The NAACP Tackles Resegregation At First Education Summit In Three Years

December 2nd, 2010 - By TheEditor

"ben jealous"By Brittany Hutson

Today, for the first time in three years, the NAACP will begin their three-day national education summit in Raleigh, NC to address the problems within the nation’s educations system, particularly as it relates to re-segregating schools.

It’s a fight the civil rights organization is no stranger to since they have been advocating against segregation since the passing of Brown v. Brown. The flames were ignited within the last year as the organization brought attention to re-segregation activity in schools in the South, especially in North Carolina. This confirms a January 2009 report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA that stated 40 percent of Latinos And 39 percent of Blacks now attend segregated schools, in which 90 to 100 percent of students are non-White.

Schools rely on code words, such as forced busing and neighborhood schools, to push segregation. According to NAACP North Carolina State Conference President Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, 40 years of research proves that re-segregation is in opposition to equal education. “We can prove that statistically—in North Carolina, there are 44 failing high schools where the graduating rate is less than 50 percent,” he explained. “With re-segregation there is underfunding, high teacher turnover, high suspension and low graduation rates.”

But segregation is only one roadblock on a complex journey to education reform and equality. Barber says the NAACP considers at least eight things that are critical to reform: stopping re-segregation and promoting diversity, equity in funding, high quality facilities and leadership, high quality teachers and smaller classrooms, parental and community involvement; a focus on math, science, history and reading, and addressing the disparities with minorities in graduation, suspension and drop-out rates.

“We need to treat the sickness for the system,” said Barber. “Re-segregation works against holding all those things together.”

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  • BLACK

    Face the truth

  • Knight

    Everbody wants to keep blaming the schools. When do we go after families and communities that don't care about education?

    I work in the school system too. It's odd that our best schools have the LOWEST black population. Yet the good ones have a large Hispanic population. Now the black in the district are yelling we don't care about blacks.

    Yet they don't see what we go through. Parents refusing to come to the school, allow counseling of thier kids or sign up for services to help thier kids. Kids proud to be 17 years old in the 7th grade or proud to go to jail.

  • DMommy

    Always blame the oppressed. Ignorance is rampant. I happen to be a black parent and I am involved and committed to the education of my children. Poor parenting is not a "cultural attitude."

  • Michele

    I live in NC and quite frankly Rev. Barber is a joke. It's very possible that he could have valid points but his antics in the past have made him hard to listen to. Yes segregating schools again is a horrible decision, however, we do have to deal with where education starts first and that's in the home. Although Dr. Funk is uncouth and making a sweeping generalization, he is right about one thing, parental involvement is certainly important in a child's education. The point that he seems to miss is that lack of parental involvement is not a black thing and how do I know? I'm a teacher. Most of the time, socioeconomic factors influence parental involvement more than anything. If a parent has multiple jobs, lacks an education of their own or lacks transportation, etc. they are less likely to be involved in their child's education. While I appreciate that the NAACP recognizes the problem, I would like to see them do more in the community to affect change. For example, provide after school tutoring clinics, transportation for parent/ teacher conferences and also promoting the idea of nuclear families in the black community. I must agree with the NAACP however that some of the elitists in NC are certainly plotting and planning to keep "those children" out of "their schools/neighborhoods".

  • anon

    Why is it so important for there to be white kids in a school? Am I missing something or is the message here there is no way for a school to be successful without white students?

    They need to focus on funding and quality, not the number of white kids. It's as if they truly believe that graduation rates and quality of education is doomed without the white percentage to bring up the averages. Pitiful.

  • DR.FUNK

    While this DO NOTHING…whiny gathering of VICTICRATS is at it-they should address the cultural attitude of the black parents who care NOT AT ALL about the value of being involved in a quality education for the children they so carelessly put here.Just a thought.