Are American Public Schools A Melting Pot or Scaldingly Racist?

Although the United States was founded on the ideals of equality and liberty, systemic racism has plagued the nation’s history. This fact becomes particularly apparent in the public school system. When early public schools were created in individual states in the early 1800s, Black children were being born into bondage and illiteracy, barred from joining white children in the classroom. Once universal education became widespread in the 1930s, Black and white children attended segregated schools under the guise of “separate but equal.” It would take nearly 200 years from the inception of this country to end the segregation of public schools, and even then, the idea of integration sparked dissenting protests, inspired violence against the Black students involved, and created a toxic and frightening environment. Clearly, history has not been on the side of Black children in U.S. public schools, but what about today? 

Recent studies show that Black students are in general suspended and/or expelled at roughly three times the rate of their white classmates, or 16% versus 5%, respectively, for the same behavior. For example, in a 2014 study by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, approximately 12% of Black girls are suspended or expelled annually. Their rate is six times higher than that of white girls (2%). Despite the fact that all boys comprise more than 66% of all suspensions and expulsions in public schools, Black girls are suspended or expelled at twice the rate of white boys (6%). Since Black kids are being punished more frequently than their white counterparts for the same offenses, these statistics reveal that systemic race issues are still prevalent in U.S. public schools. But what causes these numbers to be so high?

The first answer requires investigating the socioeconomic and accumulated wealth disparities in the U.S. Black families tend to be affected by poverty at disproportionate rates when compared to their white counterparts, which negatively impacts their communities. Simply put, the less money a community has to contribute, the less funding their education system receives. A lack of funding directly impacts the budget to hire qualified teachers, which typically leads to larger class sizes. This formula ensures that otherwise bright, young students will not be afforded the same resources or opportunities to succeed as students who happened to be born in more affluent areas. Equality and equity in our public school system cannot be achieved if some students are guaranteed better opportunities than others, which demonstrates the systemic racism that exists in public schools reaches beyond the classroom.  However, the unfortunate truth is that even if all schools were properly funded, it is likely that there would be discrepancies in suspension and expulsion numbers among Black and White students

A second answer could be found in the lack of Black teachers. The Pew Research Center reports that only one-in-five public school teachers are non-White, which, according to a 2005 comparative study, might explain the higher suspension and expulsion rates of Black students. In the study, it was found that people are more likely to trust others who share similar facial features to themselves. Neither teachers nor school administrators are inherently exempt from an unconscious psychological bias against students. Since the overwhelming majority of people in these positions are White, it could be inferred that an underlying psychological distrust of “the other” can, at least in some capacity, explain the statistical discrepancy we see between White and Black students, as well as most other students of color. 

Another, more upsetting, answer harkens back to an uncomfortable history of Black children either being discouraged or even disallowed entirely from receiving an education. For centuries, many groups in the United States embraced policies that openly and proudly supported the education of one group of people over another. As white children filed into classrooms across the country, Black children found themselves in bondage and could only dream of growing into and becoming an educated adult. One of these children was Frederick Douglass and, when given the opportunity to learn how to read, he found that there was power in education. He refused to squander such a precious opportunity. His story of an illiterate slave turned well-read author into abolitionist icon is truly nothing less than extraordinary, but for a Black man of his time, it is also extraordinarily (and unfortunately) rare. Though his inspiration still echoes in the ears of students, progress toward equality in education has been slow. Douglass died 30 years after the abolition of slavery, and it would take another 65 years following his death before a Black student would attend a what was considered all-white school. 

In 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first Black student to break the public school color barrier. This momentous occasion was met with jeers and slurs from “concerned” parents and community members–and even fear and apprehension on the part of Ruby’s parents for their daughter’s safety. As she climbed the staircase to that school, each step she took was one step closer to education equality. Though that historic moment took place decades ago and was only the first of many that would come, we still live in a time that is closer to Ruby taking those steps than what Frederick Douglass experienced. There are people alive now, including Ruby Bridges herself, who personally witnessed her arrival at William Frantz Elementary School. However, this recent historic event illustrates a sad truth–prejudice does not disappear overnight. Institutions that justifiably or unjustifiably punish Black students at a disproportionately higher rate than any other racial group are the same institutions that, merely six decades ago, refused to integrate. With such a deeply ingrained system of oppression and racism that encompasses two living generations of Black Americans, it isn’t surprising that its effects are still being felt today.

The previously cited statistics reveal that black children have traveled–and continue to travel–a long and arduous journey in the name of education equality, and are finally putting an end to systemic racism in public schools. Though this has been a difficult struggle, I believe Frederick Douglass said it best when he stated, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

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