Segregation/Desegregation

I've noticed in a couple articles related to racial differences, that some of the writing seems to support benefits to segregated settings. In one of the Nespor chapters there was an interview segment with an African American girl who said that before she was bused out of her local community for school, she was a good student and was seen by her teachers as capable. But once she moved to the school in a caucasian neighborhood, she related negative experiences with teachers and the school. There was also a clear theme in the Nespor book about how the African American community was destroyed through urban renewal efforts. This was not only the physical boundaries that defined their community, but their sense of togetherness as well.

This week in Corsaro's piece, in his discussion of Zena, he also discussed difficulties related to integration. He stated that Zena's difficulty with the transition to an unfamiliar peer culture was largely unsuccessful and was possibly disruptive to her educational experience, based on declining academic performance and negative perceptions of her by the teacher and other students. He also said that the priming effects through the Head Start did not lead to positive transitions later, as the interaction norms in that setting were completely different (and even offensive) in the first grade classroom. In terms of positive outcomes for Zena, Corsaro said she would be returning to her neighborhood school the following year, where she would have more in common with her peers.

In my career and education, I have not spent much time on critical theory or inter-racial issues, outside of having a general understanding that people have different perspectives and things go better when you can be open to those. However, there is also a general understanding that segregation is "bad", though a sense of community is "good". I am having a hard time reconciling these things in my mind. This extends to my personal concerns around the inclusion and integration of people with disabilities in schools and local communities. Benefits tend to go along the lines of acceptance by others increasing with more exposure. The downside is that integration appears to have been made into an overarching goal without allowing for groupings that have a sense of identity associated with them.

Last week I was talking to someone who supports 5 people with developmental disabilities in a large local corporate office. They were hired 8 years ago through a policy that looked a lot like affirmative action. They choose to have lunch together, which is seen as a bad thing by the person providing support. She commented that in other settings where there is only one person who is developmentally delayed, they are "forced" to have lunch with the other employees, which was seen as a positive. It really made me wonder about the importance we place on personal choice, and how we still think that we should impose our values and choices on others under the pretext that they don't know what's best for them. Hmmm.

I would like to hear what other people think about how to merge the ideas of desegregation with the benefit of increased exposure, acces, and understanding, with the benefits of a sense of community and personal choice.