It's 2023, why are schools still segregated?
It's 2023, why are schools still segregated?
So it is 2023, and we are taught in schools about all of this so-called progress we have made. People of color are treated equally and so are women and LGBTQ2+ individuals right? We hear about these laws passed in our favor but when you really pay attention you see we have yet to see the change promised. For today's blog post, we focus on why schools remain segregated. And there is no argument against it, schools absolutely remain segregated.
Growing up I was fortunate enough to live in a high-income area. I was proud of my immigrant parents and their work to provide a better life for me. But living in this area always felt as though I was in a bubble. The majority if not all of my classmates were white. And me being a white Latina I saw the difference in how I was treated compared to my brown Latino peers. See, I had seen racism against my parents only a few times when they had a heavy accent, but otherwise we "fit in" as a family. Being white and having an American accent I was privileged to not experience the racism my classmates received just because they were brown. I was considered the token Latina friend but why not my peers? Even my mother would have her friend groups and she was seen as cute when she had a heavy accent on certain words, she was seen as a character almost to them. For their entertainment like Sofia Vergara in modern family. But my mom remained the only minority friend they had, and remember, she is white. In school everyone made me being Latina my entire personality, but they didn't care enough to remember that I was Costa Rican instead I was always the Puerto Rican girl. And I am not insulted being called Puerto Rican it was the lack of care to even remember what country I am from while they are so focused on reminding me of it. But my brown Latino peers would never get that same attention. They looked different from us. I would come to school and see everyone talking amongst themselves and in the corners would be small groups of Latino or black students. Although never said aloud, they were segregated from the rest of us. Many of my Latino classmates did not speak English as a first language. And there was a time when I remember in math that my teacher had me teach a classmate in Spanish about a subject I didn't even know myself. Of course, I was happy to help, but looking back why did the teacher not help find the resources for that student. My classmate was always falling behind and the teacher simply felt it wasn't her responsibility because to her it was not her fault or responsibility to help her, to her it was on my classmate for being the one who doesn't English. Most of my Latino classmates ended up dropping out due to the lack of resources and help provided.
Even when a minority student has the opportunity to attend a higher-income school, the system is built to fail them. Teachers do not aid them and students leave them out. And even though my white students weren't always aware of it, they were mistreating my peers and me. Our Latino culture is not something that is cute and can only be accepted on your terms with certain people depending on their skin. And it is not normal to attend a school that separates students the way it does. Systemic oppression is an incredibly real issue that keeps minorities in a vicious cycle of poverty. I have seen it first hand and I bet y'all have too. If you really pay attention it happens in schools and jobs and it surrounds us. And it is something that needs to be spoken about because some people simply don't know or realize that it is an issue. In a survey by Gallup News, American adults were asked if schools are still segregated, white adults had the lowest percentage when it came to saying yes while black and Latino adults had a higher percentage. The sad reality is that if something does not affect you sometimes you turn a blind eye. Why care if it doesn't affect you? But the truth is it affects all of us. If we want to build a better society, and if we care about our black and Latino peers the way we claim we do, then we cannot afford to turn a blind eye. It's 2023, why are schools still segregated? I hope to not have to ask that question in the future.
Hi Bella!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post! I agree with you that we endorse that we have made all of these so called changes but no real change has been made. As a white female who had no financial obstacles, I never experienced discrimination in ways that others have. That is so funny that you mention Sofia Vergara as Gloria in Modern Family as I am watching Modern Family right now as I write this comment. One of my favorite Gloria moments is when she explains that she actually is really smart and a lot of people do not take her seriously due to her accent. I am glad that I grew up in a very diverse community and learned very quickly how to view others as equals. I got to see how some of my other friends who went to schools that were the white majority had different views when it came to segregation than I did.
Hello! Thank you for your comment. Isn't it a wonderful show? It is for sure one of my comfort shows. And yes I love that you brought up that quote of hers. Another one of hers that I like is a similar one where she says that if people tried to speak her language they would see just how smart she is. These stereotypes are so painful to see and I hated seeing them with my mom. People assume she doesn't know much, meanwhile, she studied to be a food chemist in her country and my father is an engineer. Seeing my parent's experiences helped me learn to pay attention to what others and their own families go through.
