The Superintendent as Lead Education Ambassador and Childrens Rights - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

URBAN EDUCATION REFORM AS A MAJOR CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE The Superintendent as Lead Education Ambassador and Children’s Rights Activist 1

“ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Racial Justice Social Justice Criminal Justice Juvenile Justice Economic Justice Employment Justice Housing Justice Transportation Justice Equity Justice Equality Justice Curriculum Justice Instructional Justice Grading Justice Literacy Justice Assignment Justice Scheduling Justice 2

We must work TOGETHER to break the chains of injustice. Gender Justice Expectation Justice Policy Justice Content Rigor Justice Disproportionality Justice Testing Justice Food Justice Wellness Justice Funding Justice Narrative Justice Environmental Justice Mental Health Justice Safety Justice Violence Justice 3

The Pervasiveness of Discrimination Receiving a promotion Quality of medical care Obtaining bank loans Buying a home Getting insurance Renting an Hailing a taxi Getting a job apartment Suspended from Purchasing preschool a car Pulled over by Cost of bail police Arrested for drug – related crimes 4 From House that Racism Built- Williams

Racial Differences in Residential Environment In the 171 largest cities in the U.S., there is not even one city where whites live in equal conditions to those of blacks “ The worst urban context in which whites reside is considerably better than the average context of black communities. ” Sampson & Wilson 1995 From PowerPoint -House that Racism Built- Williams

Residential Segregation and SES A study of the effects of segregation on young African American adults found that the elimination of segregation would erase black-white differences in:   Earnings   High School Graduation Rate   Unemployment And reduce racial differences in single motherhood by two-thirds Cutler, Glaeser & Vigdor, 1997 From PowerPoint -House that Racism Built- Williams

Racism as a System Arrows reflect emergence of racism and the effects of subsystems (white arrows) Labor Market & Income Education Criminal Justice System Racism School Segregation Health Care Sys Credit Markets Residential Segregation Housing Market Adapted from Reskin, Ann Rev Sociology, 2012 From House that Racism Built- Williams

Conclusions • Racism, in its multiple forms, is alive and well today • Its most powerful effects are through policies and procedures that are embedded in social institutions • We need to acknowledge and understand the current manifestations of racism • We need re-doubled efforts to mitigate its pathogenic effects • We need to create the political will and support to dismantle societal structures that support racism, ethno-centrism, anti-immigrant sentiments and incivility From House that Racism Built- Williams

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 9