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Illinois School Board Journal
January/February 2003

Resegregation
Is the clock ticking backward?

by Ginger Wheeler

Ginger Wheeler is a free-lance writer from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, whose work has appeared in national magazines, local newspapers and on the World Wide Web.

The Chicago Tribune Magazine recently devoted a story to home entertaining and featured three impossibly attractive 20-somethings having a whirl of fun on the cover photograph. In the shot, a white woman dances with a black man, while another man looks on. The message comes through: It's hip to be interracial and intercultural.

The accompanying article recommends ethnic-themed dinner parties to keep household guests entertained and boredom-free. Hungarian was the featured "ethnicity," but the article also recommended trying Cuban, South African, Indian, Mexican and "tribal."

By all accounts, we are moving toward a more integrated, racially blind society: proof being that the venerable Chicago Tribune would nonchalantly publish a cover photo of a subject that 40 years ago might have accompanied an article on why George Wallace was blocking school house doors, instead of an article on home entertaining.

After all, today an African-American is the nation's Secretary of State. An African-American leads Notre Dame's football team. J-Lo is one of the hottest stars in Hollywood, and not just a hot "Latina" star. African-Americans received dual top Academy Awards in 2002.

Have race relations met parity? Or is the clock ticking backward when it comes to integration? Seven states have outlawed affirmative action with the argument it just doesn't seem to be necessary anymore and it doesn't seem fair to any race.

Yet, a Harvard University report released last year blares warnings that the strides we have made toward creating this integrated vision, at least in our public schools, is waning. Schools are becoming more segregated due to two decades of court decisions that are systematically undoing civil rights legislation crafted during the 1950s and '60s, and implemented in the '70s and '80s.

Gary Orfield, a Harvard education professor and co-director of Harvard's Civil Right's Project, is, by most accounts, the nation's leading expert on school desegregation and the author of the report "Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation." (A pdf version of the 55-page report is available online at: http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/resegregation01/schoolsseparate.pdf).

Orfield's extensive body of research includes analysis of Census data, school and government statistics, and a myriad of sociological survey data conducted on the issue of race relations.

In the report, Orfield maintains that we are at the end of a court-ordered desegregation era, which began in 1954 with Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. And the result is "Resegregation": a term coined by Orfield to explain the phenomenon that has occurred over the last 20 years as public schools have become more segregated, like oil and water, along color lines.

Resegregation is a nationwide phenomenon, Orfield said, and he blames the slippage on government policy and conservative federal judges who have consistently undone court decrees that required integration and prohibited segregation.

"It is exactly the pattern by which federal judges undermined the post Civil War amendment to the U.S. Constitution," said George Hopkins, a Western Illinois University historian.

Orfield notes peak integration occurred in the late 1980s, as a result of a court system that, through the Brown decision, found the 104-year-old Plessy v. Ferguson ruling unconstitutional. Plessy allowed "separate but equal" schools but led to mandated apartheid in Southern states, where minorities were separate but certainly not equal.

As conservatives, under presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush, were appointed to lifetime federal judgeships, Orfield demonstrates how schools have become as racially segregated as they were nearly 30 years ago. And the trend shows no signs of abating.

Illinois is not a state that has been accused of rapidly returning to the segregation of the pre-civil rights era. However, Orfield said, "There was never much desegregation in Illinois, which has consistently ranked among the very most segregated states for both black and Latino students."

So while Illinois may have dodged the pain of forced busing and armed national guards shepherding black students into previously all-white schools, the bad news is that Illinois had pretty much missed the boat on desegregation in the first place. And, Orfield said, while courts ordered blacks to be integrated during the civil rights era, Latinos were not a significant part of the equation because their numbers were not as large. As a result, Latinos have never been integrated well into American mainstream culture.

The numbers are dramatic: Only 10 percent of Chicago's students are white. In the Chicago suburbs, only small percentages are non-white. And, Latinos in the suburbs are highly segregated, Orfield said.

Outside of Chicago, rural areas are mostly white, while non-whites tend to live in the urban inner cities where the majority mostly attend a particular school. For example, Springfield Southeast High School has about double the number of black students than either Lanphier or Springfield high schools.

Among the states, only Michigan has more non-white students in more highly concentrated non-white schools than Illinois. And the rest of the nation seems to be following suit, according to Orfield's report.

"More than 70 percent of black students are now in predominantly minority schools," Orfield writes, as well as "(75.6 percent) of Latinos."

Southern schools are more integrated today than Midwestern and Northern schools, but are quickly reversing that integration, Orfield said. Conventional wisdom holds that schools have done all they can to integrate, so court ordered desegration mandates can expire: People don't want to mix.

Why is this bad news? It isn't only, as the Chicago Tribune Magazine photo would have us believe, that interracial relations are cool and in style. Most people would agree that it is essential, as a society and as a world, that we learn to appreciate, respect and experience other cultures in order to work together to avoid conflict in shaping our collective future in the age of globalization.

Integrated schools are the building blocks of this peaceful, tolerant vision. But the integrated school is fast disappearing. "Our analysis of the Census and school statistics shows a serious spread of segregation ... particularly for Latinos, who have the lowest level of educational attainment and are the engine of population growth in (Illinois)," Orfield said.

