Brown v. Board of Education- A "Post racial" America

Reflection

     This is another reflection post because I felt that I could really connect this assignment to my life. As I have said in class and on my blog, I grew in North Kingstown, a town where the majority of the residents are white and are upper-middle class. I am very aware that I grew up in kind of a bubble, I learned about race issues in textbooks but never really had to deal with any first hand while I was in school. Dr. Bogad mentioned a few weeks ago in class that many white students she talks to say that RIC is the most diverse school the have ever attended. I admit that I am one of those students. So as I was reading the New York Times article by Bob Herbert I could definitely relate and find truth in what he was saying. He says that in schools there is really no such thing as separate and equal, and i would have to mostly agree with his point. There are exceptions but for the most part, from what I have experienced what he says about unintended school segregation is true. He says that because schools are districted by location that the public schools that are located in inner cities are populated by mostly non-white students. Also, primarily because these schools are located in inner cities they do not get proper or as much funding. This turns into a form of inadvertent racism.
     I say inadvertent because technically this is not racism, these schools are not not receiving funding because the students are not white, they do not receive funding because the city in which it is located does not have enough money. This is not overt intentional racism, it is racism however and needs to be stopped.
     Tim Wise raises this point in his interview as well. He says that just because America elected Barack Obama President does not make us a post racial nation yet. People could have voted for Obama and still be racist, according to Wise. This also demonstrates inadvertent racism, because Americans are taught that just because we have elected a black president means that we live in a post racial society, so they decide not to notice the racism still going on around them.

Point To Share:  
I think as teachers and educators we need to work towards a post racial society, and the first step in doing so is accepting that we currently are not living in one. If we can accept that, despite our optimism, we do not live in a post racial society yet then we can really work towards one. I feel that this needs to happen wherever we are working whether it be in an inner city or a suburb for it to have any positive effect.