Talking Points #7 on Lawrence In "One More River to Cross"-Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown

Premise:
This article discusses...

• Brown did not solve most of the racial segregation that still appears in todays societies.
• Courts failure to recognize the nature of racial segregation.
• Denial of race in American communities.
• The injury of black children by the existence of segregation in the school environments.
• How segregation should have been dealt with in the environments too and not just in the schools.
  
• State is the main cause that can take action against segregation.
• Remedies need to be formed to help deal with the situation of segregation.
• Defines how segregation functions.

Authors Argument:
Lawrence argues that the decision created by Brown did not solve all of the segregation issues in American societies. Brown only made very slight changes to the society but not drastic ones which is what needs to happen. The decisions made in this specific case ended up putting them in a completely different predicament then what they wanted to be in and changes occurred that the American people were not ready for.

Evidence:

1. It is the thesis of this paper that the Brown decision fostered a way of thinking about segregation that has allowed both the judiciary ans society at large to deny the reality of race in America, that the recognition of that reality is critical to the framing of any meaningful remedy-judicial or political-and that Brown may ultimately be labeled a success only insofar as we are able to make it stand for what it should have stood for in 1954.
2. ...the court chose to focus on the effect of school segregation. Chief Justice Warren began the crucial portion of his opinion by describing the importance of education in achieving political equality. He then proceeded to cite evidence presented to the court by social scientists indicating that the effect of school segregation on black children was the generate "a feeling of inferiority" that in turn affects the motivation and ability of these children to learn. In short, segregation violated the equal protection clause because of its empirically demonstrated discriminatory effect on the educational opportunity afforded blacks...By focusing on the effect of school segregation rather than its purpose the Warren Court confused the issue and led us to look to separation as the sole source of black children's feelings of inferiority rather than at the larger institution of which segregated schools were only a small part. This confusion has limited us both in proving injury and in our search for appropriate remedies.
3. The Courts failure to recognize and articulate the true nature of racial segregation was more the product of an intentional, knowledgeable decision than the result of any inability to comprehend.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
This article to me was very interesting. It helped me to realize how much racism still occurs in todays societies. In my high school I was given the opportunity to learn about Brown vs. The Board of Education and at that time I thought it solved the segregation problems in the American communities, but reading this article made me realize that it is just the opposite. This court case basically did not solve anything but a few minor issues in the school systems. But, what about outside of school? When this case came to a decision, they did not really focus on the issues outside of the educational department as much as they equally should have. This is causing for them to have difficulty in coming up with remedies to subside these racial issues in the communities. I hate to hear that children are being neglected better learning opportunities just because they are of a different race. Thats not right!!!!!! In order to come up with remedies for this issue, people need to get over their own racisms and help out the community in any way possible. I believe that the American society will benefit from this a lot better once we all learn how to put aside racism.

Talking Points #6 on Oakes "Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route"

Premise:
This article is about...

• Ability grouping
• Tracking
• Educational matters
• Stereotyping students
• Learning opportunities
• High and low ability students
• Tracking alternatives
• Different types of curriculum's
• Classroom environments
• Teaching habits
• Student evaluations

Authors Argument:
Oakes argues that students need to be taught better by using better practices other than "Tracking." By tracking students, it provides them with fewer learning opportunities due to the fact that the teachers focus only on students who are more advanced or less advanced then others instead of providing them with the same treatment. Oakes suggests that we should come up with alternatives to tracking to benefit every student.

Evidence:

1. On one side of the issue, many educators and parents assert that when schools group by ability, teachers are better able to target individual needs and students will learn more...On the other side, growing numbers of school professionals and parents oppose tracking because they believe it locks most students into classes where they are stereotyped as "less able," and where they have fewer opportunities to learn.
2. One fact about tracking is unequivocal: tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school. Moreover, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups have success to far richer schooling experiences than other students.
3. In classrooms where the curriculum consists of a sequence of topics and skills that require prerequisite knowledge and skill master, mixing students who have different skills is difficult. Students do differ from one another, and the most striking differences among them might be in the speed at which they master sequentially presented skills. Unless students are similar in learning "speed," such a curriculum raises horrendous problems of pacing. Some students are ready to race ahead, but others lag behind. Enrichment for the quicker students often becomes make-work; reteaching becomes a chore; being retaught can be humiliating for the slower students.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
I think that this article makes a good point about how schools should come up with alternatives for "Tracking." When i was in elementary school and high school, I was considered to be of the normal student who got mostly A's and B's, along with a C or two here and there. I was not of the high or low ability students. I was eligible to take college prep classes but yet was not eligible to take honors classes with most of my friends due to the fact that my GPA was not at the level it needed to be until towards the end of my junior year of high school. When I was finally able to take a college course and receive the credits for it, I noticed a major change in the way the teacher taught the materials and they way she treated us in the classroom. The teacher treated us more maturely then those of my other classes all because we were in a college classroom setting. Which to me did not seem right because it was not right for the teachers to treat the students differently. I agree that teachers should not use the practice of "Tracking" only because it can make some students feel out of place and not as equal as the rest of their other classmates.