Re-segreation and the Diversity Polilcy

If we stop busing for diversity or move towards neighborhood schools, we will re-segregate our schools. That is a common argument from those who favor WCPSS's diversity policy. On one hand, I do understand where those people are coming from. If we did move to strictly neighborhood schools (which I don't think most people are proposing), we would see largely minority schools in certain areas of town and largely white ones in others. On the other hand, I have a few problems with this argument.

First, it isn't truly segregation, or at least not the legal segregation of the past. Segregation was the deliberate and forced separation of blacks from whites. Are we living under segregation now because blacks and white don't live together for the most part? Its no secret that the 'projects' in downtown Raleigh are largely minority and that the suburban areas of far North Raleigh are largely white. Does that mean we are segregated? Is it segregation when high school students sit together by race in the school cafeteria? Or is it just human nature to want to be around those who look like you? It's definitely a topic worth discussing, but to use the term 're-segregation' is inflammatory. For the most part it serves only to invoke imagines of a racist past and to scare the general public.

Second, if it is illegal to consider race when making school assignments then how does the re-segregation argument fit in? Its widely known and admitted even by WCPSS's supporters that Wake County is unique. Assigning students by socio-economic status instead of race works here because most of Wake county's poor are minorities. But what is the true purpose of the diversity policy? It seems that avoiding 'segregated' schools is the real intent because that is one of the first arguments that gets made against changing the diversity policy.

Third, what are segregrated schools? Back in the days of segregation, Raleigh and much of the south were pretty much black and white. Now we have significant Hispanic and Asian populations. So what does segregation mean? Is it a school that is largely black? Or one that is largely minority with very few white students? Further complicating this question is the fairly large economic differences between Wake County's minority populations. Cary is probably the most diverse community in Wake when it comes to race, but these minority families aren't poor for the most part. Many are highly educated and employed in high tech industries. Does WCPSS value that type of diversity, or is it only about black and white or rich and poor?

I think that its time for WCPSS and Wake County as a whole to have real discussions on race, diversity, and what the goals of the diversity policy truly are. Demographics have changed significantly in Wake County yet we still seem to be operating with a 1950s or 1970s mindset. Of course we must respect and be mindful of the past but we will never get anywhere if we don't start looking towards the future.