Penn Valley Common Read: Some of My Best Friends Are Black

Although the Supreme Court ruled racial covenants unenforceable in 1948 and although the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act outlawed them, the hurtful, offensive language still exists — an ugly reminder of the country's racist past. NPR, Nov 2021.

The May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent protests about police brutality and other injustices faced by Black people in the U.S. – both peaceful and violent – have many social scientists wondering, what can I do to help repair the many fractures in American society that seem to be getting worse each day? The first step, of course, is to educate ourselves about the issues, especially about the history and culture of the place at the epicenter of the most recent conflagration. The Society Pages, June 2020.

"For many Black and Brown youth, the presence of police in their schools disrupts their learning environments. There is a culture clash that exists between law enforcement and the learning environment: police enforce criminal laws, while schools are supposed to nurture students. This report addresses the stark reality that police in schools is an issue of American racial disparity that requires deep structural change. We will explore the question of why police are in schools at all and conclude that police are incongruent with the educational environment we envision for our children." Advancement Project, October 2018.

A map drawn in the 1930s to divide white and Black residents—a practice employed across the nation—foretells today's most food-insecure communities. Civil Eats, September 2018.

Research finds that even among children who grow up next to each other, with parents who earn similar incomes, black boys fare much worse than white boys as adults. Controlling for differences among individuals and households cannot explain away these significant racial disparities. Perhaps nowhere is the persistence of those disparities as evident as in America’s older industrial communities (OICs), many of which have begun to stabilize and grow again. Absent concerted efforts to close those disparities, their precarious renewal may be short-lived. Brookings Institution, May 2018.

Commissioned by the Johnson County Library for its Race Project KC initiative, two Kansas Citians created an immersive experience to educate people about race and segregation as they drive through the metro. The audio tour — dubbed Dividing Lines — is a 90-minute story set along 24 miles in Johnson County and Kansas City, Missouri. Startlandnews.com, April 2018.

In this paper, and accompanying online interactive, we investigate the racial composition of schools, compared to the neighborhoods in which they are located. School segregation inevitably reflects, to a greater or lesser extent, neighborhood segregation - especially when enrollment criteria are based on geography. We construct a “racial imbalance measure” for every non-private (including traditional public schools, charter schools and magnet schools) school in the U.S., comparing the racial composition of each school to that of its surrounding neighborhood. Brookings Institution, November 2017.

The first of Startland’s six-part series on new development on Troost Avenue, a historic racial and economic barrier in Kansas City. Startland, October 2017.

Racial divisions in U.S. schooling echo and amplify the nation’s racist history. Education is a vital ingredient for success in adulthood. This report argues 3 main points: Schools remain highly segregated by race and income, and this segregation hinders progress towards greater educational opportunity; school segregation is not only a byproduct of residential segregation, but also a reflection of policy choices; and daily factors such as school schedules and bus times may be as important to the success or failure of integration efforts as ideological persuasion. Brookings Institution, March 2017.

Racial disparities associated with suspensions are glaring: Suspensions of African-American students occur at rates three to four times higher than the state average for all students. Includes a 6 1/2 minute auido discussion of the relationship of race and school suspensions. Brookings Institution, March 2017.

Sixty-three years after the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, many schools across the country either remain segregated or have re-segregated. Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that when it comes to school segregation, separate is never truly equal. NPR, January 2017.

Newly released Census Bureau statistics show that, despite the growth in large metropolitan areas driven by racial minorities, the neighborhoods in which whites live have become only modestly more diverse since the 2000 Census. These new statistics, from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey, also update the neighborhood racial segregation measures for blacks and Hispanics. Brookings Institute, December 2016.

For the past 5 years, Wyandotte County has consistently ranked last of Kansas's 105 counties for social determinants of health. This project is the culmination of curiousity to answer the question, "why," and provides a multi-view perspective of the health opportunities that exist (and where they do not exist) in Wyandotte County. The Ohio State University, November 2016.

"Wyandotte County consistently ranks near the bottom of Kansas counties on health outcomes, despite sharing a border with Johnson County, which usually comes in first or second. Even within Wyandotte County, however, a person’s address can have a serious effect on his health." KCUR, November 2016.

Brookings Istitute authors find that poverty—not race—is the real challenge for segregated schools, and that improving school quality is key to closing racial achievement gaps. Examining empirical research that measures the effect of interventions to provide low-income and minority students with access to higher-performing and more racially heterogeneous schools, the authors conclude that positive impacts on student achievement are driven by school quality. Brookings Institute, October 2016.

"One of our main messages is the need to be very careful about how we measure segregation. Scholars use different indices, define their groups in different ways, and choose different geographical areas as the basis for assessing schools. One example of why this last criteria matters: in the wake of civil rights legislation, the extent of racial segregation within school districts declined, but segregation between school districts increased slightly over the same general period, partly because of 'white flight' to suburban school districts." Brookings Institute, October 2016.

Audie Cornish interviews Matthew Delmont, author of Why Busing Failed, about the problems of busing to end school desegregation. NPR News, October 2016.

An artcicle about shifts in housing and poverty: "The poor population in America’s suburbs climbed by 65 percent between 2000 and 2014, more than twice the pace of growth in core cities. Amid that rapid increase, suburbs became home to the nation’s largest poor population for the first time, outstripping the urban poor population by more than 3 million." Brookings Institute, September 2016.

