Hebert, Brown v. Board of Education, and Podcast

Separate and unequal by Bob Hebert

a.     “Educators know that it is very difficult to get consistently good results in schools characterized by high concentrations of poverty” (Hebert). I truly believe this because if a child goes to school hungry then all those kids think about is when they are going to be able to eat rather than focusing on what is being taught in the class. Since they do live in poverty then they are more likely to get sick because they might not have the best hygiene practices and not the means of calling the doctor to get the right medicine that they might need to get better. That would cause them to miss a lot of school and then they would fall far behind or they might have to repeat that grade. When kids have to repeat a grade, they can get very frustrated and then they might stop trying in school all together. 

b.     “Long years of evidence show that poor kids of all ethnic backgrounds do better academically when they go to school with their more affluent-that is, middle class-peers. But when the poor kids are Black or Hispanic, that means racial and ethnic integration in the school” (Hebert). I have seen this happen when I was in school. There were kids in my class that came from nothing and they would befriend kids that were in the middle class. When they would hang out, they would always go to the kids house that was in the middle class and those kids parents would feed that poor kid a hot meal, maybe let them shower and get new clothes, and help them with their homework. Those poor kids would always do so much better when they had the support from their friends’ parents and appreciate things so much more. It was really cool to see them transform into these kids that are making something out of themselves. 

c.     “Schools are no longer legally segregated, but because of residential patterns, housing discrimination, economic disparities and long held custom, they most emphatically are in reality” (Hebert). It is so sad when I see this because I believe that kids should always have the same chance in school but if an area does not have the same funding as another area then the area that gets the short end of the stick then those kids suffer from it. It happens in today’s time all the time and it is so sad because these kids are going to think that they cannot do anything because of the area they are in.

 

Brown v. Board of Education

a.     This court case relates to the article written by August when he is talking about the LGBTQ community is having a tough time in school. There are some teacher in schools and some colleges do not like that there are lesbians or gays in the class. School is supposed to be a safe place for these kids and there are some schools that are not much of a safe place. In the Brown v. Board of Education case the African Americans just wanted to be treated like the rest of society and they wanted to have the same opportunity as everyone else. The LGBTQ community just wanted to be accepted and treated like everyone as well because in the end they are human beings. I feel like if no one is threating your life or your family’s life then why should others care what they are doing. They just want a normal life no matter if they are African American or if they are from the LGBTQ community. If they did not do anything against the law, then if they want to become a man then let them or if an African American want to be a president of a company then let him. 

b.     The article by Christensen connects really well with the case as well too. The article says that in preschool we are exposed to racism even though we do not realize it. As everyone should know the Brown v. Board of Education case is about Oliver Brown brought the Board of Education to court to let his daughter go to an all-white school that was right near his house. The black schools were not equal, and the parents were told that those schools were going to be equal. In the article as people get older, they deny that they were ever taught racism or that they are racist. People do not like to admit that they are racist because they do not like to admit it. 

 

Podcast

What they were talking about is connecting a lot to the Brown v. Broad of Education and it is crazy how much schools are still separated today. Not as bad as they were 50 years ago but the people on the podcast said that the schools in the poor neighborhood are mostly black and Hispanic and they do not have the best teachers. The schools in the rich neighborhoods have the best teachers and best school. If they are put into the schools with the white kids, then the African Americans would have a better opportunity. This podcast can connect to Delpit and Kristof. Delpit says that teacher need to teach the rules in the classroom but since the teacher are teaching in a poor community, they will not try to do the best because they are not getting paid as well as they should. Kristof says that if you grow up in a poor community than they will stay poor throughout their lives. They will never be able to get out of poverty and that is very sad. African Americans went through so much to just to get an education or even to just to make a life and raise their families.  

Hyperlink: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with-part-one