Brown Vs The Board of Education

While reading the different articles and also the videos it was a bit confusing to understand what was being told about racism and how it is still relatable to the Brown vs. the Board of Education case.  The Brown vs. the Board of Education, which happened on May 17th 1954, created the so-called ending of segregation within the schools during this time period.  

"We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does."--quote from the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision

Before the Brown vs. the Board of Education began African American's and whites were segregated within classrooms, creating education to be segregated among the students.  This was all solely based on "race", which in today's society still remains somewhat present.  When listening to Tim Wise's talk, Between Barack and a Hard Place, discussed how racism is still happening in our society and how he wants to start racial equality.  Wise wants to lessen the discriminations with in both jobs and housing that is occurring.  Wise also states that "racism is never an excuse" to single someone out in society, especially in the education aspect.  He discusses how because we have a president of color that we, as a society, feel that we are destined to not face racism or segregation anymore.  In my opinion this is false.  Just because we have a white present or a black president does not mean that the problems at hand are going to be sugar coated to make everyone happy.  In Herbert's article, Separate and Unequal, he explains how even though Brown vs. Board of Education made segregation within schools illegal, he still sees examples of racial discrimination and inequality in society today. He explains how black and Hispanic students do not receive the same education as white students do and how living in the poor sections of cities affects the amount of education black students and Hispanic students gain. In his opinion, Herbert believes that integration will bring and has brought students together so that they may all receive the same amount of education, whi

ch will benefit students of all races. A connection from Ashley's blog that I found was a quote that stuck out the most in Herbert's article that explained the segregation of today's society.  The quote stated, "Schools are no longer legally segregated, but because of residential patterns, housing discrimination, economic disparities and long-held custom, they most emphatically are in reality.”

After reading these articles and understanding the connections that were presented made me think of my Service learning at the Asa Messer School in Providence.  The class room that I am teaching in is an ESL classroom, meaning that the children in this class do not speak spanish as their first language.  I have also talked to others who are volunteering at a Providence public school and the majority of the students are of color or hispanic.  It just goes to prove, just as Herber stated how not only schools are not segregated anymore but that a person's economic status can affect them and their lives.