Cervantes 1

Cynthia Cervantes
Susie Huerta
Puente
English 1T

ebirth of Segregation
R

Nowadays it feels as though we've stepped into a time machine and have gone back 40

years. It is as if we have been living in a daze, are now just waking up to the reality that our

society hasn't changed. That it has only been a cover up; As though our society is a house about

to crumble, but the people in charge decide to just put on a new coat of paint; As though that will

solve how it looks or that it is breaking apart. This is how it feels to walk through the streets. To

know that in reality our society, and equality, is fragile; And people are acting blind, to believe

that times have changed. Acting as though we have no inequality, or hate, or mistrust amongst

those who are different than us. That resegregation and discrimination are real issues that are

affecting our society and causing tensions between cultures. Resegregation affects not only

people of color but everyone. Segregation causes a separation of cultures and communities,

things that allow people to grow. At the end of the day everyone has something to lose from

resegregation, we lose the ability to connect to others as well as to develop new skills and learn

about different cultures. To discuss and view the problems going on in our community we view

different texts depicting the problems that have transpired. We gon Be Alright by Jeff Chang is a

collection of essays written by Chang. Jeff chang is an american author and journalist, who feels

a strong connection to hip hop music. Growing up he ran a college radio station and one of his

first books was on the art of hip hop. In the book We Gon Be Alright by Jeff Chang, he talks

about how in today's society discrimination, segregation and racial, sexual, gender inequality is
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still a prevalent issue. Resegregation is an issue because it causes inequality and division in

power between people of color and white folks. Unequal education, a lack of equal opportunity,

and a devaluing of diversity are important causes that have created the growing rebirth of

segregation.

Education has always been a valuable resource in allowing people to grow and develop

their skills, leading them to expand their potential and find what fuels their passion; But back

fifty years ago there weren't many schools for people of color, and the schools that were meant

for people of color did not offer the same equal education as white folks. Segregation has always

been an issue, and for many people of color segregation wasn't a new concept or different than

slavery. The only difference was that they weren't owned or that they didn't have the title of

property. There were various ways in which children of color, as well as adults, were separated

from white folks. From different drinking fountains, to using different pools, and different

schools/education systems. Even though slavery had been abolished in 1865 with the thirteenth

amendment, many states took to segregation and the jim-crow laws as a way to continue the

imbalance of power between people of color and whites. In separating the schools this continued

to create a divide in children of color and white children, and their kids later in the future, and so

on. School is fundamental in the development in a child's learning and personal growth. Without

proper education or allowing a kid to explore different arts, they won't find what speaks out to

them. Now the school system prides itself on the fact that they are integrated and are diverse;

But in today's society we have seen that we are not as integrated as we initially thought. We have

found that your education depends all on your financial situation.

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With education anyone can go far in life and be able to achieve different opportunities.

Having a good education can provide people with opportunities in life and help them to excel in

the workplace. As the saying goes, with knowledge comes power; and with an unfair and unjust

education system it can create barriers for minority groups. The education system however is

corrupt in the way that it functions with handing money to the schools. A school's ability to teach

and how well it can function depends on the area in which the school is placed. Do to years of

economic struggles and unequal pay and opportunity many people of color have been forced to

live together in ghettos and little suburbs. While many white folks continue to live in major cities

and areas where people are financially stable. The way schools gain their funding is by the

school district determining how much a school gets depending on the tax income in the area.

This is one small thing that brings out a big problem. Schools that are heavily populated by

people of color tend to not offer arts programs or give the same opportunities such as volunteer

work or scholarships, that schools with funding in richer areas do. This can determine a person's

life because it can later on discourage them from wanting to go to college and finding a suitable

career.

The effects of this can impact how a person lives their life and affect their mental

stability. When it feels as though the world is against you, you begin to push back against the

world. School and education has been a way for students to find a release and find what they

love; but when your school doesn't offer arts or certain sports, or try to engage students to want

to be more than what their stereotypes offer, that's when problems start to sprout. You begin to

see a lack of opportunities to become someone in life. The fact that this one thing can have a

major impact on your life is terrifying, because you don't have control over where you get to live
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go to school when you're a kid. As jeff chang states, because people are people, that there's

probably a mexican David Geffen mopping up for somebodys company right now(Chang, Jeff.

We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation pg.53). This sums up all that we've talked

about in which education is a valuable resource, and that someone right now who is a cook or a

janitor has the same capabilities and potential as a ceo of a company; but because they lacked the

proper education they weren't able to move far in life.

Because of the impact of education it affects people later on in life, like impacting their

opportunities with work. Where you go to school and what you took in school, can affect where

you go to college and what job you can get; or even affect a person's motivation to want to

continue with their education. People of color are automatically treated differently, as though

they don't have the same capacity or ability to comprehend the same things as white people. So

when going to an interview or applying for a school they aren't given as high of a priority as

whites. That is why when looking at many huge corporations you normally don't see a person of

color, or even a female for that matter, in a high position of authority. You normally walk around

and notice people of color, or women, in a position of subordination, with little to no chance of

promotion.

White people either tend to chose to ignore the racial injustices that they see before

them, including in the workplace. As stated by Chang, resegregation grows not from white

ignorance, but from white refusal and denial. And so half a century after the peak of the civil

rights movement, the nation has moved again into crisis(Chang, Jeff. We Gon' Be Alright: Notes

on Race and Resegregation pg.7). In a time in which everything is shown digital and all over

social media it's impossible to be ignorant and blind and that harsh truth that our nation hasn't
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moved forward but taken steps back. You need to purposefully chose to ignore the situations and

the incidents in front of you to be ok with what is happening.

And by choosing to remain blind to the fact that you don't see the injustices and lack of

fairness in the community, that is when you start to become a part of the problem. You stay in a

state of acceptance of the roles that are being placed, instead of trying to help fellow people to

rise and move up in society. We stay blind to the fact that people of color are stuck in a state of

never moving forward, with lack of equal representation and opportunities. Only beginning used

when most convenient.

In relation to unequal representation, many people of color are just being used for their

color. As a way to create diversity and an appeal to schools, work places, and communities. But

in the end people of color are never really needed, they are only being used for their ethnic

appeal to create an aura of diversity and acceptance. With unequal education leads to a ignorance

and purposeful blindness to the problems seen in communities. This city loves to preserve its

murals and to evict its muralists(Chang, Jeff. We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and

Resegregation pg.67). People will appreciate the art but not the artist. Willing to push them aside

to use them for their work.

In a land that says that diversity is the key to a strong democracy and a great nation, it

isn't as respected or appreciated as it should be. It is something that is used as a tool rather than

seen as a development in moving towards a better future of acceptance. People need to awaken

to the fact that they aren't seeing people of color and respecting them.

To better state all together, if unequal education were to be fixed than many problems

that are occurring now would really transpire. With education comes the ability to better
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understand the word around us, and with it we can make critical and analytical judgments

without fear of discrimination and scrutiny. Better understanding of our history in order to

prevent our past and to better accept those around us, those who seem different. To help to rise

against the hate and fight against the rebirth of segregation.

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Works Cited

Chang, Jeff. We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation. N.p.: St Martins Pr,

2016. Print.

"Primary Documents in American History." 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). N.p.,

n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2017.