Brown vs Board of Education

[aquila]

I have a Physics exam tomorrow but thought I'd procrastinate for a while... hehe

As America commemorates the landmark decision that led to the desegregation of US schools, let us discuss how far America has come today.

Where you are now, do you see a lot of healthy mingling between whites and African Americans? Is there race self-segregation in your school/neighborhood in America? Back home in Malaysia?

Birds of feather flock together... You think this is true? Should students be blamed for self-segregating? How can we foster more integration among races? How do we create a school that is truly diverse? Not just in numbers, saying that you have x% Malay, y%Chinese, z% Indian but a place where students really mingle beyond their race.

What do you think of the phenomenon "Malaysians berkampung" here in the States? Interestingly, JPA tries really hard to discourage this from happening. In the past, they stopped sending students to Purdue because of this. Do the Malaysians in your college/university berkampung? Do you try to mingle with people from other cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds?

When you feel uncomfortable mixing with people different from you, how do you cope/react?

Hopefully, responses to this thread will help us in socializing here in America. Pointers for new students and reminders for old ones on maximing our time here to meet different people.

[budakkerek]

One of my friends confessed to being one of the those "guilty" of this. Reasons:

1. he's a shy person
2. his English is not so good (according to him laa, but to me, who cares whether it's good or not, as long as you can get ur msg across)
3. it's easier coz can talk in Malay

Well, as they say, ppl tend to stick to the familiar. so even if you send them to South Africa for example, they'll stll look for Msian ppl, create a mini Msia there. My 2 cents.

[aquila]

Yeap. I agree. One tends to fell more comfortable around people who are similar to her.

However, isn't it interesting that here in the US, where you have people whose race originated from all five continents, whites, blacks, Asians, Middle Easterners, other aborigines, you still see Asians going together, regardless of whether they're Chinese, Korean, Southeast ASian and Indian?

I think it all boils down to the narcissism of differences. Say one day, we earthlings live among creatures from other planets/universe, I'm pretty sure the earthlings will hang out together, no matter what the color of their skin or culture is.

While most people naturally tend to socialize with others of similar backgrounds, a system can be in place to encourage mixing between people of different backgrounds. For instances, universities can on purpose assign the international students into different dorms to encourage interaction between them and the American students.

But in some Ivy league universities, the old tradition "segregation" of the elites seems to be the rule rather than the exception. If you're curious about this, read http://www.thecrimson.com/fmarchives/fm_03_18_1999/article6A.html and you can google "Princeton eating clubs" for more information about these exclusive eating clubs at Princeton, whose membership consists mostly of WASP (white anglo-saxon protestant).

the big debate on brown vs. b.o.e. is whether the racial desegregation did actually benefit the blacks and the hispanics. An alarming percentage of minorities (blacks and hispanics) do not graduate from high school and are invovled in crime.

black scholars like cornell west and gates seem to believe that there's nothing fundamentally wrong with having black schools that are well-funded.

I think that view is mistaken because the minorities are where they are today primarily due to their culture of not prioritizing education. To change the culture, I believe we need the minorities to experience other cultures. For example, if a black sees her Asian friend working very hard to excel, she will likely be motivated to excel too because of peer influence. In the future, she will realize that the culture of emphazing education is actually very important and will bring that upon to her children.

[budakkerek]

segregation is unhealthy, esp to a child; makes him think that there's only one skin color in this world, and makes him not want to mix with ppl of other skin colors. Certainly not what we want to hv in Msia...

i';m sorry, but can anyone explain, who is Brown and which Board of Edu are you guys talking bout? i know what this thread is about, i just dunno who these ppl are. Thanks :P

For the history, read http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/edlife/EDCOHENT.html?ex=1085198400&en=6d583bd055f948e2&ei=5070

As you can see, the US was a very different place even just 50 years ago. But they are willing to admit the mistake and change quickly.

[budakkerek]

oh..oke..now i really know what we are talking bout.

King has definitely created a big impact in American history. I think, without his famous, i hv a dream speech, it'll probably take America like another 100 years to achieve such a thing.

Having schools that still segregate students/special schools for certain race, is not the answer though. Like prince said, an uncondusive environ will definitely encourage students to NOT excel in school. Having a mixed group (of diff races, diff abilities etc) is the best way to achieve excellence. the not so good students will definitely be motivated to get better marks in order not to be left behind in class. I mean, who would want the last position in class? it's so uncool... :wink:

[wild_card_my]

For the history, read http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/edlife/EDCOHENT.html?ex=1085198400&en=6d583bd055f948e2&ei=5070

As you can see, the US was a very different place even just 50 years ago. But they are willing to admit the mistake and change quickly.

no ID.. how can I read the article..

hold on, could there be a free registration?