America's Race Problem

The Disparity in the word game of desegregation, Integration, and Diversity

December 18, 2020 at 2:19 pm | Posted in African American, American Bigotry, American history, American Racism, anglo saxons, Bigotry in America, biological races, black inferiority, Brown v Topeka, Civil Right's Act 1964, desegregation, discrimination, education, entitlements, equality, ethnic stereotypes, Ethnicity in America, European American, identity, integregation, language, Martin Luther King Jr., Media and Race, Oklahoma, Prejudice, public education, race, Race in America, segregation, social conditioning, socioeconomics, teaching race, whites | 1 Comment
Tags: African Americans, American Education, desegregation, diversity, European Americans, Pamela Newkirk, pseudo science, The Chronicle of Higher Education

January 20, 1986, my son came home from school (mid-high) and after we exchanged greetings, I asked how his day was at school? He said that it was okay, as usual. I asked if there were any announcements about the specialness of the day. He said no. Any remarks made by the principal or any of your teachers? He said no. So, I called the school and asked to speak to the principal. He was not available to answer my call at the time, so I asked if he would be available for a brief meeting before he left school for the day. He agreed to meet with me shortly before 4:00 PM. When I arrived at the school, I could see the principal was alone in his office. He had foreknowledge of who I was because my son and one other student, a young man, were the only two people of color in this public school. From his unrefined and defensive attitude and demeanor when he exited his office to meet me, he must have thought I was there to do battle with him.

Extending my hand to introduce myself to the principal seemed to calm him down somewhat. I explained to him that my son and I were very disappointed with him and the school for ignoring the first national celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. day. He was surprised to learn the significance of the day and offered an apology for his ignorance. I informed him that his apology was not accepted because he was responsible for all the students in his school and that not recognizing the importance of the day sent a negative message to the entire school and community, not just the students. I informed him that he and his teaching staff missed an excellent teaching opportunity and as a citizen of the community I expected more from him and the school. He acknowledged his faults and promised it would not happen again. I am certain he was relieved to see me leave.

In 1954 when the public schools were desegregated, people of color made some progress relative to education but suffered a tremendous loss in self-worth and knowledge of the African American experience in America. Contrary to what many people believe, African Americans did not want to attend school with European Americans because of their skin complexion, they were interested in getting a quality education that was not available in the separate but equal system. The loss for African Americans in the desegregated schools was a loss of self and history. In an environment when everything European American was normal, being of color simply compounded the challenges. The students of color were not only viewed as inferior by the European Americans, but the curriculum totally ignored them as well.

For the public school in America, desegregation meant only opening the doors to the African Americans but making no changes in the order of business in how education was presented. The standard curriculum was then and to some degree now focused totally on Western history and culture. Little if any attempt was made to humanize the African Americans to nothing but the status quo. The education of the European American teachers experienced little change other than an underscoring of stereotypes associated with African Americans and other ethnic American groups. What was obvious to society was that desegregation was a catch-word used in education to indicate some progress in the direction of equity when, in fact, nothing had changed in the curriculum. However, in the classrooms remained a majority of European Americans, especially females.

In an effort to show some improvement in education in society, the word integration came into use. Of course, the word was a misrepresentation of what was happening. No signs of combining, amalgamating, or unifying the curriculum to reflect the existence and contributions of other American ethnic groups were present. The myth of European American supremacy continued to be maintained and promoted through the educational system.

After the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, some pressure was placed on the educational institutions to address the issue of inclusion of African Americans and the other ethnic groups in American education as well as in society in general. Once again, a slight- of- hand trick was performed to give the illusion of progress towards equity; this time it went by the name of diversity. What diversity does, in effect, is separate each of the ethnic groups from one another and then focus on the elements of each group that distinguishes it from the others, that is, with the exception of the European Americans. Since the European Americans are considered normal, no special attention should be given to them because they represent the standard for which the other groups aspire.

One of the problems that stand in the way of real progress in education has to do with teacher training and education in particular and education in general. What qualifies an educator to teach prospective teachers about diversity? According to statistics, most diversity programs do more harm than good because they separate rather than unify.  Pamela Newkirk, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, (11/6/2019) noted that “During more than 30 years of my professional life, diversity has been a national preoccupation. Yet despite decades of hand-wringing, costly initiatives, and uncomfortable conversations, progress in most elite American universities has been negligible.”Many other educators share this same opinion but do little to effect a positive change.

Diversity in America and education has been an escape hatch for avoiding the real problem of bigotry in America. During this year, 2020, the toxic traditions of inequality and injustice have been blatantly exposed because of a number of tragic events that caught the attention of many European Americans trapped in their residences due to covid-19. What became vividly apparent was the fact that America has yet to acknowledge the existence of a system of ethnic bigotry that has plagued society since its founding. Any educational theories, studies, and research based on an invented, undefined, and monolithic racial such as blacks and whites have to be academically and scientifically unsound. Rather than acknowledging the false concept of race, many educators simply accept it as valid and go forward expanding pseudo science, but the clock will not be reset to accommodate hurt feelings or weak hearts.

Consequently, American education must experience a reckoning and it is coming soon. k�8�^