African American Child Segregation Essay

As I learn more about the realities of education, there was one issue that sparked my interest and passion – segregation. Though it is difficult to see first-hand, I can definitely see remnants of segregation through comparison of resources available at schools I’ve worked at. My belief that education serves as an accessible tool for social mobility led me to explore the issue of segregation with the perspective of a future educator. Over 50 years ago in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court deemed that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. With this in mind, I was under the impression that schools were not segregated (at least to a far lesser extent). However, I was shocked to learn that segregation in schools

There are five words I grew up hearing continuously spoken from the mouths of my parents “Don’t take things for granted.” Unlike what many of my black friends or just black people in general can say, I grew up with everything I could ever ask for and more. My parents don’t consider themselves wealthy; instead they prefer the word comfortable. My mother grew up in segregated schools, but she also grew up in desegregated schools, of which her experience she said wasn’t bad for her. In 5th grade when they first combined whites and blacks it was just her and this other black boy in class and the both of them together were mistaken for being white because of how light their skin was. My father on the other hand had it much worse than my mother segregated or not. The stories he speaks of still to this day

The overrepresentation of African American children in the foster care system is a major issue in the United States. African American children only represent about fourteen percent of the child population in the United States, yet represents for thirty percent of the children in the foster care system (Lorthridge, 2011). Ards (2012) stated that African American children are one and a half times more likely to be involved with child protective services and two times more likely to be placed in an out-of-home placement compared to any other race. Being a minority in a country, but the majority in an institution, such as foster care, is a significant problem. Not only is the overrepresentation of African American children a matter of question, but their experience while in foster care is concerning as well. African American children are overrepresented at every aspect in the foster care system and the numbers are not decreasing. According to Anyon (2011), African American children are overrepresented at every stage/decision point in the foster care system. The five stages are known as the five key decision points, which are, report of abuse and/or neglect, referral of report for investigation, reunification, out-of-home placement and termination of parental rights, and exiting the foster care system (Harris, 2008).

America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s

already in the form of “The Jim Crow Laws” but now that it had been

Education has always been valued in the African American community. During slavery freed slaves and those held captive, organized to educate themselves. After emancipation the value of education became even more important to ex-slaves, as it was their emblem of freedom and a means to full participation in American Society (Newby & Tyack, 1971). During this time many schools for African Americans were both founded and maintained by African Americans. African Americans continued to provide education throughout their own communities well into the 1930’s (Green, McIntosh, Cook-Morales, & Robinson-Zanartu, 2005). The atmosphere of these schools resembled a family. The

According to Massey and Denton (1988), residential segregation “is the degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of the urban environment”(282). Now this is a pretty general definition, but it gives basic but good insight as to what residential desegregation is talking about. In this paper, I will mostly be focusing on residential segregation as it relates to the black and white populations in relation to one another, although I will be referencing some other races briefly to create a better understanding of concepts or ideas.

Racial segregation has had a long history in Chicago. While separation by nationality had always been apparent in the city, with neighborhoods typically being dominated by a certain ethnicity, no group of Chicagoans experienced the degree of segregation that African Americans faced in everything from the housing districts to public services. Forced to live only in designated areas by de facto segregation, redlining, and other tactics, they had limited chances to escape the cycle of danger and discrimination of the city. Confined to only their deteriorating neighborhoods,they had little chance.

Intergenerational trauma, or historical trauma, is “the cumulative psychological damage that specific groups of people suffer throughout multiple generations” (Hanser & Gomila, 2015). African Americans, as well as Native Americans, are one of the groups said to suffer from the most historical trauma in the United States, most of it stemming from centuries of slavery and subjugation. This paper seeks to show how slavery has continued to affect black people in the United States, starting with slavery and ending with the present. This paper will look at issues that seem to plague the black community in particular, including higher rates of both incarceration and poverty, as well as continued stereotypical and racial profiling, in an attempt

Taking into consideration my early childhood, youth and adolescence, I could say that I was surrounded by people, who were friendly and shared common cultural values. However, with the hindsight at my whole life, I could say why the sense of institutional racism touches me so deeply. I was raised by my mother and my grandmother, both of whom could not read and write. Thus, for the illiterate people there were no chances to have higher status in the society. The only way to survive for them was hard physical work. Institutional racism, as a form of oppression, is more consequential and involves policies and acts that affect a large number of people. Life of my family is only one example of its impact. Even though, a lot of time has passed since then, the most recent incidents with Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmer, illustrate how a black man continues to be viewed as a menace to society in America (Blumenfeld, 2010).

Protest against injustice is deeply rooted in the African American experience. The origins of the civil rights movement date much further back than the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka which said, "separate but equal" schools violated the Constitution. From the earliest slave revolts in this country over 400 years ago, African Americans strove to gain full participation in every aspect of political, economic and social life in the United States.

The occurrence of 9/11 has shown Muslim people as an object of hate and suspicion. They are unfairly treated non equal, because of terrorists from the same “religion” of islam. They may be extremists, but they are a minority of the religion itself. There are many more Muslims who are very respectful, caring, and polite than terrorists. Terrorist are not considered to be Muslim either way. Within the religion of Islam no one owns the right to take life away except, Allah. There are two (2) types of Muslims within the faith of Islam. The Shiites, and the Sunni Muslims. The dispute between these two are really large and they differ within their feelings although they both are “considered” to be Muslim. Within the holy book of Qur’an those who

Just fifty years ago, America was a society of segregation and racism. The dictionary defines racism as “the belief that a particular race is superior to another.” Although it is clear times have changed, racism is still seen in modern american society. It’s also clear that relationships between African Americans and whites are generally better than they were in the forties and fifties. Today, it is rare to witness a black man walk down the street and step off the sidewalk to let a white man walk by, or to see a black man sitting on a different section of the bus or train because a white man told him he has too. But superiority of races is still happening. A lot of this has the do with the ignorance of others. Passed down generation to

Segregation: [seg-ri-gey-shuh n] the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority. In the south a lot people worked hard to keep the jim crow laws - even though it was illegal. Segregation was a big problem in the south, especially Georgia, but Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault were about to desegregate the University of Georgia. Technically that should not have been a problem, seeing that segregation and Jim Crow laws were illegal, but while trying to be successful and earn an education they had endured horrible things. They were attacked both physically and mentally, yet they stayed defending their right to be there and learn. Most people have seen or heard the quote “Why fit in when you were born to stand out” (Dr. Seuss), and that exactly what Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault did.

Every single person has become afraid of a Muslim extremist group, called ISIS. The media presents the public with a very biased view of Muslims - the media shows all the terrorist attacks done by this Muslim extremist group, but very rarely shows the greatness that Muslims have done for the world- this giving the public the impression that every Muslim: Man, woman, child, and baby are terrorists. This is demoralizing. To think our so called intelligent species can believe such a discouraging view, make me rethink if we are as intelligent as we make out. A statistic shows that “Forty-nine people per year die from being struck by lightning — more than 15 times the rate of death from Islamic extremist murders.” Is Islam to blame for all terrorism? Obviously not. We refuse to think about what Muslim lives are like, I can only imagine it’s a living hell. Recently Muslim students in schools are asked things such as “Is that a bomb in your backpack?” or told “We all think you are a terrorist” These two powerful messages, makes me as a person feel completely repulsed; and surely someone as sophisticated and level minded as you can see how wrong this is. These are students after all. Students who want become educated and enlightened by new things, not brought down by uneducated