Doan 1

Tien Doan
Brian Adler
English 100 STACC, #3638
18 November, 2014
Segregation in Education, in Los Angeles
In the Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse, the book is about how Mexicans
look at the society. In chapter four narrated by Efren Mendoza, a bus operator, in one of the
scenes, Efren talks throughout his bus line he see Los Angeles is divided into different areas by
race , one area is the white and rich people, and the other areas are black, Latino, and Asian. The
scene shows how each race segregates and live in different sides of the city. Segregation
happened in Los Angeles a long time ago. At first, it was set by government laws, then later,
when the law was overturned, people still segregated themselves in different areas because
racism and different culture backgrounds. For long time ago, the laws of segregation happens in
many ways such as in public, education, and different communities of county. Segregation in
school is caused by the law enforced by the Supreme Court, after the law was overturned,
segregation still exist in some schools and affected the students opportunities to learn.
Segregation was legalized by the Supreme Court decision, in the late 19th century, after
African Americans had gotten their freedom and equal right like white people, some of the states
still have segregation laws. The article Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) public on website PBS.org
explains a court case that caused segregation. It introduces the story of an African American
men named Plessy, where his rights been violated when the Louisiana government put him in jail
for sitting in the white area, in the Louisiana Railroad. The Louisiana government had the laws
that segregate on the cars and bus. Later, the Supreme Court used this court case to make the

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separate but equal, the law made segregation legal throughout the country. As the quoted
from Justice Henry Brown, quote Justice Henry Brown says A statute which implies merely a
legal distinction between the white and colored races -- has no tendency to destroy the legal
equality of the two races (Plessy v. Ferguson 1). This implies that the Supreme Court made the
wrong decision when believing that equality would exist even though the different races had
been segregated. The local governments based on this law to made segregation laws. The
segregation laws were enforced in various public areas such as restaurants, schools, buses, etc.
This has destroy[ed] the legal equality of the colored people because they have not only been
segregated but they have also been treated differently and unfairly. While the white population
was treated with more respect, the black people were mistreated and had been looked down
upon. The separate but equal law became the cause of segregation in education and took away
the equal rights of the colored people.
Segregation in school took away colored people rights, and treat them unequal as
compare to white population. The schools for colored people often had lower quality and full of
students. The conditions of those schools are lack of many things that could took away students
opportunities. According to the article "Segregated Schools can do Students no Good" in The
New York Time, segregated schools could make students have less interaction with people
different from their races. The New York Time explains [s]tudents of color who attend
segregated schools may experience culture shock and may feel intimidated upon entering a
predominantly white college or the predominantly white business world (Segregated Schools
can do Students no Good 1). Colored students only studied in segregated schools, so when they
came out to the real world with often dominance by white population, those students will fill lack
of confidence. When color students went to college they would be culture shock because what

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they had experienced in high school is different, the people they had to interact are not people in
their race. It will took away colored students confidence, and made them think that they are not
as good as the white population, that could lead to the effects of colored students drop out of
college or they do not study as good as white population. Segregated schools could create
culture shock for colored students in future, and took away their confidence as compare to white
population.
Segregation in schools continued even after separate but equal law was overturned after
The Civil Rights Movement. African Americans won their civil rights resulting in a countrywide overturn of all segregation laws. However, segregation in schools continued to occur, such
as in the Los Angeles County. According to the peer reviewed journal Schools ignored
segregation by Allan Ashman, the California Court of Appeal had reserved the decision of the
Los Angeles County Superior Court in the court case Crawford v. Board of Education of the City
of Los Angeles, and required schools to desegregate, since the superior court turned a blind eye
to the prominent segregation issue. The article explains the trial court found that the school
board decline[d] to take any action with respect to desegregation ... unless and until commanded
by the court to do so (Ashman 1). In 1975, as segregation laws were being overturned,
segregation remained in school. The schools decline[d] to take any action to desegregate
despite the fact that colored people then had the same rights as the white population. Even
though colored people were able to choose the school they wanted to attend, the institution used
the segregation laws to reject them. Schools continued to incorporate segregation even though it
was no longer allowed. The separate but equal law made segregation in schools legal, and
because the schools were segregated for too long, segregation in schools seemed to become a
tradition. The district did not think that they should desegregate and bring back the equal rights

