One systemic injustice that came to mind instantly when I read the description for the diary posts was the inequalities that are present in public school systems. More specifically, the unfair redlining of district boundaries. This practice is when the board that assigns district boarders purposely segregates the minority communities to be assigned to lower income schools with a “red line”. Redlining can also be from banks denying mortgages for certain areas. This unjust process is used by many school districts and provides many inequalities for the students and families. This injustice is systemic because it is truly embedded into the society and their people. The term stemmed from maps created during the New Deal that intentionally used the color red to indicate which urban neighborhoods were “hazardous,” which most often were the areas that had majority black or Hispanic residents. The nature of this inequality is stemmed in racism and cannot be ignored.
The lines are drawn based on many different factors, but one unjust factor is the income level of the homes in the area. One example of this start contrast is in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago. The article states that, “at Lincoln Elementary School only 16% of the students at Lincoln come from low-income families, and over 80% are proficient in reading. The school shares an attendance zone boundary with Manierre Elementary school, where 99% of the students are low-income, and only 11% are proficient in reading. These two schools, so starkly different, serve the same neighborhood” (Deroche). This is only one example in one city, however, these similar statistics are found all over America because of redlining. (image below)
A source that I found particularly helpful and meaningful when doing research was a USA Today article about systemic racism in schools being at the root of many other problems. The link to the article is found here. There is a very powerful video at the beginning of the piece that I have embedded below because I strongly encourage everyone to watch it. It is a three minute narration of some very important points to make about the fight for racial equality in our country, specifically in schooling.
One connection to the inequality in public schools that I found relevant from our discussed texts thus far in the semester was to “Story of my Body” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. In the story, the speaker states that the hierarchy was “pretty white girl, pretty Jewish girl, pretty Puerto Rican girl, pretty black girl” (Cofer, 439). Although this example does not pertain to redlining, it still demonstrates an obvious inequality of race within a public school that should be abolished.
Works Consulted
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Story of My Body.” True Women and Real Men.
Edwards, Kelly. “Redlining: How It Continues to Affect Education Today – Activism, Meet Impact: Novel Hand.” Activism, Meet Impact | Novel Hand, 17 June 2020, novelhand.com/redlinings-effect-on-education-today/.
Guastaferro, Lynette. “Why Racial Inequities in America’s Schools Are Rooted in Housing Policies of the Past.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 2 Nov. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/11/02/how-redlining-still-hurts-black-latino-students-public-schools-column/6083342002/.
“Redlining: The Real Reason Our Schools Are Segregated.” Project Forever Free, 10 June 2020, projectforeverfree.org/redlining-the-real-reason-our-schools-are-segregated/.
“Systemic Racism Has Led to Education Disparities.” Temple Now | News.temple.edu, 3 Feb. 2021, news.temple.edu/news/2020-06-25/systemic-racism-has-led-education-disparities.
Jackie, This was a very informative post. A couple years ago one of my classes had a guest speaker come in and speak about this issue and it was extremely eye opening for me. One thing she didn’t discuss, and that I wasn’t aware of, was that it leads to many other problems. Im really glad you through that piece in there as it was informative to read about. Great use of statistics and connecting it back to some of the class readings!