Racial segregation in the United States

===Education===
{{Main|School segregation in the United States}}
{{further|School integration in the United States|Educational inequality in the United States}}
[[File:Colored School, by J. A. Palmer.jpg|thumb|A "Colored School" in South Carolina, {{Circa|1878}}]]

Segregation in [[education]] has major social repercussions. The prejudice that many young African Americans experience causes them undue stress which has been proven to undermine [[cognitive development]]. [[Eric Hanushek]] and his co-authors have considered racial concentrations in schools, and they find large and important effects. Black students appear to be systematically and physically hurt by larger concentrations of black students in their school. These effects extend neither to white nor to Hispanic students in the school, implying that they are related to peer interactions and not to school quality.<ref>[[Eric Hanushek|Eric A. Hanushek]], John F. Kain, and Steve G. Rivkin, "[https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w8741/w8741.pdf New evidence about Brown v. Board of Education: The complex effects of school racial composition on achievement]", ''Journal of Labor Economics'' 27(3), July 2009: 349–383.</ref> Moreover, it appears that the effect of black concentrations in schools is largest for high-achieving black students.<ref>[[Eric Hanushek|Eric A. Hanushek]] and Steven G. Rivkin, "Harming the best: How schools affect the black-white achievement gap." ''Journal of Policy Analysis and Management'' 28(3), Summer 2009: 366–393.</ref>

Even African Americans from poor inner-cities who attend universities can underperform academically due to worry about family and friends still in the poverty-stricken inner cities.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Camille Z. Charles|author2=Gniesha Dinwiddie|author3=Douglas S. Massey|author3-link=Douglas Massey|date=December 21, 2004|title=The Continuing Consequences of Segregation: Family Stress and College Academic Performance|journal=[[Social Science Quarterly]]|volume=85|issue=5|pages=1353–1373|issn=1540-6237|oclc=4708543|doi=10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00280.x|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118763871/abstract}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Education is also used as a means to perpetuate hypersegregation. Real estate agents often implicitly use school racial composition as a way of enticing white buyers into the segregated ring surrounding the inner city.<ref>Institute on Race and Poverty. Examining the Relationship between Housing, Education, and Persistent Segregation: Final report. Report to McKnight Foundation, June 2007</ref>

The percentage of black children who now go to integrated public schools is{{when|date=August 2019}} at its lowest level since 1968.<ref name="salon">''[http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2005/09/22/kozol/ Apartheid America: Jonathan Kozol rails against a public school system that, 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, is still deeply – and shamefully – segregated.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905225933/http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2005/09/22/kozol/ |date=September 5, 2008 }}'' book review by Sarah Karnasiewicz for salon.com</ref> The words of "American apartheid" have been used in reference to the disparity between white and black schools in America. Those who compare this inequality to apartheid frequently point to unequal funding for predominantly black schools.<ref>Singer, Alan. [http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ598497&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=EJ598497 ''American Apartheid: Race and the Politics of School Finance on Long Island, NY.'']</ref>

In Chicago, by the academic year 2002–2003, 87 percent of public-school enrollment was black or Hispanic; less than 10 percent of children in the schools were white. In Washington, D.C., 94 percent of children were black or Hispanic; less than 5 percent were white.

[[Jonathan Kozol]] expanded on this topic in his 2005 book ''[[The Shame of the Nation|The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America]].''

The "New American apartheid" refers to the allegation that U.S. drug and criminal policies in practice target blacks on the basis of race. The radical left-wing{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} web-magazine [[ZNet]] featured a series of 4 articles on "The New American Apartheid" in which it drew parallels between the treatment of blacks by the American justice system and apartheid:

<blockquote>Modern prisoners occupy the lowest rungs on the social class ladder, and they always have. The modern prison system (along with local jails) is a collection of ghettos or poorhouses reserved primarily for the unskilled, the uneducated, and the powerless. In increasing numbers this system is being reserved for racial minorities, especially blacks, which is why we are calling it the New American Apartheid. This is the same segment of American society that has experienced some of the most drastic reductions in income and they have been targeted for their involvement in drugs and the subsequent violence that extends from the lack of legitimate means of goal attainment.<ref>Shelden, Randall G.
and William B. Brown. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040704061407/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=43&ItemID=5758 The New American Apartheid]</ref></blockquote>

This article has been discussed at the [[Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice]] and by several school boards attempting to address the issue of continued segregation.

