The fact that in 2007, we continue to wage a war against the remnants of our nation's race based transgressions boggles the mind. More stunning than this, the Supreme Court handed down a decision last week, which I believe undermined decades of work and progress. Diversity, does and must, encompass more than the question of how many, black, white, asian, latino/latina, etc. bodies occupy a classroom. However, given our country's history regarding racial justice, to favor other factors and exclude race, in the name of fairness seems more than disingenuous.
Race and class in the United States are so intimately linked, and the funding provided our schools so dependent on the class of the people in their community, that it almost always proves true that a predominantly, Black, Latino, or other minority, public school is inevitably a poor one;they lack the financial resources to provide some of the things we now consider mandatory for a proper education, up to date computers, internet access, the most current curriculum resources which often include, CDs, DVDs and other new media. Given this truth, using an ideal as amorphous as diversity, as the basis of future integration efforts, and the equitable distribution of opportunity and resources proves a disingenuous, empty gesture. This decision may be the undoing of the legislative progress, so hard won by the Civil Rights Movement.
Word for the Week
Diversity: dissimilarity; difference; variety
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