Brown v Board of Education - Research Paper Example

?Although Brown vs. Board of Education decision had a huge influence on desegregation of schools, research indicates that racial inequalities within the educational system still persist.  Introduction  The Blacks brought to Western countries including the U.S.A. as slaves were being denied civil rights for centuries together. In the U.S. blacks were formally liberated from their slavery in recognition of their participation in the war against the colonial rulers. It is alleged that the partiality or unequal treatment towards Blacks still continues although they have been accepted as citizens and conferred with voting rights. The subtle discrimination against Blacks in America is alleged to be in existence in all walks of life. This paper seeks to examine discriminatory treatment being meted out to African Americans in the field of education alone. Background  This study is prompted by the theory that although the Supreme Court of the United States put an end to the practice of segregation of African American students from Whites schools by its decision in Brown v Board of Education 1 in 1954 and there have been marked changes in the treatment of African Americans, discriminatory practices against them still exist in the U.S. educational institutions in subtle forms even after nearly six decades. The Brown decision actually made the effects of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution absolute by putting an end to the practices circumventing segregation in educational institutions. The same Supreme Court which justified “separate but equal” doctrine in its decision in Plessey v. Ferguson2, it emphatically ruled in Brown that such a doctrine had no place in public educational system. It is with this background, that this research proceeds to examine the hypothesis “Although Brown vs. Board of Education decision had a huge influence on desegregation of schools, research indicates that racial inequalities within the educational system still persist.”  Minor Claim  The major finding of several studies is that school desegregation basically changed the people of color who had been mired in the cross-currents of racism. In 1970s, educators faced enormous challenges in bringing about racial integration in educational system alone while the African Americans were segregated in the fields housing, social institutions, and employment. Thus, public schools could achieve only limited success in integration of white and black students in desegregated schools. A study involving six communities and schools reveals that educators tried to convince the middle class white parents and students for desegregation so as to prevent them from moving out which would make the public schools economically unviable. At the same time, black students were often asked to leave their community schools by offering them bus facilities and such actions resulted in the closure of those black schools. (Wells, Holmes and Revilla). The policy makers tried to bring about color blindness in toto. It was to some extent achieved as stated by the authors “….when several of the districts and schools we studied had seen a great deal of racial tension and even “rioting”. By the late 70s, a degree of clam had returned; not talking about race seemed the best way to “keep the peace” and “to keep the lid on things” (Wells, Holmes and Revilla 13). Major Claim  A Prejudice and unequal treatment Although schools were desegregated and students of color and whites started attending the same public schools, the administration put the black students in separate class rooms within the same schools. Their needs were often ignored (Wells, Holmes and Revilla). African Americans are over represented in special education The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)3 provides for free public education to students with disabilities. This special education efforts call for initiatives on the part of schools to have appropriate procedures to ensure that a child referred for special education is actually a child with disability requiring special education. It is often the case that wrong cases of children are referred for special education. It is especially the case with African American students in many districts of the country. This results in a disproportionate representation of group membership for special education. Overrepresentation in special education is said to occur when the membership of a particular group, say African Americans is found to be larger than the percentage of that group in the overall educational system or within a given disability group. Such a variance is a cause for concern (CouncilForExceptionalChildren and BlackSchoolEducation). It has been contended that disproportionate representation of African American students in special education results due to inadequate/wrong allocation of educational resources, wrongful curriculum and pedagogy, and insufficient teacher preparation. The White privilege and racism is charged with referring disproportionate number of African American students for special education categories such as mental retardation and learning disabilities. Such students once labeled as such tend to show results in achievement gains and come out of special education at rates much higher than those of their counterparts in White students with disabilities. In spite of the avowed objective of more equitable treatment of students with disabilities, majority of African American students are educated in segregated and self-contained settings with no scope for exposure or access to their nondisabled students