Additionally, Orfield notes, "Schools segregated by race are almost always segregated by poverty and perform much more weakly."

Drop out rates in poorly funded, inner city schools are much higher than in well-funded suburban schools. And incarceration rates for poor, poorly educated, minorities continue to rise - at a great cost to society.

Indeed, according to figures from State Comptroller Daniel Hynes' office, prison budgets have increased exponentially more than education budgets for the last 20 years in Illinois. And more black males are in U.S. prisons than in U.S. colleges and universities now, a change that has occurred during that time.

Many studies have been conducted on schools that were successfully integrated. "Our research shows very positive results in interracial schools for all groups of students," Orfield said.

One Georgia high school's students decided to end a decades-old tradition of segregated proms. "We work together," said the junior class president who led the decision. "We go to school together. Why is one night out of the year a big deal?" (Chicago Sun-Times, April 21, 2002).

Sociologists know that "there is a long history of research demonstrating that people prefer people like themselves," writes James Moody, a sociologist from Ohio State University. But Moody has shown, with guidance and integration, cross-racial friendships develop.

Moody studied more than 90,000 students and found those in integrated settings tended to select friends of their own race. However, he also found that, depending on practices within the school, the trend can be moderated. For instance, he found that schools with racially mixed extracurricular activities had many more cross-race friendships, even among students who were not in extracurricular activities.

Moody's paper, published in the American Journal of Sociology, states: "When students of different races have the opportunity to work together for collective ends in settings of relative equality substantive integration results," meaningful friendships can flourish.

Conversely, Moody found that in schools where minorities were over-represented, cross-race friendships were less likely to occur. Moody speculates this could be the result of fears of the dominant group loosing status causing a "them vs. us" mentality. And, a large minority population offered minorities more opportunities to meet other minority students with whom they might "click" so they were less likely to meet friends of other races.

Additionally, in schools where mostly white students were placed on academic tracks and mostly non-white students where ushered into non-academic tracks, interracial friendships were less likely.

That segregation still exists, and is rising, is well documented according to Expose Racism and Advance School Excellence (ERASE), a national program coordinated by the Applied Research Center, a public policy, educational and research institute in Oakland, California, whose work emphasizes issues of race and social change. The ERASE Web site (http://www.arc.org/erase) offers a timeline of significant legislative milestones that document desegregation efforts, as well as the rapid reversal of those efforts.

Highlights remind viewers that, in the past, it was illegal to teach slaves to read and California had to be forced to allow immigrant Chinese to attend public schools. California, Illinois, New York and Michigan are the most segregated states in the country, according to Orfield.

Schools are segregated because neighborhoods are segregated. Neighborhoods are segregated because people typically live among people like themselves. The Chicago Sun-Times (March 18, 2001) reported: "Chicago remains one of the nation's most racially, segregated cities. Despite fair housing laws and civil rights marches, African-Americans live in their neighborhoods and whites in theirs. More than four out of 10 Chicagoans live on blocks that are more than 90 percent of one race. A decade ago, it was five out of 10. Still, nearly 1.3 million people - most black - live in one-race areas of the city."

Schools are more segregated than neighborhoods, studies show. The reason for this is that mixed-race urban neighborhoods often include white, childless adults. But as soon as children come along, whites move to the suburbs or look to private schools.

Additionally, communities are segregated by income. And in states, such as Illinois, where school budgets are based on property taxes, that translates to fewer dollars flowing toward lower income area schools. Hence lower paid, less experienced teachers, and fewer programs for kids.

With the end of court-ordered desegregation and the beginning of "school choice," parents from Charlotte-Mecklinburg, North Carolina, to Seattle, Washington, are choosing schools in neighborhood schools that are typically one-race.

Inherent in Brown, Moody writes, is "the recognition that separate could never be equal, in part because the social relations formed in school are an essential part of the educational process." Like taking vitamins, experts agree, it is good for our society to foster good race relations by being more integrated.

Yet, a quick glance at Illinois' school report cards show how segregated Illinois schools remain. The Supreme Court, made up of Nixon appointees, halted cross-district integration in 1974's Milliken v. Bradley. This ruling led to the more rapid growth rates for white suburban schools in large urban, northern states, such as Illinois, Michigan and New York. Disallowing cross-district integration "effectively segregates students of color in inner-city districts from students in wealthier white suburban districts" according to ERASE and others.

And, because Illinois never felt the sting of forced integration, even schools within districts are effectively segregated as demonstrated by 1993's People Who Care v. Rockford Board of Education. Nearly 40 years after Brown, federal courts found Rockford's schools were separate and unequal. Last April, Judge Richard Posner, a Reagan appointee, decided that Rockford had met its obligation to integrate and ended the court order.

Peoria's schools, too, demonstrate lopsidedness in the racial category. Compare Peoria's Richwoods High School - nearly 73 percent white and Asian with 11.1 percent low income - with Manual High School - 75.9 percent black and Latino and 78.8 percent low income.

Orfield said it is up to school boards and administrators to voluntarily integrate schools now.

