Recognizing Modern Relevance: Unjust Education

 

In my latest reading of Shame of the Nation, Jonathan Kozol has advanced his discussion concerning the various flaws of the inner-city school systems. In last week’s reading, he went into detail about the mundanity of the rote learning curriculums that were instilled to help “improve” test scores. This week, he continues his analysis of the shattered school system and dives deeper into the topic of state requirements and testing. In chapter six, he reinforces his claims from the previous chapters, giving a disheartening anecdote of a school system marred by racism.  Over the course of this week's reading, he has pushed forth the idea that “separate worlds of education are assuming sharper lines” (135).  

Being a person from a mixed background of Caucasian and Filipino, a part of me has inherently pushed a lot of the truth away. I’ve noticed myself on several occasions try and deny or justify some of the stories and episodes of discrimination that Kozol describes.  It wasn't until this latest reading that I’ve noticed that on this issue, there really should be only one definitive way of digesting this information, which is by way of acceptance. Much like accepting our privileges, we have to come to terms with our shame before we can progress as a nation. I think I knew this all along, but it wasn’t until researching the modern-day relevance that I truly believed it.   

I can recall from at least a week ago when I was having a discussion with Max Aframe that I said “Oh I don’t think school systems are as corrupt or discriminating of minorities today.” I kept telling myself that we have progressed as a nation and that much of the ruin that is recalled in the book is of the past. To my surprise, this is very much inaccurate. 

  Students Carrying Picket Signs as Part of a Citywide School Boycott

Eddie Hausner/The New York Times

Just twelve days ago, while watching the NBA All-Star game with my brother, I was given a hint of the educational inequality that is still prevalent today. On my television screen read something along the lines of “the winning team in each of the first, second and third quarters will collect $150,000 for their respective organizations:  The Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund” ("NBA: $3 million will go to HBCU's"). Not thinking much of it at the time, I thought it was just another fundraiser and form of advocacy for Black history month. After thinking it over, however, I’ve come to realize that this fundraiser means much more. Raising money for these historically black colleges is an example of the fact that we're still trying to right our wrongs. It is a direct representation of a culmination of years of flawed minority education; an education system that has been flawed since Brown v. Board of Education.

After digging up more information, I found an article from just nine days ago that wrote about a lawsuit concerning New York City school segregation. The reasoning behind the lawsuit stems from many of Kozol's arguments throughout the novel; more specifically, arguments that he touches on in chapter six. In chapter six, Kozol picks apart the socioeconomic divide and how it's the primary cause of apartheid schools. His argument is much like the one proposed in the lawsuit: that [New York] City “has a “rigged system” that sorts children academically when they are as young as 4 years old, using criteria that disproportionately benefit more affluent, white students” (Ax). The writer of the article, Joeseph Ax quotes Mark Rosenbaum of the pro bono law firm Public Counsel: “this is the first lawsuit of its kind in the nation: to secure for the children of New York City the constitutional right to an anti-racist education as an integral part of a sound and basic education.” After reading Ax's article on the New York City lawsuit, it just shocks me to hear that such a big issue is just beginning to be confronted. Overall, I think that researching the modern issue has opened my eyes to see that we are far from a fully integrated society and that we are finally taking steps to right our wrongs.

Works Cited

Ax, Joseph. "New York City school segregation perpetuates racism, lawsuit contends." Reuters, 9 Mar. 2021, www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-schools-racism/new-york-city-school-segregation-perpetuates-racism-lawsuit-contends-idUSKBN2B11WI. Accessed 18 Mar. 2021.

Kozol, Jonathan. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. New York, Three Rivers Press, 2005.

"NBA: $3 million will go to HBCU's through All-Star events in Atlanta." NBC Sports, Associated Press, 6 Mar. 2021, nba.nbcsports.com/2021/03/06/nba-3-million-will-go-to-hbcus-through-all-star-events-in-atlanta/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2021.

Hausner, Eddie. Students Carrying Picket Signs as Part of a Citywide School Boycott That Saw Hundreds of Thousands of Children Stay Home from Classes. NY Times, 26 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/nyregion/school-segregation-new-york.html. Accessed 18 Mar. 2021.