Definition Of Racial Segregation, Its Impacts And Means To Abolish It

No one wants to have to live in a world where your own race/culture only associates with your own race. Most people need other races and cultures to compete against to keep them from thinking that they are the best. I’m interested in this topic because I don’t want to see what happens if nothing is done to the issue of segregation. Segregation is important to talk about because it is something that can change the lives of many people all over the world. With the integration, it could lead to fewer conflicts and a more diverse world. Since racial division is increasing de facto segregation should be considered an issue for the future. Segregation cannot be left alone.

First of all, throughout history, social injustice and segregation have been a huge issue influencing the world. The civil rights movement began in the 1950s by blacks to break the pattern of racial segregation. That led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is what ended segregation in public places and banned business discrimination on the aspect of race, sex, or religion. Sean Riley is a Seattle public school teacher who claimed, “Seattle Public Schools used busing from the late 1970s through the mid-2000s in the hopes of achieving racial integration.” This shows that segregation was a huge problem, and they tried to bus other races mainly blacks to schools to make the schools more diverse. Busing was mandatory in many districts in Seattle involving 12,000 of the district’s 54,000 students.

Furthermore, integration gave students more competition and overall made them try harder. According to Sean Riley, many reports of students associated with the integration movement demonstrated a significant gain of confidence and the willingness to work with others. The willingness to work and try comes from the competition the students have and their competitive personalities to strive and to be the best.

The fact that segregation and busing take people from other backgrounds and different cultures makes a big impact on how the other students react to new people going to their school. Some students may feel that they have to become better than the rest and to do that you would need to work hard and get good grades. This may lead to other students feeling the same way which means better grades all around.

Also, the diversity of schools has increased. Not just by the race of students but cultures, sex, and even how wealthy someone is. The teachers have also been more diverse due to the fact that teachers want to teach students who are willing to learn. Diversity in school faculty and students make the environment a better place. Students who go to integrated schools would receive important life skills that can help them be more successful. Sean Riley, in his article he refers to a study by Gary Orfield that states that students that go to integrated schools obtain greater confidence during the integration movement.

Integration pushes the other students to try harder. Sean Rilley says that “In 1988- the apex of busing, and the year I was getting on my bus to Kimball- the gap was slashed to 18 percent from 1971’s 40- point gap between the achievement of black and white students in America.” This means that integration is helping black students learn more and improve their grades.

Some may argue that integration is causing more conflicts and violence. Sean Riley states that “In Boston police had to escort black students to white schools as onlookers threw bottles and stones at them.” This means that many people did not agree with integration and they are turning it into violence to try to change it. There was so much controversy around this topic that they had to integrate rules to help with the violence against bused students. Sean Riley says “(CIVIC) launched a ballot initiative to prohibit students from going to schools that were across the city.” This displays that they still want to push for diversity and integration but tries to lower the violence and conflicts.

Finally, most people do not like being categorized as rich or poor they like to be different but not in that way. People want to be different and to be identified by their race, culture, and religion. According to Walter Benn Michaels, the community wants to be distinctively different. And yet they still don't want other people of different colors to be associated with their community. The community likes to be all known as middle-class citizens even though that is far from the reality that’s how people want to be known as. Michaels states that “But the fact that we all like to think of ourselves as belonging to the same class doesn't, of course, mean that we actually do belong to the same class.” This quote shows that people don't like the idea that the community categorizes people by their wealth and not their race. People like to be different, then there shouldn't be a reason that society hates integration.

In conclusion, the solution is to change the beliefs of the public. This is far from easy and possibly impossible but if nothing is done to this situation it’s going to result in more social inequalities and the belief that one man is superior to another.