Richard Kahlenberg's might actually be the smart alternative to racial integration he asserts it is if it weren't for one troublesome thing -- racism. While not repeating Gary Orfield's fine critique of the piece, let me say that Kahlenberg appears to be unaware that racism is more than low income or limited access, that class cannot be a substitute for race. Additionally, the … [Read more...] about A Response
Symposium Responses
A Response
I join Gary Orfield’s observations in response to Richard D. Kahlenburg’s article on socioeconomic school integration. I write to articulate an analysis that may be implicit in Orfield’s observations and that is absent or ignored in Kahlenburg’s. Both articles failed to confront the core of the school integration issue, whether it is defined by race or by class: white racism … [Read more...] about A Response
A Response
Richard Kahlenberg suggests that the economic integration of our public schools – or, more specifically, their transformation into “majority middle-class” schools – is both the necessary and achievable response to our society’s inability, and unwillingness, to achieve racial the desegregation of its schools and its housing patterns. Social science research demonstrates that … [Read more...] about A Response
“Socioeconomic School Integration” by Richard D. Kahlenberg (September-October 2001 P&R Issue)
By Richard D. Kahlenberg (Click here to view the entire P&R issue) Today, most of the education reform world, liberal and conservative, accepts as a given that American children will attend schools that are largely segregated by class and race. There is a strong policy consensus that concentrations of poverty, whether in public housing or in public schools, reduce life … [Read more...] about “Socioeconomic School Integration” by Richard D. Kahlenberg (September-October 2001 P&R Issue)
“Should Racial Integration Be Pursued As the Only Goal?” by Joe Feagin and Yvonne Combs (January-February 2000 P&R Issue)
By Joe Feagin and Yvonne Combs (Click here to view the entire P&R issue) In practice, racial desegregation has often become a game of numbers, a game that does not serve well the basic needs and interests of the black community. Clearly, the end of legal segregation has meant some increased housing, job, and education options for black Americans, especially those in the … [Read more...] about “Should Racial Integration Be Pursued As the Only Goal?” by Joe Feagin and Yvonne Combs (January-February 2000 P&R Issue)
