and at times uplifting."--Richard Zweigenhaft, co-author of Blacks in the White Establishment? A Study of Race and Class in America

The Pursuit of Racial and Ethnic Equality in American Public Schools

The Pursuit of Racial and Ethnic Equality in American Public Schools
Author: Kristi L. Bowman
Publisher: MSU Press
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2014-12-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1628952393

In 1954 the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education; ten years later, Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act. These monumental changes in American law dramatically expanded educational opportunities for racial and ethnic minority children across the country. They also changed the experiences of white children, who have learned in increasingly diverse classrooms. The authors of this commemorative volume include leading scholars in law, education, and public policy, as well as important historical figures. Taken together, the chapters trace the narrative arc of school desegregation in the United States, beginning in California in the 1940s, continuing through Brown v. Board, the Civil Rights Act, and three important Supreme Court decisions about school desegregation and voluntary integration in 1974, 1995, and 2007. The authors also assess the status of racial and ethnic equality in education today and consider the viability of future legal and policy reform in pursuit of the goals of Brown v. Board. This remarkable collection of voices in conversation with one another lays the groundwork for future discussions about the relationship between law and educational equality, and ultimately for the creation of new public policy. A valuable reference for scholars and students alike, this dynamic text is an important contribution to the literature by an outstanding group of authors.

Racial Inequity in Special Education

Racial Inequity in Special Education
Author: Daniel J. Losen
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2002
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Commissioned by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard, this text examines racial inequity in special education, with an emphasis on the experiences of African American children. Eleven contributions from educators and researchers discuss issues such as the overrepresentation of minority children in special education, racial disparities in funding, and the implications of the Corey H. lawsuit to desegregate students with disabilities in Chicago. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Communities in Action

Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2017-04-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309452961

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.