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05/14/2004: "Brown"
Sheryll Cashin has a guest column over at the Center for American Progress outlining the obvious differences between black and white schools.
Two comments:
1. Resegregation is hotly debated- calling the continued separation of black and white students into separate and unequal schools may not necessarily be "resegregation." In many ways, suburban laws and state practices have ensured a "race-blind" approach. Suburbanization may now be integrated by race, but class protections seem almost invincible. The end result may be the same, but I'm not sure that resegregation is quite the right word.
There's a new article in the Journal of Urban History, "The Suburban Origins of "Color-Blind" Conservatism: Middle-Class Consciousness in the Charlotte Busing Crisis" by Matthew Lassiter that speaks to this question.
2. Rankin describes an oppositional culture that exists in many schools; "acting white" is the expression associated with many poor schools. On one hand, I like this description of an oppositional culture- what I saw in a Philly public high school was a unique culture- not necessarily black or working class- but instead something unique to comprehensive high schools. Kids who wouldn't think of misbehaving in church or in their neighborhood would fearlessly act out once they arrived at school.
On the other hand, I'm not so sure that it was about "whiteness" or acting "white." Success might create some sort of loss of authenticity, of losing their part in a vibrant community. Even if the school or the neighborhood was messed up, it was their school/home, and it would be a huge loss to no longer be a member...