This article argues that the consequences of unconscious bias (UB) may be particularly salient in the hierarchical environments of schools. Specifically, UB likely perpetuates socio-economic, gender, and racial gaps in educational outcomes such as academic performance, engagement with school, course and major choice, and persistence in higher education, particularly among historically disadvantaged and underrepresented groups such as low-income and racial-minority students. These gaps in educational outcomes then manifest in corresponding workplace disparities in pay, promotions, and employment. Brookings Institution, June 2016.

The governing board of the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation, which oversees city-county transfers, is discussing an option that would greatly narrow the number of new students who would enter the program. Under the plan, starting in fall 2019, the only children that would be newly admitted would be those with siblings already enrolled. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 2016.

Article from the Rockhurst University website discussing Tanner Colby's visit to the school and discussion of the 49/63 neighborhood coalition. Rockhurst.edu, April 2016

This report analyzes the work that school districts and charter schools across the country are doing to promote socioeconomic and racial integration by considering socioeconomic factors in student assignment policies. The Century Foundation, February 2016.

Research shows that racial and socioeconomic diversity in the classroom can provide students with a range of cognitive and social benefits. This article summarizes those benefits. The Centruy Foundation, February 2016.

This report reviews the research and reasons why, in the field of education in particular, policy makers should listen to the growing demand for more diverse public schools. Drawing on the research from both higher education and K–12 education, the authors demonstrate that there are important educational benefits to learning in environments with peers who grew up on the other side of the racial divide in this country. The Century Foundation, February 2016.

Research shows that racial and socioeconomic diversity in the classroom can provide students with a range of cognitive and social benefits. And school policies around the country are beginning to catch up. Today, over 4 million students in America are enrolled in school districts or charter schools with socioeconomic integration policies—a number that has more than doubled since 2007. Here’s why the growing momentum in favor of diversity in schools is good news for all students. The Century Foundation, February 2016

Highwoods Properties Inc. has agreed to sell all of its wholly owned Country Club Plaza portfolio for $660 million to Country Club Plaza KC Partners LLC, a joint venture between Taubman Centers Inc. and The Macerich Co. The Country Club Plaza is the famous Kansas City shopping district created by J.C. Nichols. Kansas City Business Jounral, January 2016.

This article discusses the controversy surrounding an attempt at redistricting and desegregation in Brooklyn. New York Times, September 2015.

While much attention is correctly given to alleviating the persisting segregation of blacks in many American cities, it is also important to recognize a newly emergent shift to the suburbs among blacks from major cities with established black populations. Brookings Institute, July 2015.

A map depicts the geography of white population changes in cities and suburbs over the decade. More than one-quarter of the 100 largest metropolitan areas experienced white losses in both cities and suburbs. Includes analysis. Brookings Institute, July 2015.

Graph of the neighborhood makeup of average residents across the US by race, with analysis. Brookings Institute, June 2015.

More than ever, major metropolitan suburbs reflect the rest of American society. Growing numbers of suburban areas are achieving what might be termed “melting pot” status as it relates to race. Brookings Institute, May 2015.

A US map showing where white populations are growing or shrinking, by county. Includes analysis. Brookings Institute, April 2015.

A report with statistics, maps, and graphs regarding the number and location of incarcerated black men. New York Times, April 2015.

This article uses the most recent data available to show the racial makeup of police departments and the communities they police. Includes interactive graphs and maps. New York Times, April 2015.

A suburban residence is still a goal for many American households and, for minorities especially, a symbol of making it in America, and a supermajority of whites resides in the suburbs. But among minority groups, a selective suburbanization is still taking place. Brookings Institute, March 2015.

The fastest growing racial group in the country is those who identify themselves as “two or more” races. Brookings Institute, February 2015.

The city of Kansas City is accused of intentional discrimination for trying to force low-income African-Americans out of an upcoming area of Kansas City's Hyde Park neighborhood. Fox 4 News, October 2014.

Tanner Colby discusses the history of racial integration on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Slate.com, January 2014.

An interactive New York times News Graphic showing poverty rates in America by county and by census tract. New York Times, January 2014.

Article on Tanner Colby from NPR's Code Switch. NPR, August 2013.

This article features charts, maps, and graphs to illustrate the racial composition of New York City's schools. New York Times, May 2012.

"In this paper we investigate whether the school desegregation produced by court-ordered desegregation plans persists when school districts are released from court oversight. Over 200 medium-sized and large districts were released from desegregation court orders from 1991 to 2009." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, December 2011.

Dynamics combined in the 2000s to produce more diverse “melting pot suburbs” and increasingly multi-hued cities, stark changes from the binary race/place images of the past. This report examines these trends through the lens of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, based on results from the 2010 Census. After discussing data and measures, it examines in turn the increasing influence of Hispanics on city and suburban demographic change; racial/ethnic shifts in cities and suburbs; suburban gains among specific minority groups, with an emphasis on blacks and Hispanics; and the largely white gains that propel growth in the exurbs of metropolitan areas. The report concludes with brief thoughts on the implications of these shifts for race relations, public policies, and politics in cities and suburbs. Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, May 2011.