I lived in Little Rock, Ark., for 22 years. My family moved to the south in 1975, just two years after busing was imposed as a method to desegregate the public schools. I graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1983, 26 years after Gov. Orval Faubus tried to prevent nine black students from matriculating there.
Our nation has struggled with the question of educational equity and integration for many decades, from north to south and east to west. The Twin Cities have faced multiple lawsuits since 1971 challenging a segregated and unequal educational system.
In 1994, the state Education Department responded by approving a "voluntary" metrowide school desegregation plan. In 2000, the state settled an NAACP lawsuit, originally filed in 1995, that resulted in "The Choice is Yours" program. But years later, our voluntary method of providing a more equitable education for all students has failed. The state now has one of the highest achievement gaps in the nation.
But I never thought I would actually hear people say that segregation was OK as long as it was voluntary or by choice. Katherine Kersten, a contributing writer for the Star Tribune and senior fellow with the Center of the American Experiment, stated as much in her own report that she presented to the Legislature last year after she participated in the Integration Revenue Replacement Task Force. As she reiterated, "… federal law does not prohibit racial imbalance; it prohibits racial separation caused by intentional government discrimination." Her argument was that, somehow, if we meddle with the definition of "segregation" and add "unintentional" segregation into the requirements, we open ourselves up to lawsuits. So, we should do nothing about racially isolated schools, because we have not created these conditions "intentionally."
The last I heard, separate was not considered equal. A couple-hundred-plus years of American policy have resulted in this predicament of segregated cities with segregated schools. Ignoring these previously intentional acts that affect the current state of urban and suburban demographics could also be construed as intentional neglect.
My husband and I moved to Minnesota in 1997 for career opportunities and for the chance to live in a state with an honorable and progressive reputation. As a Minnesotan, I'm ashamed of my state's lack of leadership to address problems of inequity and segregation.
What happened to the legacy of Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, who so passionately spoke out against racism and for civil rights, back when it was not necessarily easy to do? Why can't we admit that the achievement gap stems from a segregated and unequal educational environment that has not been mitigated by voluntary desegregation strategies? It hasn't helped that our state's "pioneering" efforts with charter schools have intensified our segregation, as Myron Orfield revealed in a recent study.
The way we fund our public schools and how we reinforce poor outcomes by adding more "choice" that only some kids can take advantage of leaves us with little opportunity to intentionally create community across cultures and socioeconomic status. Every child who fails in school will grow up to be a citizen who is unprepared to contribute in positive ways to our community. When a portion of our community is failing, we all fail, with far-reaching consequences.
