Do You Know What Today Is?

Today marks the sixty-year anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, which ended legal segregation, thus transforming the U.S. public education system.

Prior to 1954, people had ignored the effects of segregation on black children. "Separate but equal" was a joke—and not a funny one—as separate was inherently unequal. Black schools operated with sub par resources, dealt with crowding, and lacked funding, making it difficult for kids to succeed. Expert psychologists Dr. Kenneth Clark, and his wife, Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark, who studied the evidence, brought to light the detrimental effects of segregation.

Sadly, discrimination didn't end sixty years ago. Two years ago, a survey released by the Associated Press indicated that racial prejudice toward African Americans has actually increased since the election of Barak Obama, the nation's first black president. In fact, most Americans say they think African Americans are "less likely to want to succeed, less likely to be hard-working, and less likely to be "intelligent in school."

Recently, I met with some graduate-level African-American students, and I asked them what I can do to help myself see where I'm blind on the race question and to help them have a more positive experience. They offered some great suggestions: include in course syllabi more books by people of color; devour resources by people of other races (music, books, movies, TED talks); and quote them in public. 

So here's a quote from Toni Morrison that gives me pause: In this country, "American" means "white." Everybody else has to hyphenate.