The "Color Line"

As I was researching, I came upon this article http://news.change.org/stories/the-problem-of-the-color-line-in-americas-schools entitled “The Problem of the Color Line in America’s Schools”. It was a criticism of the poor job that the government and the educational systems have done to create an equal learning environment for children of color since Brown v. Board. They made an interesting point, 50 years since the Brown v. Board decision was made, a case eerily similar to the pre-Brown era was brought to the same court in South Carolina. It was stressing the problems that majority low income African American schools are facing, as shown in detail in the documentary The Corridor of Shame. Problems with not only the structural integrity of the school buildings but with the safety of the learning environment, poor resources, under-qualified teaching staff and a plethora of other problems. The compliant brought to court in 1949 was that "facilities, physical condition and sanitation ... the only three schools which Negro pupils are permitted to attend, are inadequate and unhealthy, the buildings and schools are old, over-crowded, and in a dilapidated condition ... [with] an insufficient number of teachers and insufficient classroom space." Sound familiar? It seems that nothing has been done to improve the plight of these children, living in an economic situation that does not easily merit a simple move to switch districts, and continuing to receive a sub-par education while other schools in the state flourish. However, I do believe that this so called “Color Line” may be merging away from just being based solely on race towards being based more on economic status. The people in these regions of the state receiving a poor quality education are not only African American, there are a good number of white Americans living in those areas and recently there have been an increasing rate of Hispanic immigrants moving to those areas as well. The segregation of America is no longer as simple as looking at a color but now it is tied into economics and into the very foundation of communities.

While I was looking at that article I found a photo project done by students as sort of a follow up on The Corridor of Shame, it was really interesting to see in real life the pictures and thoughts of the students in these situations and just how bad it really is. The link is http://www.metafilter.com/51520/But-What-About-Us-Student-Photographs-from-the-Corridor-of-Shame .