Segregation in Education Until the 1950s, the equal

Segregation in Education
   In my lecture today, I’d like to talk about the Segregation in Education. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees each citizen equal protection under the law. However, up until the 1950s, this equal protection was interpreted as "separate but equal" for Americans of European ancestry and Americans of African ancestry. This segregation was most apparent in education. American public schools have not always been racially integrated, but since the 1950s, efforts have been made to integrate America society through the schools. The road to integrating America’s schools has been a long and hard one, and the goals of integration have changed along the way.
   In the early 1800s, black slaves were not allowed to attend schools in America, so all schools were white. In later years, black and white children both attended public schools, but separately. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that "segregation by race did not necessarily imply racial inferiority," thus upholding the doctrine of "separate but equal." The decision resulted in the continuation of segregated schooling. It was not until many years later that the nation officially repudiated its segregation policies. In 1954, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling of "separate but equal" The Supreme Court then interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to mean that states had to provide equal educational opportunities to all students and viewed segregated schooling as "inherently unequal." This momentous decision practically banned segregation in the public school-at least in theory.
   For several years, however, there was no real attempt made to integrate the schools. Because U.S. education is not nationalized, powerful local school districts were able to continue their old practices. Then in the late 1960s and early 1970s, several court decisions ordered the elimination of segregated schools. Desegregation processes were instituted through mandatory busing, in which children from predominantly white school systems were sent in buses to black schools, and children from predominantly black school systems were sent to white schools. The focus was on integrating African-Americans into the mainstream of white America. Many families in busing programs have been satisfied with the results. However, opponents of busing point out that it is ironic that children must spend so much time traveling to school on buses.
   Even advocates of busing concede that busing may have created more problems than expected. Many white parents have protested busing by fleeing the inner city for the suburbs; others have enrolled their children in private schools. This "white flight" has caused cities and schools to .re-segregate, forming even more racially isolated ghettos within many American cities. Thus, there is evidence that the number of racially segregated schools is now on the rise, though the physical separation of children by race is far less common than it was in 1954. In fact, in some areas of the United States, particularly in the Northeast, the degree of racial separation in the schools is even greater than it was in 1954.
   Under these circumstances, some African-Americans as well have left their own communities, in order to live in safer areas with better schools. This has left inner-city children with fewer successful, well-educated black role models, and instead has allowed the negative example of drug dealers to take their place. Many black parents have also come to oppose school busing, insisting instead on better quality educational programs in neighborhood schools.
   In recent years, educators and governments have sought new ways to deal with segregation. In a recent case, the Supreme Court softened its position, ruling that school systems could be freed from mandatory busing if they complied "in good faith" with desegregation orders. Alternative plans for integrating schools have been offered, many of them focusing on curriculum improvement and teacher training.
   These plans are often referred to as "choice" because parents gain the right to choose their children’s school, public or private. Many believe that giving parents the right to choose a school will lead to "rountary" desegregation and that a free-market approach to schooling is one of the only ways to improve the quality of American education and give equal opportunity to all students. Critics of this approach claim that many schools will be left abandoned as students and their families choose the better schools.
   One example of a choice program is the "magnet schools" designed to draw white students back into inner city schools by offering a specialized curriculum, focusing, for example, on science or art. With quality education incentives, these schools also work toward integration by balancing the ratio of black and white students in each school. Magnet schools have been successful in some areas but not so in others. Although some parents are attracted to the focused curriculum of a magnet school, they remain reluctant to send their children back to inner-city public schools. African-American parents see the emphasis on getting white students to enroll in the magnet schools as an insult.
   Critics maintain that the situation may lead to more segregated schooling as the more highly educated parents tend to choose the best schools. All in all, the school does seem to be the most appropriate place to ensure that all people have equal opportunity in "one nation under God." So far, it has been the most appropriate place to begin the process of integration. The best method for realizing this goal, however, remains unclear.