Tuesday, February 19, 2002

Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News Deborah Wardell of Lathrup Village was among those who believe Detroit and suburban students need exposure to different people to understand and end segregation.

Education
Student interaction eases tension
Educators say more openness is needed

By Jodi Upton / The Detroit News

Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News Reanne Young-Sorge moderated the education group, which suggested more contact between schools. Education excerpts    Sister Maureen Fay discussed higher education's role in breaking down racial barriers. Sister Maureen Fay, president, University of Detroit Mercy    * "Sometimes I have asked myself, 'How are we dealing with this on our own campus?' And I really began to question how effective we are in taking advantage of the opportunity to see the world from a perspective other than our own."    * "Often I walk through the cafeteria or the student union and I see our African-American students together, our white students together, our Arab students together. That is fine in one sense. But yet -- in a university that is 32 percent African American, 51 percent white, and 17 percent other minorities -- it is not acceptable."    * "Separation inhibits our opportunities to understand and participate in the wider and broader culture and in the end it limits the educational experience. And it encourages stereotypes and at the end it shrinks all of our possibilities."    * "In our ongoing celebration of Black History Month, we had a lecture by Dr. Ella Bell, an African-American professor in the business school at Dartmouth ... What most encouraged me was what happened after the event: She was surrounded by women, students black and white, for more conversation, for more advice, for more direction... Here was a model of a successful black woman with important things to say to both groups. And they're coming together, under the understanding that they had common problems, common challenges, that they could work out together." Can the youth make gains? Do young people have a better chance than their elders to reverse Metro Detroit's status as the most racially split metropolis in the United States? Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

   Metro Detroiters may not agree on exactly how to deal with school segregation, but after heated exchanges during Monday's workshop, it's clear they feel passionately about it.
   For some, the issue is inadequate money for programs promoting school integration; others say money is irrelevant.
   Still others sprinkled blame elsewhere: Parents who don't send kids to school ready to learn. A lack of leadership by the schools. A dogmatic curriculum and a slavish devotion to standardized tests.
   But nearly all of the more than 40 people who gathered to discuss education agreed on at least one thing: Even if families of different races choose to live apart, students in Detroit and its suburbs need exposure to people who are different from them -- a first step in understanding people and ending segregation.
   "The person I am and how I got to be there is through knowing families that are different than me," said Deborah Wardell of Lathrup Village, a member of the Southfield School Board.
   Barbara Wisniewski, an 8th grade science teacher in Detroit, agreed.
   "The key is exposure (to people who are different). You can dump millions in the school district and kids may still grow up to be racist."
   For some, avoiding racism is a conscious decision that has to be constantly reaffirmed and supported through teaching and faculty choices. That's especially true, said Brighton history teacher Carol Cook, in heavily white areas such as hers.
   "(Most) of Michigan teachers are old; we've been at it a long time," said Cook, 52.
   "It may be time to upgrade."
   "It's going to continue to be a problem until the majority of teachers embrace (multicultural learning)," said Diane Milstein of Farmington Hills, who teaches in Southfield schools.
   But others said the heart of the matter is white privilege: whites who control almost all the resources and turn a deaf ear when blacks complain about discrepancies.
   "Most people don't take credit for being white but they certainly benefit from it," said Alfred McPherson, a social worker from West Bloomfield.
   Others, though, lamented lower standards in schools whose student populations are predominantly black.
   "We tend to instill an underdog mentality in some children by what we say and do," said Ricardo Jefferson, a Southfield Lathrup high school teacher. "When other people come to visit, we spruce things up and show off, as if what we have is inadequate, that it doesn't measure up. It's terrible to teach kids that negative behavior."
   While there were some areas of commonality, others attending Monday's session were frustrated that so few immediate solutions were offered.
   "There such an intermingling of issues that need to change to transform schools," said Jefferson. "But people come in with very different viewpoints."

Key points
   * Education leaders should establish cross-county and cross-community communication such as sister cities or e-mail and chat rooms of local students to allow them to talk to each other in a "color-blind" environment.
   * The state should consider eliminating the MEAP test, which critics say is inherently stacked against minorities and prevents communities from working together to improve education.
   * Parents should talk with other parents and educators about the major issues of school segregation, to foster a grass-roots effort that will eventually be heard by legislators and other leaders.
   * Residents should encourage diversity of faculty as well as students.
   * Residents should encourage high standards for all students, even when schools are facing dramatic changes in diversity.
   

You can reach Jodi Upton at (313) 561-8768 or jupton@ detnews.com.