Week 4 Readings

In the second article “‘We Shall Not Be Moved: A Hunger Strike, Education, and Housing in Chicago’”, Eve L. Ewing states on the topic of why schools in the city have been closing, “did not arise by happenstance but the machinations of where and how black people in Chicago have been allowed to live in the course of the last hundred years.” The superintendent had said the decisions of closing schools were based off of the underuse, not racism. However, this quote acknowledges the history and its effect time after. Throughout the article, many examples of the social inequalities faced by African Americans when receiving ‘help’ were presented. White people would bomb and find other ways to prevent any form of financial and status upwards mobilization. This means that the schools closing in areas where minorities, specifically African Americans, live, is a result of them being moved out, again. Even in Philly, this is felt. The area that I live in is now being gentrified. The park near my house, that was once filled with black and latin kids playing all the time, is now mostly being used as an athletic and dog park, by the fairly new white neighbors. Where did the kids go? My best guess is further North because of gentrification. In the article “Without Fixing Inequality, the Schools are Always Going to Struggle” by Lora Kelley, one of the teachers she interviewed said, “ Students have told me that a lot of teachers who work in the Bronx tend to leave. I feel like the stability of having a group of adults whom they can trust kind of guide them through the four years is important.” All of teachers who were featured taught in zip codes that were completely, or close enough to being, minority dominated. The quote above is something I and many others can relate to. Some of the teachers in these areas quit, transfer, or use the experience as a steppingstone for something bigger, leaving the ones who stay, with more stress. I can recall times in my early education when one of teachers had to take on more responsibilities because one of their colleagues quit. I can also recall seeing new teacher faces every year for the same teaching position. There are many things that be the cause of this like being underpaid, undervalued, stressed, in a different environment, and many other elements. Most of these things are not felt, at least not to the extent, in ‘better’ areas as some of the teachers interviewed mentioned. This in and of itself causes inequality in schooling because there is less attention to the individual students.

Housing inequality, as we learned in the first article “How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality” by Matthew Desmond, is favored to those who already have financial advantages. Minorities’ general net worth is much less than the dominant group’s because of housing inequalities that go back generations. It is also deeply embedded in the history of the country. This means it is already harder from birth for minorities to own homes. The introduction of the MID was discussed as a way people, particularly business and larger loan holders, could deduct interest payments. Then through the G.I. Bill people, white people, were able to become homeowners at a larger scale. Reforms and sort were mentioned but one of the examples given was, “Take the people of Seattle: For 36 years, they have agreed to be taxed more to raise revenue for affordable-housing programs.” This example of Seattle is incredible because the unity of humanity is what moved this happen. I do believe there is a need for people to start caring. The presence of indifference in this country is what has been preventing us from moving forward at a faster rate. However, as Desmond mentioned, “We tend to speak about the poor as if they didn’t live in the same society, as if our gains and their losses weren’t intertwined.” This quote shows us that we as a society will view the minorities as ‘others’ before letting it affect our possessions. These minorities, whether we realize it or not, were predestined from the country’s racist history. The article “Defund the Private School” by Andre Perry talks about how private schools have root in intended segregation. The problem with this is that it has now been reconfirmed that they can receive financial aid from voucher programs to maximize their benefits from being a private institution. As stated in the article, “sending (white families) their kids to private schools or by drawing district maps that continue racial and socio-economic segregation in the suburbs or exurbs, has resulted in $23 billion less funding for schools predominated by people of color than for majority white schools.” By defunding private schools, a bigger diversity of kids from all statuses of life would be ‘forced’ to interact. More importantly, there would be more money available to those who need it. Obviously, defunding private schools alone will not fix everything, but it would be a step in the right direction.