Race and Segregation in American Schools EDTHP 115 Fall, 2002
What is Segregation? de jure (“by law”) segregation Segregation mandated by law Southern States Outlawed by Brown decision (1954) de facto (“in fact”) segregation Segregation not mandated by law Resulting from school assignment policies & residential patterns
Key Supreme Court Decisions on Segregation Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Established doctrine of “separate but equal” (segregation is legal, as long as facilities are equal) Brown v. Board of Education (1954) “doctrine of separate but equal has no place” in US schooling
Key Supreme Court Decisions on Segregation (cont.) Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971) Both decisions enforced Brown, ordered school districts to use a variety of methods to eliminate segregation
Key Supreme Court Decisions on Segregation (cont.) Milliken v Bradley (1974) Disallowed most inter-district desegregation efforts Board of Education of Oklahoma City Public Schools v. Dowell (1991) Freeman v Pitts (1992) Both reduced desegregation requirements for districts
Desegregation and ‘White Flight’ Move to suburbs Moves to private schools
Atlanta, Percent Black, 1970
Atlanta, Percent Black, 1980
Atlanta, Percent Black, 1990
Atlanta, Percent Black, 2000
Philadelphia, Percent Black, 2000
White Private School Enrollment Rates by Black School-Age Population, Southern Counties, 1970
White Private School Enrollment Rates by Black School-Age Population, Southern Counties, 1980
White Private School Enrollment Rates by Black School-Age Population, Southern Counties, 1990
Does Segregation Matter?