Race in and Around American Schools English essay Tagree with both of the authors that there is a problem in the United Sates education system when it comes to race and segregation but I do not think that the issue is as wide spread as the authors make it out to be but in other areas the situation is only getting worse and this lack of diversity in schools can only lead to further problems with race relations.
In comparing the essay Still Separate, still unequal: American’s Educational Apartheid by Johnathan Kozol and the essay Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Tatum you see that both essays have many similarities and differences in the points that they are trying to convey as well as the conclusions that each of the essays come to.
Each essay presents different problems in the education system in the United States with racial equity, such as the point being raised by Kozol that many schools in major cities across the country are all but segregated; but they also show that there is some potential in fixing the education system. Both authors talk about race and to some extent segregation in the education system in the United States. The focus of Tatum’s essay is within schools looking at the student population and how some clicks are formed around race.
Kozol’s main point, which is more broad, is that city schools across the country are becoming more segregated with those schools being almost all black or Hispanic in many cases. A problem that Kozol raises is that even in areas of cities that are racially mixed those schools will still be mostly black or Hispanic and not mixed like most would assume. He also shows points that some schools will preach about the need for integration in the school system but will have mostly students of one race.
Kozol shows that in many cases the “ghetto” schools are worse off than suburban or white schools. Suburban schools will be better or have better things then their city school counterparts. In Tatum’s essay she says in school cafeterias in many cases black kids will sit in a group with each other. She also raises a point saying that academic achievement is seen as “being white”. To the point where some students will find themselves alienated from groups because of their academic success. Both authors raise the point that there is still an achievement gap between white and black children.
The potential that Kozol sees is that something really needs to be done whether it’s with legislation or with people taking a stand for these schools. Tatum found that in Boston some students were bussed out of the city and into a suburban school and at first the students were lacking in performance but the school tried something new, they put the students who were bussed in into groups so they could talk with each other and with staff about the difficulties facing them. Doing this showed great improvement in student success and it changed the culture in a way that helped with success instead of preventing it.
Both authors are right on their points that certain American school districts are segregated but these districts are mainly within urban area but within these urban areas the situation isn’t getting any better. For example, in Cleveland Kozol states that 79% of students are either black or Hispanic in 2005 when his essay was written. Well according to the Ohio department of education, Cleveland schools are 64. 9% black and 15. 6% Hispanic totaling 80. 5% black or Hispanic and only 15. 4% white in 2016 (Ohio School Report Cards).
So eleven years later and the problem hasn’t gotten any better and only slightly changed. Well if we look the race break down of Cleveland in the 2000 census you can see that the black and Hispanic populations totaled 58. 22% of the total population of the city and the white population was at 41. 5%( US Census Bureau). Well if you look ten years later at the 2010 census the black and Hispanic populations total 63. 3% well white populations went down 4. 24% to 37. 28% (U. S. Census Bureau).
So even though in the city of Cleveland, Ohio white populations make up 37% of the city only they only make up 15. % of the Cleveland Municipal schools. So the problem that Kozol of inner city schools being segregated is mostly true, for Cleveland at least. Now when you look at Cleveland’s largest private school and second largest in the state of Ohio, Saint Ignatius High School. Saint Ignatius is a boys only catholic school located in an upper class neighborhood of Cleveland called Ohio city. Tuition is over 15 thousand dollars a year and the school population of 1,400 students is 87% white (Saint Ignatius High School).
This school is one of the best and in 2009 was give the Blue Ribbon award which is an award to praise schools which have achieved high levels of performance in closing the achievement gap. Saint Ignatius is a highly acclaimed and praised mostly white high school in a mostly black and Hispanic city. In a city with a population of 388,072 (U. S. Census Bureau) and with 53. 3% (Ohio School Report Cards) of that are black there is a high school that is 87% white and then have Cleveland public schools that are 80. % black and Hispanic.
This only back up Kozol’s point about white students being pulled out of mostly black school and being put into mostly white private schools. This will only create problems for these kids in the future. Similar to what Tatum points out in her essay about kids staying in their race based clicks the same may happen in their adult life’s if they are not exposed to this diversity at a young age. I believe that this is the case because those students won’t be exposed to other likeminded young people.
When these students go off into college or the workforce they won’t have nearly as much exposure to other races, creeds, and cultures. Neither of these school, Cleveland public schools and Saint Ignatius, come close to reflecting the diversity of the United States. According to the 2010 census of the United States 72. 4% of the population is white, 12. 6% are black, and 16. 3% of the population is Hispanic. The schools are not reflecting the overall populations and like | stated before it will only case problems in the future when these current students become future workers whether it be in a cooperate environment or in labor.
In conclusion both of the authors state that there is a problem in the United Sates education system when it comes to race and segregation but | do not think that the issue is as wide spread as the authors make it out to be but in other areas the situation is only getting worse and this lack of diversity in schools can only lead to further problems with race relations. Both authors have their flaws in their essays but they do raise good points and do a good job at pointing out problems in the United States education system.
