The Resegregation of America

Speaker Notes
Slide 1:
• Title page
Slide 2:
• May 17, 1954
• ‘Separate But Equal’ has no place
• “decision not only legally ended segregation, it deprived segregationist practices of their moral legitimacy as well” – David Halberstam
Slide 3:
• Despite ruling, Board of Education still argued segregation was a fact of life
• Many Americans opposed Court decision and decided with Board
• Strong opposition led to white flight
• Trying to escape integration
Slide 4:
• Embodiment of American Dream
• Very populated
• Widespread car ownership and freeway system helped catalyze the move
• Increasingly large number of Americans employed…could afford new housing
Slide 5:
• African Americans still discriminated against for better paying jobs
• Could not afford housing in suburban neighborhoods
Slide 6:
• African Americans denied access to suburban dream
• Blacks not permitted to use or occupy Levittown homes
• William Levitt stood by his decision to only let Caucasians purchase his homes
Slide 7:
• By 1950s, cities in spiral of decline
• Many social problems that accompanied the rising tide of the poor
• Suburbs remained largely white while cities became increasingly nonwhite
Slide 8:
• School districts subject to integration lost approximately 50% of their white students within 10 years to the suburbs
• Division of blacks in cities and whites in suburbs led to severe educational differences
Slide 9:
• Severe educational differences
Slide 10:
• Despite billions of dollars spent, no significant improvements in academic achievement in African American schools have been made
• Suburban students take the bus or drive to school while inner-city kids must walk through crime-infested neighborhoods which puts their safety at risk
• Suspension rates for blacks is 5x higher than it is for whites
• On average, African American students are suspended at a younger age, for a longer time and more often than whites
• In integrated schools, little social interaction between races except in school-sponsored sports teams
Slide 11:
• Approximately ½ of all blacks in any given racially mixed school are enrolled in low achievement groups, compared to 1/5 for whites
• “Such racial disparity…isolates students, associates skin color with skill, and leads parents, teachers, and students alike to expect little...from blacks” - Brooks
Slide 12:
• Startling compared to suburban students who are considered up to standards for their grade-level throughout their school career
Slide 13:
• 2000 census…more blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are living in suburbs but are continuing to live apart from whites
• In past, minorities had to go to white neighborhoods to find good homes and schools
• Now they can find the same types of items in their own suburban neighborhoods
Slide 14:
• Federal Legislation- Fair Housing Act, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Fair Housing Amendments
• These have addressed the issue by outlawing prohibitive deeds and other forms of residential discrimination
Slide 15:
• 1998 poll revealed that both black and white parents believed that raising student achievement and academic standards was more important than integration
Slide 16:
• Designed to improve the preparation of preschoolers for public school
• Helpful to all low income families, black or white
Slide 17:
• Only way to achieve true equality according to black educators
• Leads population to believe that black teachers and administrators do not trust their colleagues of different races to treat minority students the same as white students
Slide 18:
• Society’s racial attitude needs to change
• If not, it will be extremely difficult to make any headway in desegregating America
Slide 19:
• America still struggling with racism and segregation
• Because of this continued segregation, America no longer provides equal opportunity and treatment to every citizen
Slide 20:
• Works cit