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Educational Segregation
Liana Matute
Mr. Janosch
Segregation in schools
essentially creating racial superiority and hierarchy in a society. Racial segregation has been
taught about in schools throughout the U.S. for decades; students know all about Rosa Parks,
Ruby Bridges, and Martin Luther King Jr. As well as the Jim Crow Laws, and the Plessy v.
Ferguson, and the Brown v. Board of Education court cases. In today’s America, segregation
isn’t enforced by law, as it was with the “separate but equal” doctrine or with the Jim Crow
laws. However, it still exists and it’s very present. Now, a different and equally detrimental
It is true that people of color and white people have two very different experiences
when it comes to educational opportunities. The wealth gap between white people and people
of color is higher than it has ever been before. In 2016, the median income of white households
was 10 times larger than the median income of black households, and 8 times larger than the
median income of hispanic households. (Fottrell) This large gap is a result of economic
segregation, and more specifically, de facto segregation. De facto segregation is segregation
that is not legally enforced but is still engaged in. However, it is not always intentional.
Because of employment discrimination towards black people and other people of color,
white people have historically had larger incomes. This became especially important in the late
1960s, during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency. In 1968, President Johnson signed the Fair
Housing Act, allowing non-white families to move into predominantly white neighborhoods,
stimulating diversity. During this time, white people expressed extreme xenophobia. “Specific
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parental concerns include opposition to busing, fear that increasing the number of black
students in local schools will lead to residential integration, concern about a decline in
educational quality, and simple aversion to integrated education.” (Jaypal) These concerns
resulted in white flight and blockbusting. Landlords took advantage these parents’ fears, and
engaged in blockbusting— the act of using racism to persuading homeowners to sell their
houses for little money in order for them to leave quickly, preventing them to reside around
people of color. White people started to leave urban areas and moved to suburban areas, and it
was possible because white people could afford it and black people couldn’t, due to
black neighborhood in just two years. (Frisby) This was known as white flight. As a result,
manifesting de facto segregation. White students moved to private schools, once again, because
they could afford it, while black students stayed in public schools. This was the start of the
“two-thirds of minority students still attend schools that are predominantly minority.”
(Hammond) 16 years later, in 2014, 81.6% of white students go to a public school in which
more than half on the students are white, and 44.1% of black students attend a public school
where more than half of the students are black (Pew Research Center).
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Works Cited
An, Brian P., and Adam Gamoran. “Effects of School Segregation and School
Resources in a Changing Policy Context.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis March
2016, Vol. 38, No. 1, Pp. 43–64, journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0162373715585604.
Fottrell, Quentin. “7 Charts Explain Why the Gap between the Rich and Poor Is
Highest Ever.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 4 Nov. 2017,
www.marketwatch.com/story/5-charts-explain-why-some-american-families-are-getting-far-ric
her-than-others-2017-10-05.
Frisby, Bunny. “How White Flight Actually Started.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Dec.
2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG1CZH5gft0.