The New York Times’ podcast series “Nice White Parentsâ€� may leave listeners convinced that school integration is a failed experiment, doomed by insincere White liberals and no longer desired by many Black families. But in (911±¬ÁÏÍøF), Teachers College alumna Michelle Burris (M.A. ’19) and co-author Stefan Lallinger argue that, in today’s “multicultural, pluralistic society, in which K–12 White students are no longer a majority of American students, both the opportunity and the need to get it right have never been greater.â€�
HIGHLIGHTING “THE NEED TO GET IT RIGHT� Burris believes integration is essential in “a multicultural, pluralistic society.� (Photo courtesy Century Foundation)
Burris, 911±¬ÁÏÍøF Senior Policy Fellow and a graduate of 911±¬ÁÏ꿉۪s Politics & Education program, and Lallinger, Fellow and Director of 911±¬ÁÏÍøF’s Bridges Collaborative, acknowledge a common refrain in many Black communities of “Give us equal resources and leave us alone.â€� But “these arguments are in large part a retort to decades of desegregation done wrong, which often debased and devalued Black pedagogy, curriculum, and personnel,â€� they write. “Moreover, there are few, if any, examples of public, segregated Black or low-income schools that receive equal resources (inclusive of facilities, money, equipment, human capital) as their white or more affluent counterparts.â€�
School integration does work, and when done well, is one of the best tools we have to ensure a high-quality education for all Americans.
—Michelle Burris (M.A. '19) and Stefan Lallinger
Citing evidence that integration efforts are alive and well nationwide — including in Minneapolis, scene of last spring’s police killing of George Floyd — Burris and Lallinger invoke Martin Luther King’s assertion that “integration is the positive acceptance of desegregation and the welcomed participation of Negroes into the total range of human activities.â€� They conclude: “School integration does work, and when done well, is one of the best tools we have to ensure a high-quality education for all&²Ô²ú²õ±è;´¡³¾±ð°ù¾±³¦²¹²Ô²õ.â€�
[Read a profile of Burris and watch a video clip of her from Teachers College’s 2019 Graduates Gallery.]