Racial segregation in United States education

This video from the USA says about itself:

Betsy DeVos Believes Jim Crow School Segregation Was Just “School Choice”

28 February 2017

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos might do well to attend a few history classes before she sends out her next press release. As Trump was meeting with leaders from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, DeVos’s team issued a press release where she claimed that these institutions are a perfect example of how great “school choice” can be. She neglected to mention that many of these institutions were the only “choice” for African Americans during the era of Jim Crow segregation, and they were founded because wealthy white people like DeVos didn’t want to sit in the same class as black students. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

From the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in the USA today:

Segregation is on the rise – and we have to fight back

When the Supreme Court declared “separate but equal” unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, it was a major victory for LDF and civil rights activists across the country.

But it wasn’t the end of segregation.

Today, 63 years later, segregation persists in our schools, along with a pervasive achievement gap between Black and white students.

Just last month, Principal Christine Hoffman of Campbell Park Elementary School – a predominantly Black public school in Pinellas County, Florida – sent out an email to staff saying that “white students should be in the same class.”

Our fight against discrimination in schools is far from over.

LDF is currently litigating Bradley v. Pinellas, a desegregation case in the Pinellas County School District. In fact, we have been litigating this case for fifty years – and appalling statements like Hoffman’s show just how much work is still ahead of us.

From Gardendale, Alabama to Hartford, Connecticut, LDF and co-counsels are litigating or monitoring nearly 100 desegregation cases – about half of these types of cases are active.

We know this fight well. With supporters like you by our side, we are prepared for the long haul.

Please take a moment to read my opinion piece on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education on cnn.com. As Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration prepare to launch initiatives that could fundamentally weaken public education, we must remember the real cost of segregated education to our democracy – and continue to expose and challenge it.

With you in struggle,

Sherrilyn A. Ifill
President and Director-Counsel

P.S. We just celebrated the 63rd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education last evening in Washington, D.C., and it sparked some relevant – and necessary – dialogue on the attack on public education. I hope you’ll go through the #BrownsPromise hashtag on Twitter and be a part of the conversation.