Due to education being funded primarily through local and state revenue, the quality of education varies greatly depending on the geographical location of the school. In some areas, education is primarily funded through revenue from property taxes; therefore, there is a direct correlation in some areas between the price of homes and the amount of money allocated to educating the area's youth.<ref name="autogenerated2004">Massey, Douglas S. 2004. "The New Geography of Inequality in Urban America", in C. Michael Henry, ed. Race, Poverty, and Domestic Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press.</ref> The 2010 U.S. census showed that 27.4% of all African Americans lived under the poverty line, the highest percentage of any other ethnic group in the United States.<ref>Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010". U.S. Census Bureau</ref> Therefore, in predominantly African American areas, otherwise known as 'ghettos', the amount of money available for education is extremely low. This is referred to as "funding segregation".<ref name="autogenerated2004"/> This questionable system of educational funding can be seen as one of the primary reasons contemporary racial segregation continues to prosper. Predominantly Caucasian areas with more money funneled into primary and secondary educational institutions, allow their students the resources to succeed academically and obtain post-secondary degrees. This practice continues to ethnically, socially and economically divide America.

[[Alternative certification|Alternative certificate]] programs were introduced in many inner-city schools and rural areas. These programs award a person a teaching license even though he/she has not completed a traditional teaching degree. This program came into effect in the 1980s throughout most states in response to the dwindling number of people seeking to earn a secondary degree in education.<ref>Feistritzer, Emily (February 1, 2006). "Alternative Teacher Certification". National Center for Alternative Certification</ref> This program has been very controversial. It is, "booming despite little more than anecdotal evidence of their success.[...] there are concerns about how they will perform as teachers, especially since they are more likely to end up in poor districts teaching students in challenging situations."<ref>{{cite news |author1=Morgan Smith  |author2=Nick Pandolfo  |name-list-style=amp |title=For-Profit Certification for Teachers is Booming |newspaper= The New York Times |date=November 26, 2011 |access-date= November 4, 2012 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/for-profit-certification-for-teachers-in-texas-is-booming.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0}}</ref> Alternative certificate graduates tend to teach African Americans and other ethnic minorities in inner-city schools and schools in impoverished small rural towns. Therefore, impoverished minorities not only have to cope with having the smallest amount of resources for their educational facilities but also with having the least trained teachers in the nation. Valorie Delp, a mother residing in an inner-city area whose child attends a school taught by teachers awarded by an alternative certificate program notes:

<blockquote>One teacher we know who is in this program said he had visions of coming in to "save" the kids and the school and he really believes that this idea was kind of stoked in his program. No one ever says that you may have kids who threaten to stab you, or call you unspeakable names to your face, or can't read despite being in 7th grade.<ref>{{cite web|author=Valorie Delp |title=My Inner City Story: Why Alternative Certification Programs Don't Work, Parenting Education |date=October 29, 2006 |url= http://education.families.com/blog/my-inner-city-story-how-alternative-teacher-certification-programs-do-a-disservice-to-the-inner-city |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721121106/http://www.families.com/blog/my-inner-city-story-how-alternative-teacher-certification-programs-do-a-disservice-to-the-inner-city |archive-date=2013-07-21|url-status=dead|access-date=25 November 2022}}</ref></blockquote>

Delp showcases that, while many graduates of these certificate programs have honorable intentions and are educated, intelligent people, there is a reason why teachers have traditionally had to take a significant amount of training before officially being certified as a teacher. The experience they gain through their practicum and extensive classroom experience equips them with the tools necessary to educate today's youth.

Some measures have been taken to try give less affluent families the ability to educate their children. President [[Ronald Reagan]] introduced the [[McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act]] on July 22, 1987.<ref>Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, "McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youths Program: Notice of school enrollment guidelines"</ref> This Act was meant to allow children the ability to succeed if their families did not have a permanent residence. Leo Stagman, a single, African-American parent, located in [[Berkeley, California]], whose daughter had received a great deal of aid from the Act wrote on October 20, 2012, that, "During her education, she [Leo's daughter] was eligible for the free lunch program and received assistance under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Educational Act. I know my daughter's performance is hers, but I wonder where she would have been without the assistance she received under the McKinney-Vento Act. Many students at BHS owe their graduation and success to the assistance under this law."<ref name="sfbayview1">{{cite news |first=Leo |last=Stagman |title=Racism and classism in Berkeley streets and schools |publisher=San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper |date=October 24, 2012 |access-date= November 4, 2012 |url=http://sfbayview.com/2012/racism-and-classism-in-berkeley-streets-and-schools/}}</ref>

