Segregation and racism are some of the biggest problems that faced Americans in the past centuries. The phenomenon is still prevalent today with several sectors making efforts to combat it. The school was one of the areas where racism and segregation were rife. The American school system has been putting great effort in ensuring integration in the schools. There are, however, several underlying issues that create hesitation in eliminating the vice. Racism is still embedded in most institutions in the United States due to these issues (Pettigrew, 2004). This paper seeks to explore the content of two articles to explain integration in American school since the year 1954.
Integration in American Schools Since 1954
The year 1954 marked the time when most Americans thought they had finally got a solution to racism. This is the year that the Supreme Court made a revolutionary decision in the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education. The ruling was that schools that practiced racial segregation were unequal (Pettigrew, 2004). Efforts to start desegregation, however, took some time to take hold. This was due to the resistance that was faced by people that were against desegregation. One of their arguments was that desegregation would hurt the white children. This has however been disapproved in various studies.
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In 1968, the court made a major decision on integration in schools. The ruling included the first four of the criteria that would be used in the integration process. Some of the things that were contained in the ruling included integration in the staff, transportation, and the use of facilities from different departments in the schools. This meant that minorities would be able to share in the same benefits as the whites. A ruling in the Mississippi school case of 1969 stated that desegregation had to be achieved at once. This was in line with witness testimonies from psychologists that emphasized on the need for desegregation and of what importance it would be to minorities.
The 1970s saw major court decisions that embraced integration. In 1973, a major ruling on desegregation was made away from the south of the United States. The ruling stated that Latino children also needed to be included in the integration plans. Possible ways of implementing the plan were given, especially in the lower courts where professionals appeared as expert witnesses. By 1970, the South had implemented racial unification in public schools more than any other part of the United States had done (Kirp, 2012).
The education experience by integrating black children made a great difference in them. For instance, black children that were in integrated in the learning institutions coped better than their counterparts in isolated schools. Between 1970 and 1990, the gap between the white and black was wider in the past reduced considerably. This was due to the fact the court was overseeing the integration plans. The achievement and income gap also narrowed. At the peak of desegregation in the 1980s, African-Americans and other minority reaped a lot of benefits from the school systems.
Minority students in integrated schools performed better due to a number of reasons. These include the fact that their parents had a higher expectation from them, they received a quality education similar to that received by white children, and the integrated environment gave them an opportunity to interact and learn from others. To this day, people that studied in racially integrated schools have been shown to be more successful, have better health, and have children that have also had an educational chance in desegregated schools.
A destructive ruling in 1974 ushered in the “resegregation” era. In the ruling, the court shot down a number of solutions that had been presented by a district court on how to beat segregation. In 1990, the court stopped overlooking the desegregation plans (Pettigrew, 2004). The performance of black children worsened since segregation was creeping back. Another problem that faces desegregation was the fact that people started being more concerned about the principles instead of concentration on providing quality education. They would, for example, use bus sharing to display integration, but provide poor quality education.
In recent times, the issue of segregation has received a cold shoulder. The court never admits overruling the Brown ruling, but nonetheless offers rulings that go against it in some ways. The court often views segregation as a natural phenomenon that it has no power to control (Kirp, 2012). Since the court stopped overseeing desegregation, several schools have gone back to segregation with the passing of rules that favor segregation.
The effects of school desegregation have been positive. Most American citizens are however not aware of the outcomes. Several types of research have been conducted that prove the benefits of integration. Some examples of concluded research are the fact that integration involves interracial contact, desegregation erodes the avoidance of learning, and that integration teaches interracial interaction which is vital in the fight against racism (Pettigrew, 2004).
There are misconceptions that exist in regard to desegregation. These misconceptions include that desegregated schools have failed, desegregation causes “white flight” and is thus impossible, and that desegregation entails massive abusing. People need to understand the role desegregation has played in improving the lives of minorities in the country. There need to adopt the spirit of brown to ensure segregation is gotten rid of again.
Conclusion
In conclusion, American schools have been making considerable steps of ensuring all people are integrated into schools. Some of the efforts include integration of the staff, school facilities, and transportation means. There; however, have been problems faced during the campaign to ensure integration such as the lack of support from the courts and misconception about integration. American schools need to adopt new and more dynamic approaches to ensure segregation is a thing of the past.
References
Kirp, D. L. (2012). Making Schools Work . New York, N.Y: New York Times.
Pettigrew, T. F. (2004). Justice Deferred a Half Century after Brown v. Board of Education. American Psychologist , 59(6), 521-529.
