We speak with Dr. LaToya Baldwin Clark, assistant professor at UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how school boundaries are used for racial exclusion. In many cases, schools don’t just reflect, but cause, segregated neighborhoods. Dr. Baldwin Clark argues that closing the education gap isn’t just about bringing up the bottom, but bringing down the top as well. Parents, teachers, and administrators need to work together to prevent children from benefiting from unearned privilege. Inequality is intrinsically detrimental.

Overview

00:00-00:57 Intros

00:57-03:12 Schools are not preparing all students to be lifelong learners

03:12-13:16 Education as property; cultural and social capital

13:16-15:28 Schools as community enterprises

15:28-18:20 “Schooling in Capitalist America;” caste; legacies of slavery

18:20-21:32 Enforcement of school district boundaries

21:32-25:28  School segregation and housing segregation

25:28-28:20 “Bringing up the bottom and bringing down the top”; reducing the relative distance between the bottom and the top

28:20-31:30 Making the gap less consequential

31:30-35:10 What Culver City (CA) is doing to address inequality in a relative way

35:10-37:44 Implications for Black students when “good schools” look like “White schools”

37:44-40:50 Aggressions and microaggressions in predominantly White schools

40:50-42:15 Outro

Transcript

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References

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear