How Are Schools Integrated?

 

Schools are integrated by the population of each school zone. Based off what I learned from this week’s module I became more aware of how deep racism is embedded into our history. African Americans have always been kept segregated and beneath the rest, even when it comes to their quality of life and living space. I wasn’t aware of the term “redlining,” which according to the definition given in video, The Disturbing History of the Suburbs, is how the government systematically prevented African Americans from getting loans for their home. In my mind, I think redlining is self explanatory, what does the color red normally signify? Wrong, stop, and no are all negative terms that I, and can assume many others associate with this color. I can imagine a home loan application appearing on a bank loaners desk and then crossing the application out with a red line as soon as the realize the applicant is African American. I was shocked to learn that things even went as far as writing laws that only allowed for caucasians to live in certain areas. 

After exploring this topic, I felt angry at not only the government but myself. I was angry at myself because I know that the government does all they can to prevent people of color from advancing in society, so I do not know why I was so shocked during this module. The federal government did and still intentionally segregates African American from communities by not making them affordable. It also goes way beyond just homes, they isolate them from good school districts, universities, hospitals, and healthy food options. Our government created the “hoods,” not the people who occupy them. The white picket fences no longer stand for the American dream to me, they stand as a form of separation because they only want whites to live beyond those fences. 

See you next post Readers,

                                                      Holly.