May 17th, 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the historic supreme court case Brown v. Board of education which ended the seperate but equal doctrine in schools across the country. 50 years later we find ourselves looking back with some saying, 'was it worth it?' Has the famous case improved the African-American race, or was it a waste of time?
I feel that for it to even come about, it must have meant something to blacks fighting for justice and equality at the time. Im somewhat split on the issue, however I do favor integration, which has its many advantages such as diversity building, while at the same time I favor an all black school for example, because there you can get the rich history of your race through learning and interaction.
As an ideal Brown v. board of education was a good move, but in all reality it's had a very small affect on the integration and improvement of minority education. Education is just as segregated now as it was then. I think the only way things will change is when we stop living in past accomplishments and deal with the here and now. Black people have come a long way but we still have a loooong way to go. It's not enough to just talk about what's wrong anymore, action needs to be taken; whether it's petitioning, protesting, picketing whatever. We have to let it be heard that we won't accept the state of minority education.
side note - ashley i couldn't agree more with you about those d@mn vouchers lol
I think that Brown vs. Board was particularly useful at the time, but it is not the solution to all of our problems. Especially today.
The original issue confronted was that Blacks were forced to go to inferior schools, with less resources, than Whites. The objective was not to simply be able to attend school with White children, but rather to ensure that Blacks received a good education. The ideal solution at the time was to integrate schools, so that Black students would have access to the same teaching materials and facilities as others.
I think that it has been misconstrued over the past years to focus too much on preserving diversity rather than preserving the quality of education. What B vs. B did was simultaneously increase demands on public schools. Immediately after this decision, White students and upper-class Black students found themselves being reassigned to lower quality schools, in hopes of achieving a diverse school body. As a result, many White parents sent their children to private schools and re-created the original problem which was Black children being channeled into underfunded schools.
Personally, I am not as concerned that my son or daughter is sitting next to a White classmate as I am concerned that they are receiving a top-quality education. I believe that this can be achieved regardless of the ethnic background of the student body. Our HBCUs are an example of this in action. At the time it made sense and we all benefited from it, but it is now time to focus on the more pressing issue of improving school quality instead of obsessing over ethnic diversity. We can't focus on the headache and ignore the hole in our head. Holla!
Personally, I am not as concerned that my son or daughter is sitting next to a White classmate as I am concerned that they are receiving a top-quality education. I believe that this can be achieved regardless of the ethnic background of the student body. Our HBCUs are an example of this in action. At the time it made sense and we all benefited from it, but it is now time to focus on the more pressing issue of improving school quality instead of obsessing over ethnic diversity. We can't focus on the headache and ignore the hole in our head. Holla!
Can some one enlighten me on the problem of private school vouchers?
White man says: separate the blacks from the whites...so that the former can fail and the latter succeeds.
The problem with private school vouchers is that they really do nothing to improve education. Government vouchers take money the government has alotted for education and give select families the oppurtunity to enroll their children in cheap private schools. While that's all good and well for those few families who would benefit, the public school system still continues to decline. Some think vouchers would make public schools want to do better because all of their students would be leaving and going to private schools but that really makes no sense. Vouchers do nothing to improve the public school system, if anything they take away from it by neglecting the real issue which is the need to improve public education. And also, most of the time the amount of money given to the families through vouchers is not even enough to pay for those good private schools, so a lot of the time the families have to settle for "lower" ranked private schools; at least that's how it would go here. I hope that made some sense lol.
good, diana. furthermore, the vouchers nerely defray the cost of private school and in some cases private schools dont even accept them. they dont guarantee acceptance into private schools either. some state have already outlawed them deeming them unconstitutional b/c they violate the separation of church and state with those public funds going to religiously affiliated schools.
