and other court-ordered remedies, the combination of white flight from urban public school
districts and a series of Supreme Court decisions
limiting the use of desegregation strategies have
resulted in a widespread pattern of resegregation.
Because of segregated housing patterns,
neighborhood schools are most often segre-
This is important, you
can do it, and we will
not give up on you.
?
gated schools. Not much can be done about
that without housing policy that encourages
the development of racially integrated neighborhoods. But that does not mean that schools
serving children of color cannot be the beacons
of educational opportunity for which previous
generations struggled. The presence of white
children should not be required to ensure students have adequate facilities, a challenging curriculum, well-qualified teachers, and a learning
atmosphere conducive to success.
There are examples, past and present, of
schools where children of color, regardless of
family income, have achieved at high levels. The
Connect Students to Society
Susan Eaton
Educators in segregated, high-poverty school districts don’t usually have time to reflect on the causes and consequences
of growing racial and economic isolation. Their
concerns are immediate and often urgent: maintaining adequate budgets, retaining teachers,
nudging up test scores. Urging “desegregation”
might seem futile in places where 90 percent
of students are African American or Latino and
where government-enforced boundary lines
determine the demographics of schools. But
segregation is not immutable. And it is harmful.
Concerned educators can begin by contributing their insights and public support to the
key to that success is in the constant drumbeat
of high expectations conveyed by teachers and
administrators working in partnership with
engaged parents. Three key messages are at the
heart of school success: This is important, you
can do it, and we will not give up on you. These
messages, are especially important for children
from groups who too often have received,
directly or indirectly, the messages, “You can’t do
it” and “We have already given up on you.”
In an ideal multiracial society, the important
skill of learning to interact with others different
from oneself would be achieved along with
learning to read, write, and reason quantita-
tively. But racially mixed environments do not
guarantee that skill. Unless the learning envi-
ronment is one where all children are expected
to perform at a high level, the lesson that white
children and children of color learn is too often
a reinforcement of racial hierarchies and ide-
ology about assumed inferiority and superiority.
We cannot afford to keep teaching that old
lesson. We must invest in the potential of all
our children if we are to compete globally. That
means investing in high-quality education no
matter who is sitting in the classroom. V
Beverly Daniel Tatum is president of Spelman
College in Atlanta, Georgia, and the author of Can
We Talk About Race? And Other Conversations
in an Era of School Resegregation (Beacon Press,
2008); BTatum@spelman.edu.
National Coalition on School
Diversity (NCSD), a network
of national civil rights organizations and others (my own
organization is a member)
advocating a greater commitment to racial and economic diversity in federal
policy and funding. NCSD
urges federal government
officials to increase funding for voluntary, public
magnet schools that enroll a diverse student
body. We ask that the government issue official
guidance on how local school boards can legally
achieve racial diversity. We advocate for funding
to allow students in segregated metropolitan
areas to cross district lines to attend school.
At other levels of government, educators can
PHO TO BY MA TTHEW SCH WARTZ
