Segregation: Still a Current Issue for Urban
Education Researchers and Students
A Commentary
Elizabeth B. Etters
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The
monumental ruling against state mandated segregation in the 1954
Brown
v. Board of Education case, supported the notion that segregated
institutions denied Black students equal academic opportunities. Despite the ruling of this case as a step
forward in the fight for equal rights of all people, educational gaps between
Black and Latino students and White students in the U.S. still remain today.
Even worse, research indicates that many schools districts have began to re-segregate based on the residential location of
minority families (Frankenberg, 2009). Many low-income Black and Latino students
attend urban schools with little funding, inexperienced teachers, and high
poverty levels (Orfield, 2009). In addition these students face family
disruptions,
joblessness within their families, and high crime rates in their
communities (Wilson, 1987). How is it
that with so many years of civil rights activists fighting for equal
opportunities, that there still exists such disparity between students and
families from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds? This second issue of the Urban Education
Research and Policy Annuals highlights articles whose underlying theme is that
of segregation and its consequences which affect many low-income Black and Latino students
still today.
In
the first article, “The Voluntary Interdistrict
Desegregation Program in St. Louis and the Geography of Opportunity,” Ain Grooms discusses the feasibly of this voluntary
transfer program for families in urban communities who are unable to relocate
to the suburbs in hopes of securing a better education for their children. Under the conceptual framework of the
geography of opportunity, this study descriptively analyzes the fiscal
resources in St. Louis in comparison to and also within the surrounding
suburban districts. As indicated by this article, there is a continued need for
research which addresses
the gap between race and location and also cities and suburbs (Grooms, 2014).
In the second manuscript, “The Epic Battle to Fund St. Louis
School Desegregation,” Hope Rias examines the St.
Louis Voluntary Transfer Program and the conflicts that arose when lawyers and
politicians fought to stop state funding of the program. This article offers a historical view of
desegregation in St. Louis and the St. Louis Voluntary Transfer Program through
its qualitative analysis of archived civil court documents and local news papers. Findings suggest that
most court cases regarded funding of the desegregation program rather than the
program itself (Rias, 2014).
In the third article, “Cultivating Diversity and Inclusion in
Higher Education: The Role of Graduate School Preparation Programs,” Sosanya Jones investigates the contributions of graduate
school preparation programs to the campus communities at large. This study focuses on the connection between
the goals and contributions of graduate school preparation programs and those
of the institution in which they belong.
Through a qualitative analysis based on the interviews of graduate
preparation program directors and staff, evidence was found which suggests that
these programs are valued by faculty, staff, and non-program
participants as well (Jones, 2014). Furthermore these programs aim to
increase diversity and inclusion for the greater campus and have a great impact
on the perceptions of diversity and inclusion among the institution’s faculty
and staff (Jones, 2014).
Brian McGowan discusses the influence of race on perceptions of
masculinity of Black males at a predominantly White institution in the fourth
article, “Does Race Matter?: Perceptions of
Masculinity among Black Males at a Predominantly White Institution.” This qualitative study analyzes interviews
conducted with seventeen Black undergraduate males at a predominantly white
institution. Emergent themes included
definitions of masculinity, influence of race on conceptualization of
masculinity, and evolving definitions of masculinity (McGowan, 2014). Findings indicated a need for higher learning
institutions to provide means of support for Black males as they develop their
identity during their college years.
In the last article “Forging Bonds and Crossing Borders with
Youth Participatory Action Research,” Cherese
Childers-McKee examines youth participatory action research as a means of
building intercultural relations in urban schools. In regards to the tension between Latinos and
Blacks in urban settings, can youth participatory action research empower
students to build positive relations?
Through an analysis of youth participatory action research studies, this article
indicates that youth participatory action research may promote intercultural
relations, help to address deficit ideology, and empower students
(Childers-McKee, 2014). This
collection of articles highlights the importance and need for continued urban
education research which addresses the issues of segregation and desegregation
and their subsequent issues and consequences such as
opportunity gaps based on race and location, issues of diversity and inclusion
in higher education, and the identity development of minority students in
predominantly white institutions. While
these issues are just a few among a vast amount of topics in urban education
research, it is evidenced in these articles and their implications that these
are very current and relevant issues which are deserving of additional
research.
References
Brown v. Board of Education (Brown 1),
347 U.S. 483 (1954).
Childers-McKee, C. (2014). Forging bonds and crossing borders with
youth participatory action
research. Urban
Education Research and Policy Annuals, 2(1), p. 48-56.
Frankenberg, E. (2009). The demographic context of urban schools
and districts. Equity and
Excellence in Education,
42(3), 255-271.
Grooms, A. (2014). The Voluntary Interdistrict
Desegregation Program in St. Louis and the geography
of opportunity. Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals, 2(1), p.
9-18.
Jones,
S. (2014). Cultivating diversity and inclusion in higher education: The role of
graduate
school preparation programs. Urban Education
Research and Policy Annuals, 2(1), p. 28-38.
McGowan,
B. (2014). Does race matter?: Perceptions of masculinity
among Black males at a
predominantly
White institution. Urban Education
Research and Policy Annuals, 2(1), p. 39-47.
Orfield, G. (2009). Reviving the goal of an
integrated society. Los Angles: UCLA Civil
Rights Project.
Rias, H. (2014). The epic battle to fund St.
Louis school desegregation. Urban Education
Research and Policy Annuals, 2(1),
p.19-27.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city,
the underclass, and public policy.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.