Progress since Brown v. Board

Linda Brown an African American girl trying to get an adequate education traveled several miles to reach the black school she attended when a white school was only a few blocks away. Due to the frustration of her father and many others Brown v. Board of Education (1954) along with four other cases led to the desegregation of schools, for segregation made some "inherently inferior". After the courts called for the desegregation of public schools many states saw extreme forms of white resistance such as the Little Rock Nine (1957), where military force was needed to help schools integrate nonviolently. Because integration caused chaos throughout the nation, courts ordered schools to desegregate with "all deliberate speed". Resistance continued for many years and in the Freeman v. Pitts case in 1992, the fact that many areas were still not fully integrated was broadcasted. Almost forty years later the dreams of full integration had not come true.

 Today many students have the opportunity to attend schools with many other races and feed off of diversity. Unfortunately, many of these diverse schools are either selective enrollment or acceptance depends on location. Back in the 1950s many children suffered because of the color of their skin. Nowadays children are suffering because of standardized tests they aren't prepared for or the district they live in. Although one would think public schools are available to the the public, if one lives too far from the school they want to go to they might be rejected. At this point one must rely on their merit and knowledge to get into the top school. Sadly, many neighborhood schools, especially those in predominantly minority communities, are not preparing children for success due to a poor curriculum and the lack of proper funding. While these children struggle, those fortunate enough to get out of the neighborhood or those living in better communities with better schools are able to get more resources making their dreams more realistic. These schools have beautiful campuses, new stadiums and books while many neighborhood schools barely have decent looking books. How much progress have we really made when minority groups are suffering just as bad as they were in the 50s? When these students realize that their education wont do much for them many turn to alternative lifestyles because somehow they still have to eat. Today education funding typically costs 5000-18000 across 892 districts per pupil while it costs 52,545-96,087 per inmate in the Illinois youth centers. This means it is taking way more effort to lock these students that fall into the wrong path up when it would cost way less to provide a proper education. Diversity is beautiful; however, when a small amount of each community is able to receive these benefits we have a serious problem. Not only are these neighborhood schools inadequate, but many of them are closing due to the lack of performance. What happens to these students afterwards?
The system broken, the schools closed, the prisons open
We ain't got nothing to lose motherfucker we rollin-Kanye West (Power)
~Jeremiah the Messiah