is Brown vs. Board of Ed. unraveling or just growing up?

Yesterday a decision was made by the US Supreme Court that elementary through secondary schools can no longer (for the most part) use race as a factor for admissions. When I first read this I was like yea that makes sense; colorblind admissions are the most fair in this day and age in my opinion. But as I continued to read the 4 articles/editorials published in this morning’s New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/index.html?th&emc=th) I was really surprised at the intense opposition in most of the articles. There was a huge uproar that this overwhelmingly conservative court under Bush is now completely negating Brown vs. Board of Education which required racial integration of schools after the segregation era. After reading these arguments it made sense, but there were a bunch of things missing from their arguments. Now I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on politics or news or crap like that, but I believe I am knowledgeable and intuitive enough to put my opinion forward.

Though Brown vs. Board of Ed. is undoubtedly one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in US history, there are some things about this new Supreme Court decision that we should think about:
Is this decision unraveling the principles of Brown vs. Board of Ed or just showing that we have grown up as a country and race is no longer as important a factor as it once was?
Are we just getting defensive because this is ultra-conservative Bush’s Supreme Court?
Why is there no mention of the fact that Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court’s only minority justice voted with the majority to make race a less important factor in admissions?

These are just food for thought. Questions that I believe must be considered before making a rational decision.

I don’t have a solid opinion on this decision yet thought I most agree with this guy (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/washington/29schools.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th), but I do have an opinion on the use of race in admissions of any kind. Originally, Brown vs. Board of Ed. was so profound a decision because it now gave blacks access to the same education as whites. Race was a huge dividing factor in terms of access to education and then through law this was no longer made appropriate. That was the 1950’s. We now live on the brink of the 2010’s and I don’t believe race is the most prominent dividing factor in terms of access to good education. I personally believe this factor is socio-economic status more than anything. Those of lower SES do not usually have access to a good elementary and secondary education and therefore do not have the same educational privileges and opportunities as those of higher SES. Now I know that there is a strong correlation between SES and race, but then why do we need to consider race at all? Wouldn’t giving a black middle class child admission into a good elementary school over a poor white kid be just as bad as giving a white middle-class child admission over a poor black child? If there is a strong correlation between race and SES, then by doing colorblind admissions that does consider SES wouldn’t you still end up with the racially diverse school you were looking for?


I’m not saying that I, a white, middle-class suburban girl who has access to some of the greatest opportunities the world can offer, has any expertise in this area. I’m not saying my opinion is finite or un-malleable. All I am doing is posing this question; should we make race matter so much?

growing up

every morning i read the ny times online. i have a job i enjoy. i occasionally make my bed. i go food shopping. i dream about travel but i appreciate what i have and the stability here in ny. im discovering who really matters in my life. i dont let pride get in the way of me doing what is necessary.

and though i am jealous of some peoples' circumstances i do not wish to change one thing about my life, who i am or where im at.

things arent necessarily coming together, but they sure aint fallin apart.

getting my shit together.

so it has been a long time since i last blogged. i think the lack of internet in my apartment could have something to do with it, but nevertheless i am here now.

so what has happened over the last month...well i moved back up to ithaca for the summer, was squatting in a house for 2 weeks and finally last week moved into my sweet ass apartment with miss lindsey bober on college ave (conveniently behind the liquor store, and tho i myself am not 21 the majority of my friends and associates are so it makes for great enticement to come and visit me :)).

in the past month i have been hired for a job, quit that job and hired for another job. my first job was working at the center for nanoscale systems institute for physics teachers (cipt). many of you are probably wondering, ''syd, arent you a design major? why would you work at a job that had anything to do with physics and nanoscale systems and other things you clearly do not understand?'' well my answer to all of you is that a) it was very flexible, b) it paid decently and c) it had promised i would be doing community outreach with the ithaca community in its description posted on uportal. thus i embarked on my first week at cipt and began getting to know the people who worked in the center for nanoscale systems, or cns as said by the cool kids. i think it relevant to point out that cns also stands for center for nutritional sciences, which is where the real cool kids hang out...my theory is that the center for nanoscale systems is kind of like the really dorky kids in 5th grade that started wearing the big puffy tommy hilfiger winter jackets like the cool kids were wearing because they thought that by dressing like the cool kids on the outside they would henceforth be cool themselves, which we all know is clearly not the case...and this fact can be applied to the cns faculty with which i worked. i literally have never felt so awkward in my life. you the awkwardness that makes your skin tighten and makes it impossible for you to look away from the person(s)/situation? try feeling like this for 5 hours a day, 4 days a week...it starts taking its toll and you realize you need to get out.

well thats what i did...after 2 weeks of the mind-numbing awkwardness and meneal tasks (i put away packing peanuts and put together kits on ohm's law...no i do not know what ohm's law is) i left cipt and started work for another acronym, lasp which stands for latin american studies program (yes, something relating to my life and interests) and that is where i reside as we speak...

i truly enjoy my lasp time...i get to be creative and research cool things like the kuna women of panama and their artisan craft of molas and then come up with cirriculum for elementary, middle and high school art classes about mola making and then run a mini simulation with ithaca school system teachers and other people from the cornell center of international studies...aka i like what im doing for once :)

ok i think thats a good synopsis of what has been going on in my life professionally. ill try and update this more often, once linds and i find internet we can pirate.