March 19, 2022
By Aria Stuhmer
Staff Writer
School segregation has been a serious problem for centuries, and it continues to be one today.
There are two landmark Supreme Court cases that are necessary in understanding the history of school segregation in the United States.
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark Supreme Court case that was decided in 1896 and ruled that state-mandated segregation was not unconstitutional. This case was a huge step back for racial equality because it permitted states to allow racial segregation. Plessy v. Ferguson set a precedent for future cases regarding segregation and led to the creation of the “separate but equal” clause, which stated that racial segregation was not unconstitutional as long as the quality of education was the same.
When students have the opportunity to interact with peers from different backgrounds, they are able to learn about and appreciate different cultures.
Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court decision. In the court’s decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren asserted that the “separate but equal” clause is inherently unequal. Thus, a new precedent was set, and school segregation of any kind was deemed illegal.
Nearly seven decades after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, there is still segregation, even in New Jersey. In fact, according to a 2017 analysis by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, New Jersey is America’s sixth most segregated state for black students and the seventh most segregated for Latinx students.
Therefore, New Jersey should consider combining smaller school districts in New Jersey to allow for diverse, inclusive schools. Integrated school districts will ensure that minority students are more evenly represented.
When students have the opportunity to interact with peers from different backgrounds, they are able to learn about and appreciate different cultures. According to Drexel University’s School of Education, students who grow up in more culturally diverse schools have a greater ability to adapt to change and feel more comfortable when conversing with different groups of people. It gives students a sense of empathy, a better understanding of other people’s struggles and prepares them for a more diverse workplace.
Last month, New Jersey’s senate education committee narrowly approved a bill to establish a Division of School Desegregation within the state education department. According to the education news website Chalkbeat, the division would analyze racial and socioeconomic segregation in New Jersey schools, study its impact on student outcomes and create a plan to promote integration.
Senator Joseph Cryan, a Democrat representing District 20 and an advocate for school desegregation, introduced the bill to disband desegregation in school systems. This bill came about almost four years after parents and advocates sued New Jersey, arguing that by requiring students to attend school in the towns where they live, which tend to be racially imbalanced, the state is maintaining a segregated education system.
According to Chalkbeat, in New Jersey’s public schools, 62% of students are Black, 58% are Latinx and 20% are White. Since New Jersey is such a diverse state, schools should also be diverse.
School segregation will take time to resolve through legislation and civil activism, but it must be addressed. All New Jersey students deserve a welcoming school environment where they can benefit from the state’s diversity and have equal access to academic resources.
