Dive Brief:
- Release from post-Brown v. Board of Education integration court orders has lead hundreds of school districts across the U.S. resegregating, according to reports by AL.com and ProPublica.
- In Alabama, 43 school systems are still under federal desegregation oversight, and Tuscaloosa's Central High School, which had its oversight rolled back in 2000 as it attempted to combat "white flight" to private and suburban schools, now has a 99% black student population, according to ProPublica.
- AL.com reports that many in Alabama aren't surprised that schools are still having issues with segregation, as last year, on the 50th anniversary of former Gov. George Wallace's attempt to block integration, a black student was blocked entry to two University of Alabama sororities because of her race.
Dive Insight:
Though Alabama is spotlighted in the coverage, this is an issue across the South. Districts in 14 states currently have active desegregation lawsuits with the U.S. Justice Department, with Mississippi and Alabama having 44 and 43 lawsuits each, respectively. In its suit, AL.com reports, Alabama's Huntsville City Schools has argued that the law changed over time and housing patterns have allowed racial isolation.
The big problem here is that, prior to having integration rolled back, Central High School was seeing achievement gaps closing between black and white students, while quality falls when student populations are predominantly made up of poor minority students.
Along with its report, ProPublica has also released the following video, and AL.com's story has an interactive map that really puts resegregation into perspective.