"The federal courts, under the leadership of conservative judges, are not going to impose desegregation," he said. "School board members need to be conscious of the fact that no district, to the best of my knowledge, in the 106 years since

Plessy made 'separate but equal' the law of the land for two-thirds of a century, has ever made separate schools equal.

"Schools segregated by race are almost always segregated by poverty and perform much more weakly. The No Child Left Behind Act will make this painfully clear," Orfield cautions.

Of even more concern, Orfield has shown that Latinos are even more segregated than African-Americans and are increasing in numbers at a very rapid rate, yet are failing in schools at higher rates.

After all these years, is there anything that school boards can do to truly integrate public schools? And if so, what kind of effort will be needed?

"School boards should recognize that they cannot ignore the issue, should work with city governments and fair housing groups to help the racial change come peacefully and stable integration emerge, should hire minority teachers and administrators to prepare for what is coming and be certain that their curriculum and their counseling and special ed programs have no vestige of discrimination or neglect of minority contributions and potentials," Orfield said. "Needless to say (school boards and administrators) should think about adult education for immigrants and about two-way bilingual and other positive ways to deal with the rapidly increasing linguistic diversity."

Civic groups, too, can foster community integration by hosting meetings on diversity and sponsor talks about smart growth and housing practices. The League of Women Voters has made diversity a priority nationwide. Yet, local members living in highly segregated communities find it difficult to expand the program.

"How do you go up to someone of color, and say, 'Gee, I see you're black/brown/yellow, would you like to join my group?'" asked one member. "You hope people will join your group because they're interested in it, not because they happen to be a certain color. How do you do that without being insulting?"

Also class and income level differences exacerbate the problem. "The last thing you want to do is join a civic group or attend evening meetings if you're worried about putting food on the table and spending quality time with your family after a 40-hour-plus work week," said another Leaguer.

As resegregation occurs and No Child Left Behind kicks in, educators, legislators and parents are embracing school improvement as the antidote to the death of one of the great social experiments of the 20th century: government-engineered integration.

The hope is that integration will occur naturally. But pundits estimate that could be another 40 to 50 years away before racially mixed groups featured on future Chicago Tribune Magazine covers will forge real, rather than staged friendships.

Associated Press. "California School In Trouble After Segregated Meetings," Houston Chronicle, April 16, 2002
Bryan, Dave. "Alabama Schools Suffer Resegregation," Associated Press, August 27, 2001
Chicago Tribune Magazine, cover story, November 3, 2002
Denniston, Lyle. "Court Closes Historic Desegregation Case: Busing Halted in N.C. District," Boston Globe, April 16, 2002
Dizon, Nicole Ziegler. "Rockford Desegregation Decree Lifted," Associate Press, April 19, 2001
Ervin, Kevin. "Seattle School Assignments Using Race Are Ruled Illegal," Seattle Times, April 17, 2002
Ervin, Kevin and Shaw, Linda. "How Seattle Schools Will Look After Race Ruling," Seattle Times, May 16, 2002
Fannie Mae Foundation, "Lack of Affordable Homes Rivals Health Care As A Problem for Working Americans," June 17, 2002
Frahm, Robert. "Racial Balance Remains An Issue: State Supreme Court to Review New Plan to Integrate Schools," The Hartford Courant, April 15, 2002
Grossman, Ron, et al. "In North, Desegregation Still Unfinished Business," Chicago Tribune, May 17, 1994
Hacker, Holly K. "Progress in Integration Eludes St. Louis City, County Schools," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 22, 2001
Hannah, James. "US Judge Ends Desegregation in Dayton Schools After 25 years," The Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 16, 2002
Horowitz, David. "Alternative to Affirmative Action? Study," Salon.com, June 1997
Minor, Elliot. "Georgia School Integrates Prom After 31 Years," Chicago Sun-Times, April 21, 2002
Moody, James. Study on segregated friendships, American Journal of Sociology, November 2002
Orfield, Gary. "Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation," The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, July 2001
Olszewski, Lori. "City Falls Short on Teacher Diversity: 59% of Schools Out of Compliance," Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2002
Page, Clarence. "The Road Ahead is Almost As Long As the Road Behind." Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1994
Rossi, Rosalind. "School Integration Efforts Lose Ground," Chicago Sun-Times, May 3, 2002
Simmons, Tim. "School Choice is Resegregating." The Charlotte Observer
Taylor, Stuart Jr. "Ban Racial Preferences, But Keep Affirmative Action Alive," The Atlantic, April 18, 2001
Thernstrom, Abigail. "Voting Rights Trap: The Danger of Resegregation," The New Republic, September 2, 1985
Williams, Patricia J. "The Theft of Education," The Nation, May 19, 1997
Zehr, Mary Ann. "Schools Grew More Segregated in 1990s, Report Says," Education Week, August 8, 2002

Catalyst-Voices for Chicago School Reform: http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/
ERASE: http://arc.org/erase
The Civil Rights Project: http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights
Child Welfare League of America: http://www.cwla.org/
Illinois State Board of Education, report cards: www.isbe.state.il.us
Consortium on Chicago School Research: http://www.consortium-chicago.org/

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