DeleteHello Bella!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I appreciate your openness and willingness to talk about not only, the struggles you and your family faced, but also your peers. This conversation is based around discrimination within the schools but we aren't talking enough about how this discrimination is initially being put into play. In my anthropology class we frequently talk about the cycle a lot of minority groups are stuck in. There is a significant wage gap between a white man and a Latina or Black women. Wage gaps directly affect what families can afford, therefore affecting where they can live. Lower income leads to living in lower income neighborhoods, which leads to lower funded schools with less resources. This is not to say that higher income neighborhoods offer more resources, it's actually quite the opposite. Race disparities in higher income schools are overlooked because, to put it quite bluntly, there are less people of color in higher income schools compared to white kids. Not to mention that this cycle will directly affect if people of color are able to afford going to college, or if their parents can help them financially until they get a stable job, or how lower income students have to work, interfering with their homework or extracurriculars. This is not to say that low income white kids are not affected the same way, or that higher income people of color are not affected. It is to say that the large majority is at a disadvantage. There are racist people in every career path, whether it is intentional or not, that is something I feel like we will never be able to overcome because we can't make everyone a good person. My question to you is, how do you propose we attack this issue directly within the classroom? And do you believe that we even can address this within schools without first breaking the cycle and addressing the wage gap?
Hello Haley! Thank you for your comment. To address your questions, I think to attack this from within the classroom is by educating our students on social issues. I believe the main reason people have ignorance stems from a lack of education. If we begin to teach our students from a young age about the society around them I think we can plant a seed for them to form their own opinions. And honestly, I don't think we can fully have a successful shot at addressing it and it having the proper impact without making a conscious effort to break the cycle. If we teach our students that the cycle or wage gap is wrong, what message will we send if we don't even put in the effort ourselves to change?
DeleteHi Bella! Your blog post this week was so eye opening and overall awesome. Thank you for sharing. Your personal experience. This will help others realize that segregation in schools happens everywhere. It is not just something you hear on TV or reading articles, it most likely is happening right in front of you. I really liked what you said, looking back you did not understand why your teacher did not help find the resources for that student and how your classmates were always falling behind and the teacher simply felt it wasn't her responsibility. This happens too much in our schools. It is the teacher’s responsibility to teach all of the students no matter the challenges. Every student is there to learn and it is the schools responsibility to provide the help each of the students need. I’ve seen this happen in my own school in many different ways. Student’s with different learning disabilities were alway put last while the rest of the class ran circles around them. Thank you for understanding and I am sorry that you have had the opportunity to witness this segregation in real life, but I am glad you are here to advocate against it.
ReplyDeleteHi Bella, I really enjoyed your blog this week about how schools are still segregated. I completely agree with you and your opinion about how there has been no major change made to help end segregation. I loved how you included your own personal experience in your blog. Your experience will help others see just how important this issue is and could help others step up and make a much-needed change in our society. I believe that there needs to be a big change made in our schooling system and discrimination shouldn’t be an issue for schools anymore. This only hurts students and can get in the way of them learning. As a future teacher I believe that teachers should make their classrooms feel welcoming and teach their students the importance of diversity. I am really thankful that I grew up in diverse schools and got to experience what schooling systems should be like.
ReplyDeleteHi Bella! I really enjoyed getting the chance to read your blog this week. I totally agree that while we are being told that things are being done to end segregation, there is no actual change for those affected. I enjoyed reading about your personal experiences, as they provide more insight to your points. There is a lot that needs changing in our education system, but I do feel like ending segregation should be at the top of the list. Students are currently being punished for things completely out of their control, which is just driving a wedge further and further between our country. I feel that most of us currently on track to becoming teachers feel this way as well, but my question is why are more people not talking about this currently, and why are they not as angry as us?
ReplyDeleteHi Bella! I really enjoyed your blog post this week. I cannot put myself in your shoes since I grew up as a white woman in a higher income area however, I am able to see now that I am also out of the "bubble" that the school system is geared towards the success of people like me. It makes me so sad to know that so many children have had experiences like that and simply cannot do anything to change it however, we can be that change and I thoroughly believe that. What do you think would be a good plan of action to tackle this issue as just first year teachers? Do you feel that people will take us seriously with not much experience in the field? I wonder what the education system will look like 10 years from now and I hope that it changes for the sake of the students in school.
ReplyDeleteHi Bella! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week! I think it is amazing that you are open about your experiences in school being a Latina woman. I think often times, people do not realize that the way they treat people can make an impact on them, good or bad. It was very saddening to hear about the teacher that did not support your classmate. I think this is a very bad quality to have because as a teacher, your number one priority should be to make sure all students are receiving equal education in your classroom so for this teacher to not provide help to the non english speaking student is very upsetting. I appreciate that you opened our eyes to this type of segregation because a lot of the time, people do not understand that they are separating themselves from people that do not look like them.
ReplyDelete