Resolved, that racial diversity in the classroom is essential to a good education.

Since the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, racial diversity and integration has been a hallmark issue of the US education system.  The decision officially outlawed “mandatory racial segregation”in public schools.  Since then, US school systems have used busing rezoning, and what some consider “reverse discrimination” to ensure that US schools are as racially integrated as possible.  According to research, this approach has largely been effective.  In the years since 1954, racial diversity in southern schools skyrocketed.  However, in recent decades numbers show that this trend is slowly reversing:  for example, today’s average white student attends a school with less than 23% of students coming from non-white ethnic groups. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007), has rekindled the debate over government imposed racial diversity programs by deciding that race should not be used as criteria for admitting students to public high schools.  This resolution asks us to evaluate the goal behind these numbers.  Is racial diversity essential for a good education?

Pro Considerations:

• Experiencing racial diversity is an integral part of social development.  In today’s increasingly heterogeneous society, young people must be taught to work with and around people of different ethnic and social groups, and interracial understanding and cooperation is best taught in the equal environment of a classroom.
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• A lack of classroom diversity has resulted in lower levels of achievement for minority students.  In 2006, African Americans comprised 13% of graduating seniors, but only 6% of all Advanced Placement students. The only way to avoid this kind of imbalance is to ensure that all classes are representative of minorities.
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• The National Academy Foundation’s study on interracial school relations found that black Americans and other minority students achieve more academically when in racially diverse surroundings, and that white students’ achievement is not affected by integration. This clearly shows that racial diversity can only enrich, never harm, education.

Comments (2)

Graham Dean said:

	I think that Racial Diversity In the classroom is good. Students seem to be more talkative with people of their race. When the races are more mixed people tend to be quiter and more controlable for the teacher.
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May 09, 2008
Votes: -1

Daniel Isaacs said:

The problem with forced integration is that in a way it is racist. Using race as a way to decide who gets into a school is completely racist, and in no way should it be allowed. Brown v. Board of Ed. banned segregation, but the U.S. Government has no right to ever force schools to become integrated because of the 10th Amendment. Even though the states have a right to force integration in the public schools, they still shouldn't because it is a waste of money that could be better spent on improving the education of the students. The way we improve the quality of the schools is not by wasting money on integration, but by spending it on the curriculum and by firing teachers that are only keeping their job because the school fears dealing with teacher unions. Also, in schools with many different races, people often decide to be around those with the same ethnicity. This is because people are conformist and most are at least somewhat prejudiced(even if they don't express it or approve of it). They want to be the same as their friends and if they can't change who they are, they will change who their friends are. We will never end racism and conformity, and the government can't be naive enough to think that we can. All the government has a right to do is get rid of laws allowing segregation and discrimination, which has already been done.

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June 01, 2008
Votes: +9