Leo then goes on to note that, "the majority of the students receiving assistance under the act are Black and Brown".<ref name="sfbayview1"/> There have been various other Acts enacted to try and aid impoverished youth with the chance to succeed. One of these Acts includes the [[No Child Left Behind Act|No Child Left Behind Act of 2001]] (NCLB). This Act was meant to increase the accountability of public schools and their teachers by creating standardized testing which gives an overview of the success of the school's ability to educate their students.<ref name="reauthorization1">{{cite web |title=Elementary & Secondary Education: A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act |publisher= [[United States Department of Education|US Department of Education]] |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED508795.pdf#page=7|date= May 27, 2011 }}</ref> Schools which repeatedly performed poorly could have increased attention and assistance from the federal government.<ref name="reauthorization1"/> One of the intended outcomes of the Act was to narrow the class and racial [[achievement gap in the United States]] by instituting common expectations for all students.<ref name="reauthorization1"/> Test scores have shown to be improving for minority children at the same rate as for Caucasian children, maintaining a gap.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Charting the Course: States Decide Major Provisions Under No Child Left Behind |url=http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/01/01142004.html |website=[[United States Department of Education|U.S. Department of Education]] |access-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040210195223/http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/01/01142004.html |archive-date=February 10, 2004 |date=January 14, 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{cbignore}}<!-- live url does not have applicable content -->

[[Roland G. Fryer Jr.]], at Harvard University has noted that, "There is necessarily a trade-off between doing well and rejection by your peers when you come from a traditionally low-achieving group, especially when that group comes into contact with more outsiders."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fryer |first1=Roland |author1-link=Roland G. Fryer Jr. |title=Acting White |journal=[[Education Next]] |date=Winter 2006 |volume=6 |issue=1 |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/fryer/files/acting_white.pdf |access-date=October 24, 2021}}</ref> Therefore, not only are there economic and prehistoric causes of racial educational segregation, but there are also social notions that continue to be obstacles to be overcome before minority groups can achieve success in education.

[[Mississippi]] is one of the U.S. states where some public schools still remain highly segregated just like the 1960s when discrimination against black people was very rampant.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/history-of-segregation-still-evident-in-mississippi-region-1.3181796|title=History of segregation still evident in Mississippi region|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=July 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> In many communities where black kids represent the majority, white children are the only ones who enroll in small private schools. The [[University of Mississippi]], the state's flagship academic institution enrolls unreasonably few African-American and Latino young people. These schools are supposed to stand for excellence in terms of education and graduation but the opposite is happening.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://mississippitoday.org/2018/01/29/mississippis-flagship-university-leaves-black-students-behind/|title=Mississippi's flagship university leaves black students behind {{!}} Mississippi Today|date=January 29, 2018|work=Mississippi Today|access-date=July 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Private schools located in [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson City]] including small towns are populated by large numbers of white students. Continuing school segregation exists in Mississippi, South Carolina, and other communities where whites are separated from blacks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://hechingerreport.org/racial-segregation-continues-to-impact-quality-of-education-in-mississippi-and-nationwide/|title=Racial segregation continues to impact quality of education in Mississippi—and nationwide – The Hechinger Report|date=April 25, 2013|work=The Hechinger Report|access-date=July 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

Segregation is not limited to areas in the [[Deep South]]. In New York City, 19 out of 32 school districts have fewer white students.{{clarification needed|date=October 2022}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/new-york-schools-segregated_n_5034455.html|title=The Nation's Most Segregated Schools Aren't Where You'd Think They'd Be|last=Resmovits|first=Joy|date=March 26, 2014|work=Huffington Post|access-date=July 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> The United States Supreme Court tried to deal with school segregation more than six decades ago but impoverished and colored students still do not have equal access to opportunities in education.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/history-brown-v-board-education-re-enactment|title=History – Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment|work=United States Courts|access-date=July 18, 2018|language=en}}</ref> In spite of this situation, the [[Government Accountability Office]] circulated a 108-page report that showed from 2000 up to 2014, the percentage of deprived black or Hispanic students in American K-12 public schools increased from 9 to 16 percent.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/05/17/on-the-anniversary-of-brown-v-board-new-evidence-that-u-s-schools-are-resegregating/|title=On the anniversary of Brown v. Board, new evidence that U.S. schools are resegregating|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=July 18, 2018}}</ref>