or to the curriculum of general education. This state of affairs is suggestive of racism in both the educators’ initial referral and eventual placement of them in special education with the label of disabilities (Blanchet). A 1998 study says that it is the IQ testing processes backed by flawed technologies, cultural differences, parent and teaching and training problems, economic conditions and failure of schools to adequately educate the students with disabilities that are responsible for disproportionality in placement for special education. The study has found that the high incidence of African American students for special education is associated with highest percentage of white teachers. But, where there are black teachers in majority, placement of black males for special education is less (Janette). It is argued that special education with $ 60 billion at stake is affecting the lives of African American students adversely resulting in disproportionate representation. Since the decision of Brown in 1954, the percentage of decline of African American teachers is 66 %. And now there are only 7 % of American teachers who are African Americans as against 17 % of African American students (Kunjufu). African Americans are disproportionately represented in special education Writers on special education happen to be mainly European American researchers researching on a field with backgrounds and experiences different from their own. Since special education is intertwined with issues of race, culture and language, it needs to be legitimized with African-American scholars. African-Americans are still experiencing segregation and disempowerment and economic disparities. It is argued that ever since adoption of special education, students of African-American background are rather disproportionately represented in certain educational programs. The research undertaken through semi-structured interviews with six participants of color in doctoral programs in special education at primarily white institutions (PWIs) on their lived experiences at the programs confirms the disproportionate representation of people of color in the PWIs. The themes of the interviews were “impact, isolation’ mentorship, financial support, and research. As for the impact, five of them were classroom teachers who had firsthand observance of cultural mismatch between white students and students of color and disproportionate representation. Two of them found large number of colored students in their class rooms labeled with special education. They felt that there ought to be more number of colored teachers so as to remove the mismatch or disconnection between white teachers and students of color. Teachers of color would serve as cultural translators as well as advocates as an alternative to the present domination of white teachers. Secondly, isolation was experienced by the participants as “outsiders within” among the predominantly white teachers at the PWIs. Loneliness was felt both in respect of lack of colored students and faculty in their department where they underwent their doctoral programs. They felt like minority in their own doctoral programs. Yet another informed of a different form of isolation in respect of the type of research. Not many of their colleagues did qualitative research in that the faculty in the department had either had no expertise or interests on diverse topics and research methods. Thirdly, the mentorship was also not sufficiently available from the faculty of color who were limited in number. In fact, one participant who had multiple mentors in his previous institution had been advised against sticking to one single mentorship which he would find frustrating, having to ‘live and die in that relationship”. Fourthly, lack of financial support is another impediment to pursue studies at the doctoral level. Though majority of them struggled to obtain minimum GRE score for admission, they could not get funding without getting a higher GRE score. Fourthly, the research methodology. There was nobody to guide them how to write for their intended audience since many doctoral students of color had difficulty in writing (Shealy). African Americans are underrepresented in gifted education When a student is able to perform or has the potential to perform with an intellectual capacity at a higher rate, than other student of the equal age, she/he is identified as gifted and talented. Gifted education being a special education, there are certain considerations and mandates to be followed in the assessment of them. In Diana v State Board of Education (1973)4 it was ruled that assessment must held in the student’s primary language. The decision in Lau v Nichols (1974) 5 made it mandatory to have programs in primary language of the student so as to ensure equal education opportunities. And the Equal Education Amendment of 1974 6 requires the testing to be nondiscriminatory. It has been reported that only one half of eligible gifted and talented African American are represented in special education. It is of genuine concern because representation not proportionate to the population demonstrates unfairness and discriminatory practices.(Lidia). The underrepresentation of gifted and talented students of African American origin has been mentioned in a 1992 Office of the Civil Rights (OCR) Report.7 There were 25,077,421 students in the public schools out of which 21.1 % were African American. Out of 1,412,011 students identified as gifted and talented, 12.1 % were African American. This demonstrates an under representation by 41 %. The Jacob K.Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act 19888 was enacted to address the issues of underrepresentation of the gifted minority students. Section 3062 (b) of the Act states “to provide financial assistance to State and local Agencies to initiate a coordinated program of research ….designed to build a nationwide capability in elementary and secondary schools to meet the special educational needs of the gifted and talented students” (Ford). Other claims The need for special education was found to be associated with the styles of movement of African American students. A randomized factorial study has concluded that the 136 middle school teacher respondents felt that African American students’ “culture-related movement styles” as lower in achievement, higher in aggression, and more likely to need special education services than students with standard movement styles” (Neal, McCray and Webb-Johnson). It is not true that Brown failed in its promise or it is still an unrealized dream. Armour (2006) argues that critics have misconception of the Brown decision since it was not aimed at bridging the black-white achievement gap. What Brown aimed was to end legally sanctioned segregation known as de jure segregation. And that was eventually achieved with initial resistance. Brown did not look at de facto segregation which had to with private actions such as housing. Since there was no clear demarcation for de jure segregation, Brown’s effect was delayed until the Swan decision of 19709 when the Supreme Court provided for racial balance and busing plan for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina. Widespread desegregation became a reality throughout the South only after Swan decision and after the Keys decision10 for Denver, throughout Northern cities. And there is no doubt that segregation has been substantially reduced throughout the nation. De facto segregation during 1990s concerning Hispanic population could not be treated as failure of Brown since a de facto segregation is not violative of constitutional law. This cannot be considered as a return of segregation prior to Brown. Next concern of the author is the achievement gap which Brown is alleged to have failed to achieve. It is actually not true because it was never the intention or aim of Brown decision to close the gap by improving the learning by blacks. All it wanted was to remove the low self esteem among the Black children due to segregation though foot note 11 of the decision suggested that the decision aimed at improving black achievement. Brown’s conclusion was that segregation was inherently unequal and that stigma being self evident needed no further proof. Research in 1963 belied Brown decision since it was proved that black self-esteem was higher than white self esteem in black schools and blacks in desegregated schools had lower self esteem than those in segregated schools. The author argues that achievement gap is not due to segregation in schools but due to family and social circumstances of the children before they enter kindergarten. The recent No Child Left behind Act (NCLB)11 does impose sanctions on schools that fail to achieve equal proficiencies for black and white students alike by 2014. This has positive results through some improvement in test scores. It is only after a while, the effect of NCLB could be tested. The author again argues that NCLB is problematic since there is no proven education technology to guide schools to close the achievement gap. In support of the above findings, a study by Lori D Patton and Christopher Catching in 2009 finds that African American faculty are underrepresented in PWIs. It has been reported that 78 % of the 675,624 full time teachers at degree colleges are predominantly White and non-Hispanic. African American teachers comprise of only 4 %. The rest consists of other people of color. The absence of African American faculty creates a wrong impression that the people of color are not fit for higher education. It also discourages an institution from engaging the faculty of African American origin. This results in a limited number of African American mentors for the African American students which is a crucial factor for their academic success. The African American faculty also find that they have to work twice as hard as their White counterparts. African American women form 51 % African American faculty i.e 2.7 % of the total full time faculty at degree granting colleges. They also “endure the effects of racism and sexism simultaneously and are stereotyped as loud, aggressive and bitchy and receive lesser salaries than Whites” and even their own male counterparts. It is also reported that students in the class rooms challenge the knowledge and authority of these faculty of color and have low level of respect for them (Patton and Catching). The study of Michelle Jay also echoes the above experiences of African American educators who find themselves raced in their own school environments in that they are subject to isolation, discrimination, and subordination. The participants in the study were five African American educators who had given in-depth phenomenological interviews. Their interviews crystallized to seven major thematic experiences : “ 1) Hyper-visibility/invisibility, 2) intersecting identities, 3) challenging assumptions, 4) challenges to authority, 5) pigeonholing, 6) presumption of failure, and 7) coping fatigue. “ (Jay). The study concludes that racism is endemic and permanent in American society and is widespread in public school settings. It suggests that building-level administrators can correct this racial discrimination. (Jay). Denial admission