Reflection/Connections
This week’s reading involved a LOT of information regarding
race and the Brown vs. Board of Education dispute from a few different sources.
I wish I had the time to go through every point in each source, but unfortunately
I don’t, so I’m going to focus on a few points that had strong connections to
other articles that we’ve read in class.
When I read
this, it shaped the way that I began thinking about the rest of the case: whether white Americans realize it or not,
the main reason that they oppose integration in schools is because of their
dominance in society: white privilege. Including African American children into
the all-white schools would mean that they would have a chance at surpassing
whites in supremacy, so they opposed it in order to keep black Americans in a
second-class status in society. This reminded me of a quote that I mentioned in
a previous post from McIntosh: “Most talk by whites about equal opportunity
seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of
dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.” Throughout the Brown
vs. Board of Education case, whites constantly deny that this dominance exists
by stating that the schools, while separate, are still equal and provide equal
opportunity. This statement is 100% false, yet they still continued to use it
to support their argument and their white privilege.
While reading through the website
on the history of the Brown vs. Board of Education, not only did I learn much
more detail about the court case than I had learned before, but I also found
many places where themes from other authors came into play. Obviously, the case
revolves around race and society, so I found many connections to articles that focused
on problems dealing with race in society, but I connected it mostly to Peggy
McIntosh’s piece on White Privilege. A sentence that stuck out to me on the website
in the section about educated students was “Segregated education was designed to confine these children
to a subservient role in society and second-class citizenship.”
When I read
this, it shaped the way that I began thinking about the rest of the case: whether white Americans realize it or not,
the main reason that they oppose integration in schools is because of their
dominance in society: white privilege. Including African American children into
the all-white schools would mean that they would have a chance at surpassing
whites in supremacy, so they opposed it in order to keep black Americans in a
second-class status in society. This reminded me of a quote that I mentioned in
a previous post from McIntosh: “Most talk by whites about equal opportunity
seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of
dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.” Throughout the Brown
vs. Board of Education case, whites constantly deny that this dominance exists
by stating that the schools, while separate, are still equal and provide equal
opportunity. This statement is 100% false, yet they still continued to use it
to support their argument and their white privilege.
The video interviews with Tim Wise also made me think about other
articles that we’ve read in class, particularly Allan Johnson’s “Privilege,
Power, and Difference” as well as McIntosh on white privilege. When Wise talks
about Obama’s presidency and racism, he brings up many issues that these two
authors discuss in their articles. Something that stood out to me was the
concept of “Racism 2.0” as Wise describes it: the idea of “enlightened exceptionalism,”
or that President Obama, even though he is a person of color, he transcends the
racial stereotype because he is an outstanding individual. Our society has a
very strong double standard for people of color. As Wise states, ““I
don’t think we want to have a society where in order to be a successful person
of color, you have to bring it the way Obama brings it, ‘cause we all know that
there’s never been an acceptable limiting archetype for acceptable whiteness.” Basically,
if you are not white, you must be absolutely exceptional in order to be
considered successful, while whites are allowed room for mediocrity.
This discussion reminded me of Allan Johnson, specifically
his list of white privilege versus the challenges that people of color deal
with: in particular, “It is easier for a ‘good, but not great’ white player
[athlete] to make a professional team than it is for a similar black; “whites
are more likely than comparable blacks to…be given poor information or the
runaround during the application process”; and “whites can succeed without
other people’s being surprised.” This is similar to what Wise talks about when
he says that Obama and other successful black Americans are only those who rise
above the standard of excellence for whites and then some. This comes into play
in the issue of integrating schools, because whites tend to see African
Americans as less intelligent or less skilled unless they can prove themselves
as outstanding. Since they are seen this way, whites argued in the Brown vs.
Board of Education case that black students could not compete with white students;
therefore, integrating schools would make it unfair to them.
Lastly, the article on segregation by Bob Herbert discusses
the problems in education that stem from schools with high poverty rates. Since
most of these schools are the majority black and Hispanic students, they are
still considered to be segregated. He argues that students perform much better
when moved to affluent schools with middle and upper-class peers. He also says that
“The election of Barack
Obama has not made true integration any more palatable to millions of
Americans.” While
Herbert doesn’t mention it directly, this concept made me
wonder about Lisa Delpit’s idea of the culture of power in a classroom. The Brown
vs. Board of Education website mentions that the schools for black children
upheld the cultural values of African Americans. So, if black children go to
school in an environment where that culture is valued and dominant, shouldn’t
it help the education of those children? The same question popped into my mind
here. I’m wondering how this culture influences these schools. But even so,
that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t integrate our schools – all children
deserve an equal education.
Pictures:
Julie I really liked your post and how you connected the things in the Brown vs. Board of Education case. I agree with your points about how it connects with the White Privilege piece that we read and why whites wanted to keep schools segregated. Great job connecting this week to our other readings.
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