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Schooling was only available to wealthy white men.
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Education During Colonial Times
Most children were educated by their parents at home. The upper class paid for their children to further their educations. It was mainly white men that went to school. -
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Thomas Jefferson wanted the government to provide children with three years of schooling
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Thomas Jefferson proposes a system of public schools in Virginia
In 1779, Thomas Jefferson, "...proposes a system of public schools for the state of Virginia as a way to ensure responsible citizens (Oakes, 2018, p. 42)." Thomas Jefferson advocated that schools teach the basics (reading, writing, mathematics), but only for White children. He includes slaves in his education plan but he wanted to limit their education to industrial training (Oakes, 2018). He did not believe that Black men could be intellectually equal to white men (Oakes, 2018). -
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Before the Civil War, slaves were forbidden to education
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Plessy v. Ferguson (U.S. Supreme Court) and Jim Crow laws led to a widespread of segregation mandating separate public facilities for Blacks and Whites.
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Plessy v. Ferguson (U.S Supreme Court)
This Court Case upholds Louisiana stating that the Fourteenth Amendment "had not been intended to abolish distinctions based on color (Oakes, 2018)." This was a very important happening during its time in education because it was the start of separate public facilities for Whites and Blacks. This court case basically said that segregation is idealistic and is now legal. I believe that this case was very significant to racial inequalities in school that may still have an effect today. -
A majority of Mexican, Asian, and Native American children now attended school
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (U.S. Supreme Court) ruling states that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" which overturned segregation and separate public facilities.
This court case dismissed the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, "...that segregation and separate public facilities were inherently unequal (Oakes, 2018, p. 40)." This event is significant to racial inequalities in school because it established the court's role in protecting education as a right in the U.S. (Oakes, 2018). Before this event, schools were legally segregated and unequal. This event has a lasting effect to this day in schooling in the U.S., both positive and negative. -
The Bell Curve by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray was published.
In this book, Herrnstein and Murray argue that, "...the average African American was less educated and less wealthy than the average White person because they were not born with the capacity to be as smart (Oakes, 2018, p. 63)." This book is significant because some people (including educators) believed and agreed with this absurd statement, others were enraged and offended. This is like taking many steps back into the past with this type of mentality. This book has a lasting effect to this day. -
Arizona proposes its own English-only law, Proposition 203.
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United Nations establishes the Millennium Development Goals
In 2000, the United Nations adopted the Millennium Developmental goals which consists of eight goals to be achieved by 2015. One of the eight goals is to achieve universal primary education.This specific goal shows significant importance to racial inequality in global schooling because of the potential impact it can have around the world. It provides security for the goal of educating all. -
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Positive and Negative happenings involving racial inequalities in school occur.
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Arizona bans ethnic studies programs
In 2010, Arizona banned ethnic studies programs (Oakes, 2018). This event plays a significant role in racial inequalities in school because it is promoting a one-sided view in education. For example, in the linked video they describe how students are going to learn the "white" versions of history and not they was it happened in the eyes of their own cultures. It is also not allowing students to not learn about their own cultures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow2EAkY5nPo -
References
Oakes, Jeannie, Martin Lipton, Lauren Anderson, and Jamy Stillman. Teaching to Change the World. 4th ed. New York: Paradigm Publishers, 2013. Print.
GPB Education. (2017, December 1). Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation in America | The Civil Rights Movement [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nje1U7jJOHI
CNN. (2010, October 20). Ethnic Studies Banned in Arizona Schools [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow2EAkY5nPo -
References
United Nations Millennium Development Goals website, retrieved 2019 February 3 https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml