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for colored races. Showing that in the late 20th century, even though colored had equal rights,
segregation became a tradition. Many places, like schools, would not desegregate unless it was
required by law. The effect of segregation in schools made it seem as though it was , resulting in
refusing to desegregate even after the separate but equal law was overturned.
Segregation in schools created racism toward colored people. When schools
desegregated and let colored students attend, white students did not accept them. Segregation in
schools happened for too long, so it created disconnection between each races, and it made white
population look down to colored people. According to the new "Banneker '55: Separate,
Unequal, Determined" published on The Washington Post, in 1995, when the school district in
Washington D.C. desegregated the public schools, white students had many protests that show
their disagreement with that decision. The Washington Post said after some colored students
attend to the desegregated schools, the white students reacted angrily, [f]or two days, groups of
white students staged walkouts, demonstrations and marches to protest the presence of blacks in
their schools Within a few years, most of the white kids in D.C. public schools were gone
(King 1). Segregation in schools created racism. It made white students thought that they are
always in higher positions than colored students, that is why when colored students joins in their
schools they had many actions to against it. The walkout and protest they do could make
colored students feel upset about themselves, and their races. The racism and hatred toward
colored students made most of white student in Washington D.C. moved to private schools, or
some different places so that they can stay in white population only. Segregation in school
created racism and discontent between races that could not break off after desegregation.
Desegregated happened after the Civil Rights Movement, but in schools, students still
divided and play with their own group. After schools desegregated, racism still exist among

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students. The video Color-Blind: Fighting Racism in Schools, a documentary film about how
people try to solve racism issue in the schools, shows that students in the school separate
themselves in different group. In the interview most of students answered that they felt
comfortable and more understanded when they play with their own people. One of the girls in
the interview answers, [h]alf the time, you do not see colored people hanging out with white
people (Color-Blind: Fighting Racism in Schools 1). Segregation in schools created the space
between white and colored people, so students did not want to communicate with people
different from their race. Desegregation in school did not work because students still separated
themselves into different groups. The gap was so big that each race only felt comfortable within
their own people. Segregation still exist in the way students hangout in their own races and does
not communicate with others, that happened because segregation in school had created racism,
and that gap could not close even though the laws had changed.
Students studying in segregated schools could have less opportunities to learn as white
students. The article "Divided We Fail: Segregated and Unequal Schools in the Southland" by
Gary Orfield, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, and John Kucsera that published in the website
civilrightsproject.ucla.edu, introduces their research about segregated schools in Southern
California. The research shows that as the minority population rapidly grew in Southern
California, segregation in schools could affect student opportunities and outcomes. Segregated
schools often have more English Learner students, more poverty, and a lower graduation rate.
The article explains [i]n 2008, students in intensely segregated schools were close to three times
as likely to have a teacher lacking of full qualification than students attending majority white and
Asian schools (Orfield, Siegel-Hawley, and Kucsera 5). One of the effect that makes student in
intensely segregated schools have less chance to graduate is because the school takeaway

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students opportunities. Those schools often have some teacher lacking of full qualification, if
the teacher does not have the qualification to teach students well, then the knowledge students
could get is less than other students in desegregated schools. The segregated schools are also
often in the poverty area, so the money the schools have for each students is less than other
schools. Segregated schools could takeaway students opportunities to learn more and have
more of a chance to success in future
Segregation in education was caused by the Supreme Court law. The Supreme Court
enforced the separate but equal law to make segregation legal in the late 19th century, which
directly affected both schools and other public places. In the mid 20th century, after The Civil
Right Movement, the segregation law was overturned, but many schools in the country, such as
in Los Angeles, still kept followed the segregation law until the court required them to
desegregate. Until now, the 21st century, segregation still exists, especially in school. They
exist in form when the people try to separate themselves out of other races. Research shows that
segregation in school can possibly take away opportunities for students. Segregation in school
violated the equal rights of the minorities and it treated them unfairly in comparison to the white
population.