Race Relations in South Floirida Schools A Glimpse into...

Race relations in America’s public schools have come a long way. The U.S Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education deemed segregation in public schools unconstitutional, and started the process of integrating public schools . Yet, Kathleen McGrory, an education reporter for The Miami Herald, writes that creating and maintaining diversity in public schools is still difficult, even 56 years after the monumental court case. McGrory’s article states though the nation is now more racially and ethnically diverse than at any point in its history, American public schools’ demographics do not exhibit this diversity. In fact, the pierce includes a quotation from a University of Miami professor who studies education and sociology that†¦show more content†¦In Miami-Dade County, most public schools reflect a school named American Senior High, where the composition is 28 percent Black, 65 percent Hispanic, and a small percentage of White non-Hispanics (McGro ry). She adds that the public school population reflects the results of repeated waves of immigration. Based on these figures, one can understand the rationale behind demographers declaring South Florida schools a sign of the nation’s future. Recognizing South Florida’s notable racial diversity is important for the issue of race relations in American public schools. Frequently, discussion about new race relations generally center on race relations between Blacks and Whites. Juan F. Perea (2000), in his contribution to Critical Race Theory, labels the cause for this practice the Black/White binary paradigm. He defines the paradigm as â€Å"the conception that race in America consists, either exclusively or primarily, of only two constituent racial groups, the Black and the White† (Perea, p. 346). The binary paradigm precludes other minority groups from being considering in racial discourse. Consequently, for groups like Hispanics, both Blacks and Whites ignore their issues. Perea writes, â€Å"Our [Hispanic] claims can be ignored by Whites, since we are not Black and therefore are not subject to real racism. And our claims can be ignored by the Blacks, we are not presumed to be Black and becoming White, and