School District Offers Classes Separated by Race to 'Shrink Learning Gap'
To merely exist as a white person today is to hold black people and Latino people down. That is what the liberals and progressives want everyone to believe as they blame “whiteness” as the primary cause for the educational inequality in our nation.
The fallacy is being escalated by Evanston Township High School located in Evanston, Illinois. New classes are being held that are reintroducing segregation into the school and our nation in a whole new way. The goal is to “shrink [the] learning gap” that is occurring between black, Latino, and white students, The Wall Street Journal reported.
SEGREGATION: Chicago area schools offer black students the option of going to classrooms free from Jewish and/or white students. When a WSJ reporter arrived at a public meeting to learn more, a district spokeswoman said she would cancel the meeting if the reporter didn’t leave. pic.twitter.com/EYfRCAFDMN
— @amuse (@amuse) November 27, 2023
The cause of this gap is being blamed on the existence of whiteness in the school. Public school officials believe that whiteness is a distraction to black and Latino students. These students need it to go away in order to perform, I guess. As a result optional courses have been set up to exclude the white element. The fact that they are optional bypasses any legal issues that could arise due to antidiscrimination laws, according to education lawyers.
Called affinity classes, 200 black and Latino kids have voluntarily signed up for math classes and a writing seminar made up of kids of a single race taught by a teacher of color, according to the Journal. These classes separate white students from black and Latino students. It’s a band-aid solution, in my opinion, much easier to latch onto than the actual root causes of black and Latino students’ under performance.
Black and Latino parents and kids in the school district should be furious. These children are being sold short and set up to fail under the guise of eliminating prejudice. They are being excused from reality and the very field that will challenge them to achieve in a safe environment, so they can go out and successfully conquer the real, much tougher world.
Unless, that is, the intent is to keep the black population and Latino population in their own boxes, away from their white counterparts and competition. They will forever trail behind as a result, in the name of social, cultural progress — elective enslavement as a result of being sold a bill of goods.
We will also begin to reverse course on cultural acceptance at the hands of heightened inequality. This new format is a far cry from offering optional programs, like African American studies, from which all can benefit. This is blatant segregation and finger pointing towards the white population of students.
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According to the Journal, “A 2019 study on the original program for black boys offered by the Oakland Unified School District found that students who took the affinity class were slightly less likely to drop out of school.” But focusing on “slight” improvement isn’t the answer, especially when considering what is being traded as a result.
Black and Latino families need solutions that provide “marked” improvement. That is where key resources should be focused. The one being opted for instead offers a delayed, unrealistic, unyielding, politically driven approach to educating kids. Instead of taking into account significant elements, such as the impact of mass fatherlessness in black homes, the administration pushes “whiteness” as the reason black and Latino kids are falling short academically.
“If we make them feel comfortable, they will do better. Then we can feel better,” is the rationale.
Without a doubt, whenever you feel more comfortable, you do better. This applies to human beings as a whole. But the degree needs to be weighed against the outcome, as well as reality. These kids won’t live in a bubble long term. They need to be able to thrive within the actual conditions they will encounter.
Advancing Excellence, Lifting Everyone and “giving it all you’ve got” programs provide shortsighted answers given the structure of the United States.
With a student body of 3,600 kids — 44 percent white, 24 percent black, 20 percent Hispanic and 5 percent Asian, according to The Wall Street Journal — the district’s superintendent Marcus Campbell and the school board believe that concentrating on equity is the winning strategy. Campbell cited, “Recognizing that racism is the most devastating factor contributing to the diminished achievement of students, ETHS will strive to eliminate the predictability of academic achievement based upon race.”
At Evanston Township High School in the 2021-2022 school year, 80 percent of white students have received a 3 or higher on the AP exams, followed by 61 percent of Latino test takers and 48 percent of black test takers. This was one factor contributing to this new style of class being undertaken.
If the intention is actually a good one, focusing on color isn’t the proper path. There are numerous elements that need to be addressed for true progress to be made — progress worth measuring.
Requests for comment by The Wall Street Journal went unanswered. To that same end, a reporter was instructed to leave a public meeting for parents of black students. A district spokeswoman threatened to cancel the meeting if the reporter didn’t.
My question is, why all the secrecy? Educating readers on what is being educated in the public setting could help all cultures eager to learn and benefit from this stellar wisdom and progress. It shouldn’t be hidden if nothing nefarious isn’t going on.
A racial-equity consultant at Evanston Township High School named Glenn Singleton explained the eventual goal to be one of reunification based upon increased achievement and the elimination of disparity between blacks, Latinos, and whites.
The new style of class is being presented as a step in the right direction, not the ultimate end game. The price seems rash and counterproductive compared to the gain if this is true. It remains to be seen. In my book, it feels more like we are moving backwards to a time when prejudice and segregation were commonplace. We’ve come too far to allow this to happen.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
