For the purposes of my response, I am assuming you are referring to
equality in terms of school achievement, such as test scores and
graduation rates. Fundamentally, Brown v. Board of Education has not
resulted in equality for African-Americans because merely placing
African-Americans in the same classroom with white students has not
resulted in equivalent African-American academic achievement.
Furthermore, although the percentage "...of black children attending
majority white schools rose from 0.1% in 1962 to a high of 44% in
1988," court decisions in the early to mid-1990s permitted many busing
plans to be stopped. As a result, the percentage "...of black
students in majority white schools in the South is 30%, about the same
percentage as in 1970."
Unfortunately, even in areas where schools are well integrated, 72% of
white students graduate from high school in four years whereas just
over half of black and Hispanic students do. "White fourth-graders
are more than three times as likely to read proficiently as black
fourth-graders."
Source: "No Longer Separate, But Not Yet Equal" by Rebecca Winters,
Time, May 10, 2004, page 31
Many reasons are cited for the continued disparities in academic
performance between white students and African-American students.
Many black neighborhood schools were closed as part of desegregation.
"Black role models -- doctors and educators -- left the neighborhood
and moved to suburban communities, taking their achievement ethic with
them." Prejudice can "...lead teachers to expect more from white
students than they do from minority students." Black parents tends
not be as involved in schools, and in Topeka, Kansas, they resisted
the institution of required summer school for underachieving students.
Source: "An Elusive Dream in the Promised Land" by David E. Thigpen,
Time, May 10, 2004, page 32
In Prince Edward County, Virginia, public schools were closed
altogether for a period of time, resulting in many black children in
the early 1960s not having access to education for four years while
white children attended private schools. "Many never returned to
school."
Nationally, "...a white child attends a school that is 79% white."
Source: "Success Bought at a High Cost" by R.W., Time, May 10, 2004, page 33
In Delaware, white families responded to integration by moving to
either private schools or to just over the Pennsylvania border.
"Today Delaware has one of the highest private school attendance rates
in the country, at 19% -- and that number started its climb just as
busing began." Officials in Brandywine are concerned that if they
stop their busing program, "some of its schools [will be] almost
entirely black and primarily poor, and drive down the schools' test
scores." Despite busing, which has resulted in a composition of
Brandywine's schools of 59% white, 37% black, and 4% other, in
third-grade only 68% of black students achieve the state reading
standard, whereas 92% of white students do, and 91% of whites graduate
from high school, whereas only 73% of African-Americans do.
Source: "Weighing the Long Ride to Diversity" by R.W., Time, May 10, 2004, page 33
While giving African-Americans students access to the same facilities
as white students instead of crumbling buildings and outdated
hand-me-down textbooks from the white schools has clearly been
beneficial, simply integrating the schools, to the extent that has
been accomplished, has not completely addressed the reasons for
African-American academic underperformance. Clearly, there are many
other issues that the Brown v. Board of Education did not resolve.
I strongly encourage you to read the articles I referenced above,
along with "Confronting the Shame of the Past" by Tim Padgett, Time,
May 10, 2004, pages 34-36. You can access these articles online at
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,1101040510,00.html.
Sincerely,
Wonko |
