On June 22, 2015, Marc Maron hosted President Barack Obama on his comedy podcast “WTF”, and the President, less inhibited in his speech than usual, said something that would blow the minds of Americans everywhere:
“We are not cured of it [racism]. And it’s not just a matter of being able to say the ‘n-word’ in public. That’s not the measure of whether or not racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.”
Expectedly, critics jumped on Obama’s use of the “n-word,” but his message was much more far-reaching than that. President, Obama understands, possibly more than most, how racism is intertwined into 21st century America. It’s no longer about lynchings or segregated bathrooms. Racism today is sneaky, systematic, and internalized.
The podcast “This American Life” is very popular, as far as podcasts go, but their credibility and popularity skyrocketed when they released “The Problem We All Live With,” a critical report on segregation in schools. The title of podcast comes from Normal Rockwell’s 1964 painting of the same name. This painting depicts Ruby Bridges, a six-year old black girl on her way to an all-white public school in New Orleans in 1960. Parents and other students made numerous threats to her life, so she is being escorted by four deputy U.S. marshals. Behind her, there are several symbols of hate: the inscribing of the words “n-word” and “KKK,” along with a smashed tomato that was thrown. President Obama had the painting installed in the White House, right outside the Oval Office.
The nation started massive desegregation of schools in 1971. In that year, black 13-year-olds scored 39 percentage points lower on standardized reading tests than white students of the same age. At the statistical height of desegregation, 1988, that figure dropped to just 18 percentage points. Since then, we have started to resegregate our schools, and the racial achievement gap has widened, to 29 percent, at the turn of the century. Right now, New York state has the most racially and economically segregated schools in the country, with about 73 percent of schools being practically racially or economically homogenous. In fact, minority students are often doubly segregated because of the intimate connection between race and class in America. This results in a school environment devoid of motivated teachers, good resources and involved parents. The US Department of Education reported last year that black and Latino kids in segregated schools have the least qualified and experienced teachers, the worst course offerings, the least access to AP and upper level courses and the worst facilities. Couple these details with that fact that many of these students are already disadvantaged by their family life and by the stereotypes that saturate society, and you’ll see that we have a problem.
An unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot by a police officer on August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, St. Louis, and this sparked nationwide outrage and protests. He became a national symbol against racialized police brutality. However, without discounting the experiences of many, the fact is that most black kids will not be shot by the police. Instead, many will attend similar schools, and be woefully disadvantaged. In 2014, Michael Brown’s senior year, his school district was performing as follows: points for academic achievement in English: zero; math: zero; social studies,: zero; science: zero; points for college placement: zero. In eleven of thirteen measures, the district didn’t earn a single point. Instead of losing accreditation, like what was supposed to happen with low performing schools, the Normandy school district was given a warning…every year for fifteen years. Officials tried tirelessly to improve, cycling through teachers and principals every year, but nothing short of moving schools worked for the students.
To solve Normandy’s problem, the parents decided to lobby for integration with nearby white schools. However, the school officials were afraid of losing their jobs, and gamed the system so that in order for black kids in Normandy to move to better schools, they would have to travel 60 miles everyday. Even with this condition, some kids decided to go, but the white parents in the other district shut the program down at a parents’ meeting. One of the first questions asked was whether or not the arrival of the black kids from Normandy would be accompanied by metal detectors, for the children’s safety. Another was, “I’m hoping their discipline records, like their health records, come with them.” The students that wanted to make the 60 mile trip everyday were devoted to their education, but nevertheless, they were stereotyped because of their race, with seemingly good intentions.
This is only one example of the fight against segregation, and the tactics used by parents in better districts to keep schools homogenous. Segregation is a phenomenon in many school districts around the country, with school officials, state officials and parents being against the education of minority children. The fact is, this situation is a perfect example of 21st century racism. Racism is systematic, and it is time we shift the energy we use to fight the seldom occurrences of explicit bias to challenge the laws, and failures of the law, that adversely affect the most vulnerable in our community.
