Contemporary Segregation (Essay Sample)

Contemporary Segregation
Student’s Name
Institution
Contemporary Segregation
The society has advanced over the years, and so has segregation of people in the same society. Contemporary segregation is a major concern that cripples most of the pillars of society such as schools, hospitals, the transport system, and restaurants. Segregation can be defined as setting apart from the others, which can be witnessed in separation of people on the basis of their religion, race, or a group within the society (Bennett, 2010). According to the theory of evolution, human beings, from birth or through acquisition, naturally develop characteristics of discrimination, prejudice, racism, and bias. At the same time, Marxist’s theory of racism elucidates that racial discrimination, preconceived notion, and prejudgment are factors that develop because of the different classes that are present in society (Sanders, 2009). These two theories present different opinions on how racism, bias, and prejudice take place in society. This paper delves into contemporary segregation, basing its analysis on schools. It will summarize two peer-reviewed articles, analyze the interview conducted in school, and, in conclusion, present a personal reflection.
Segregation has been for more than a few decades a part of the United States’ beliefs, which can be traced to the very first days when slavery had just been introduced. The two articles that have been reviewed were written by Eleanor Barkhorn, who tries to find out why American schools are still segregated, and Karnasiewicz Sarah, who finds the reason behind segregation in schools 50 years after the Brown v. Board of Education. According to Barkhorn (2013), some schools in different regions of the country are still operating on race basis since, as it is evident from the sample school, some of them have very few white kids in the entire institution. In the article, it is revealed that the new levels of segregation in schools have taken a twist and it is now more than what used to be there a few decades ago (Barkhorn, 2013). That makes Fiel, a school teacher who is now undertaking a Ph.D., suggest that the Department of education in the United States needs to come up with new strategies in order to deal with the growing rate of segregation in schools (Barkhorn, 2013). Their organization around the two highlighted themes depicts the role of law in creating, upholding and finally helping to undo human segregation in the society. The article further indicates the effects of sexuality and gender politics as they outwit legal procedures, economic, as well as socio-political and cultural arenas.
The second article talks about the miserable situation that presents itself between schools many years later after the Brown v. Board of Education. In author’s view, the education sector ought to have changed for the better after the promises of Brown v. Board of Education. Kozol tries to relate the situation in schools to apartheid, explaining that white schools get adequate funding and praises while inner city schools that serve minorities do not get the much-needed federal funding to equip them as their counterparts (Karnasiewicz, 2005). In Kozol’s view, it was the Bush administration that came up with sinister educational policies in which routine memorization is praised more than resourcefulness and where teenagers were perceived as raw material that needs to be molded into obedient army of workforce. According to Karnasiewicz (2005), school is the place most affected by segregation; although there are hardly ever noticeable interracial relations to speak of at the workplace, behind the curtains, a mind-set is still against the idea.
The second section of this essay is based on the interview conducted with one of the administrators at a neighborhood school. It was clear from the interview that the history of America’s racial discrimination can be described by both hard-won development and unexpected reversals of fortune (Dailey, 2009). The administrator underlined that change is inevitable in any social system, whether it happens at home, within the society, at school, or at the workplace. The change that happens in society most of the time is based on environment and people around us.
The main cause of segregation in schools was identified to be the mode of entry into different colleges and schools. In most cases, a majority race gets more consideration than the other races (Sandra & Meri, 2011). The superior race will feel like they deserve more college or university admissions because of their numbers, which might lead to preventing potential applicants from minority races from getting admission into college and university.
It was evident from the interview that one of the ways we could end contemporary segregation in society is by stopping to teach evolution at schools since children learn that they are superior or inferior to a particular race through this subject. Another way to stop segregation is to mandate international laws that are against racism, discrimination, bias, and prejudice of any kind against all human kind. In addition, there should be a curricular in the school program that promotes togetherness amongst students rather than division (Sandra & Meri, 2011). In addition, nationalism is sometimes misunderstood by people who think they are superior to another race and, as a result, use the notion to oppress others. However, it is now time for the racism to end and all the societies of the world should come together and kill the notion of one race being superior to another.
Finally, the last part of this essay is personal interpretation of the facts presented by the two articles as well as the ones obtained from the interview. After a scrutiny of the subject matter presented in parts one and two of this essay, I can infer that segregation is a way through which a superior race or group of people tend to discriminate other groups or races that are considered a minority. For years now, there have been debates all over the world on the subject of race inequality in society. The main theme is equality between different people in society such as the white and the black communities in America. Racial discrimination has several sensitive areas, such as work, politics, education, and family. The education sector has been hit in large scale by segregation (McPherson, 2008).
I have learnt that the education sector has become a tricky part of the society when race comes to play in schools. Minority students are always having problems in terms of relating with other students because they are alienated from them, as they are ofte...