Tyson challenges the idea of prior achievements as structured reasoning for separation of students by providing laws that ban the use of standardized IQ testing scores for placement of students and stating that, “after taking students’ prior achievement, socioeconomic status, and other relevant factors into account, black students still are more likely than whites to be placed into lower tracks (p.14).” Although racial tracking has been covered up by several other terms and ultimately placing fault on Black students for ridiculing other Black students for “acting white” when taking higher-level classes it is clear as day that it is the modern day segregation. Part of the problem with blaming Black students for accusing other Black students …show more content…
Board of Education has been superficially taught to students in history classes for decades but hasn’t quite hit under the surface with the open discussion of the issues that have since followed a rather major step in the Black community. Brown overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson which deemed it equal and constitutional to segregate students of color from white students in schools ultimately. The ruling was supposed to integrate all students together and allow them to have an equal education amongst each other; however, Tyson explains that through school structuring this is inaccurate of what has happened. Tyson points out that the result of the slur “acting white” from racialized tracking is one of many explanations to why integration hasn’t been completely implemented into our school structure although it has been decades since the Supreme Court ruling. It stood out to me that she proved “acting white” wasn’t a sufficient answer to the often questioned achievement gap because predominately Black populated schools with predominately Black populated higher-level classes have never heard of succeeding academically as acting white but rather simply talking and portraying yourself as a stereotypical “white person” to be acting white. Sonya, a student at a school with 89% black students and 6% white students, responds to the term “acting white” as a descriptor of achievement by saying, “No, I haven’t heard that. When they say you’re …show more content…
We have discussed in class the pressure of being a student of color in the school system especially if students of color are underrepresented in an area. Although other students may not recognize it there are students of color who feel an immense pressure within themselves and from the outside world to succeed academically in order to represent their community well. No matter how it boils down or how prestige the source is( i.e., Senator Barack Obama), the term “acting white”, is not sufficiently supported through anything but personal opinion of mainly those who are not negatively affected by it or those who have not been educated on the underlying issues of the achievement that are rarely talked