in law schools Under the pretext of low score in Law School Admission Test (LSAT), African Americans are denied admission in law schools as an indirect discrimination against blacks. This institutional racism is so subtle that it is difficult to overcome. The standardized test score for admission into top-tier law schools renders black enrollment to less than 2 % of the total intake. During the ten year period up to 2006, law school admissions for African Americans and Mexican Americans had drastically reduced. This is despite the fact there has been rise in the number of applications and rise in the average of their UGPA and LSAT scores. Institutions can be ‘overtly racist’, ‘reluctantly racist’, ‘timidly or reformed racist’ or ‘non-racist’. Some institutions are falsely non-racist as they are in the regions where there is no demand from colored populations. It is very rare to be a non-racist institution having “no biases or prejudices against Blacks and no discriminatory behaviors”. A timid or reformed racist institution is the one that considers Blacks as less capable as attorneys but does not indulge in discriminatory behaviors. The University of Dayton in which the author was the admission committee member in 2003 for the third time was a committed institution towards social justice and diversity. Located in Ohio, Dayton city had 50 % of the population as African Americans. There were three colleges with a significant number of black students. The Dayton Law School had policies of “presumptive admit, presumptive deny, or committee review based on the applicants’ LSAT score and UGPA combined. Those who were not either presumptively admitted or denied, were taken up for committee review for which there was no written criteria. The committee had six members consisting of four faculty members, the admissions director and a student. Members were given three lists of presumptive admit, presumptive deny and committee review. The list contained a column for race or ethnic background among other items. The presumptive deny list had final 99.55 % denials. Thus out of 449 applications under deny category, only two were admitted. This was absolute. The author says that absolute presumptive deny is objectionable since such as practice would work against racial minorities particularly African Americans (Randall) Conclusion  The research undertaken above suggests that desegregation has travelled a long journey since the 1954 decision of Brown which became the cornerstone for building up of integrated racial systems in the field of education. The long journey since the decision which was a marked departure by the Supreme Court, has seen important milestones of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Equal Education Amendment Act, The Jacob K.Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act 1988, No Child Left behind Act (NCLB) which have served to tone down the racist tendencies while trying to mitigate the hardships of the disadvantaged people in general all these years. It is unfortunate that in spite of these genuine governmental measures, racism in subtle forms still exist. The Brown decision has perhaps been the watershed in the tackling of racism in education and there seems be nothing more that can be done by the judiciary and the government. Basically, the mindset of the people should change which may take few more decades if not centuries. Works cited Armour, David J. "Brown and Black-White Achievement." Academic Questions 19.2 (2006): 40-46. Print. Blanchet, Wanda J. "Disproportionate Representation of African American Students in Special Education: Acknowledging the Role of WHite Privilege and Racism." Educational Researcher 35.6 (2006): 24-28. Print. CouncilForExceptionalChildren and NationalAllianceof BlackSchoolEducation. "The Preferral Intervention Process." Addressing Over-Representation of African American Students in Special Education, An Administrator's Guide. 2002. Print. Ford, Donna Y. "The Underrepresentation of Minority Students in Gifted Education: Problems and Promises in Recruitment and Rentention." The Journal of Special Education 32.1 (1998): 4-14. Print. Janette, Harrera. The Disproportionate Placement of African Americans in Special Education: An Analysis of Ten Cities. 1998 Web 15 Nov 2011. Jay, Michelle. "Race-ing through the school day: African American educators' expereinces with race and racism in schools." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 22.6 (2009): 671-685. Print. Kunjufu, Jawanza. Black Boys and Special Education - Change is needed. 2009 Web 15 Nov 2011. Lidia, T Anguiano. Underrepresentation of minority students in gifted and talented education. 2003 Web 15 Nov 2011. Neal, La Vonne I, et al. "The Effects of African American Movement Styles on Teachers’ Perceptions and Reactions." The Journal of Special Education 37.1 (2003): 49-57.Print. Patton, Lori D and Christopher Catching. "'Teaching while black': narratives of African American student affairs faculty." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 22.6 (2009): 713-728. Print. Randall, Vernellia R. "The Misuse Of The Lsat:Discrimination Against Blacks And Other Minorities In Law School Admissions." St John's Law Review 80 (2006): 107-151.Print. Shealy, Monica Williams. "Voices of African-American doctoral students in special education:addressing the shortage in leadership preparation." Race Ethnicity and Education 12.3 (2009): 349-361.Print. Wells, Stuart Wells, et al. "How Desegregation Changed Us: The Effects of Racially Mixed Schools on Students and Society to be published in "In Saerch of Brown"." 2005. Print. Read More