Reviews the Henry Louis Gates Jr. memoir, "Colored People," and Julius Lester's novel of the civil rights movement, "And All Our Wounds Forgiven." Discovers a number of salient points concerning the black experience of integration in both books. Considers some of the interesting questions raised and their possible use in class…

This article addresses shortcomings in the literature on environmental inequality by (a) setting forth and testing four models of environmental inequality and (b) explicitly linking environmental inequality research to spatial mismatch theory and to the debate on the declining significance of race. The explanatory models ask whether the…

The shared struggles facing urban and rural schools, such as changing cultural and linguistic classroom profiles, increased childhood poverty, and residential segregation patterns, influence financial inequities between people and communities thus contributing to gaps in academic achievement and teacher shortages in both settings. The…

Recently, reflections on the progress since the 1954 decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" and the challenges confronting those who believed in "Brown" occupy much of the author's daily thinking. Many of the current and recent past education problems and issues are connected generally and specifically to issues of school desegregation: (1)…

This article comments on leadership within mainstream literature on school effectiveness/improvement, where it is almost always considered to be a factor of change. The article argues that systemic school improvement, particularly for disadvantaged children, is inextricably linked to wider social, economic and political conditions--in South…

This paper considers the educational work that narrative does. Against the context of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission that examined the crimes of apartheid, it discusses the narrative implications of South African poet Antjie Krog's multi-layered text of Truth Commission testimony, and autobiographical and philosophical…

This chapter presents the author's response to Bernard Gifford and Guadalupe Valdes's article "The Linguistic Isolation of Hispanic Students in California's Public Schools: The Challenge of Reintegration." In their article, Gifford and Valdes consult the historical record concerning English-speaking Anglo contact with Spanish-speaking…

In his critique of academic writing about and public consumption of government policy and law, Jonathan Jansen uses his argument of the symbolic functions of education law and education policy as a basis for explaining the lack of progress in achieving equity and justice under "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) in the United States and…

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their students played a pivotal part in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s. Private HBCUs, in particular, provided foot soldiers, intellectual leadership, and safe places to meet and plan civil disobedience. Their economic and political autonomy from the state enabled the…

Despite desegregation, and educational policies calling for increased inclusivity in higher education, students in South Africa generally continue to have homogenous social and learning experiences. This article reports on a collaborative student learning community across three disciplines at two universities. The e-learning project aimed to…

On April 10, 1994, The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University's School of Education sponsored its third conference on the impact of the famous "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" decision. Fourteen discussion groups analyzed the following questions: What was the promise of "Brown," and has that…

This teacher's guide is designed to accompany the videotape "Democracy and Right's: One Citizen's Challenge." The videotape takes a case-study approach toward understanding rights. It examines the story of Ernest Green, one of nine black students who helped integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Green's case…

Post-apartheid South Africa has been struggling with the question of how to restructure its institutions of higher education to both foster an equitable society and contribute to economic and technological development. Proponents of community colleges in the United States suggest that these institutions may best meet South Africa's needs.…

The attitudes of African American educators toward historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) were studied, focusing on the degree of support for HBCU, the perception that HBCU meet the needs of African American students, whether non-Blacks should attend HBCU, and why African Americans should choose them. The sample consisted of 30…

In the United states, late in the twentieth century, racial separation prevails in family life, playgrounds, churches, and local community activities. Segregation of housing is a key mechanism for maintaining the subordinate status of blacks. Housing policies and practices have been a leading cause of the nation's decaying central cities and…