Integrated Public Schools Bad For Blacks Too

Posted by James Bowery on Friday, 02 December 2005 08:57.

Harvard’s Roland Fryer takes on the conventional wisdom that diversity is strength in public schools:

It appears that in integrated public schools, “acting white”—getting higher than average grades—does in fact lead to social consequences for black students. However, in private schools and unintegrated public schools this does not appear to be the case. Apparently, the social context of integrated public schools lends itself to an “oppositional culture” where blacks reinforce cultural norms in opposition to the norms of the dominant social class to self-identify.

So white flight from the diverse public schools may be good for the black students “left behind” in those public schools. Of course, the politically correct fundamentalists would say it doesn’t matter how many black students suffer since integration is an overriding moral goal. Integrate now, observe the damage and then try various things to lower the damage. If it takes a generation, two, three… lost to the experiments with our children’s lives to get it right—so be it. Sacrifices must be made.

There are some interesting questions to consider here:

Why this effect is not as strong in private schools? (Which, presumably are racially integrated.) One can think of many theories for this and possible experiments to conduct to test said theories.

There are other theories that might point to experiments worth trying for those who are morally tied to integrationism. For example, what if the real problem is simply that “nerds” are social outcasts and “nerds” are just those who tend to perform at a higher level of academic achievement by virtue of sacrificing some of their social life for their academic life?

There are, in fact, an infinite array of things we might think about and attempt so as to fix integrationism.

The question is, does anyone have the right to compel you to subject your children to their experiments in educational or social theory—no matter how “justified” by their “authorities”?

The answer is, of course, not any more right than you have to stop them from doing so through any means necessary.

So the most interesting question of all is: Why are parents not putting a stop to the experiments being performed with their children’s lives to satisfy the emotional needs of politically correct religious zealots?

Tags: Education

Comments:

Posted by John S Bolton on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:37 | #

Fryer’s study is also discussed by J. Tierney in the NYT, 11-19-05,p.A15. He says: “your popularity rating would depend on how many other students listed you” and whether they “were themselves very popular”. Fryer says: “there’s a tension between wanting to excel in the outside world and being loyal to your own”, and “in an integrated school, it can be a signal that you’re being disloyal by joining the other group”. The excuse that refers to hostility against the “acting white” minorities is a useless one, if it operates only outside the minority dominated public school. Blacks and latinos going to white dominated schools are not where more than a small part of the national gap is found.

Posted by John S Bolton on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:54 | #

Tierney also says that this study involved 90,000 nat’lly representative students, and that: “unlike their white classmates, whose popularity steadily increases as their grades go up, minority students with higher grades end up with fewer friends”. This effect is “even more pronounced” among latino students, setting in already at the c+ level, he reports.

Posted by John S Bolton on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:58 | #

One can conclude that the effect operates on a minority of a minority of a minority, and thus cannot explain the gross differentials, which were to be explained.

Posted by Fred Scrooby on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 13:31 | #

John Bolton makes an excellent point. It’s one of these quiet, simple, unassuming little points made in a quiet, simple, unassuming little way that blows the whole case the other guy is trying to make right out of the water. It’s like what Gottlob Frege did to Bertrand Russell on “Russell’s Paradox.” Bye-bye, Professor Fryer! (Another moron posing as a thinker bites the dust ...) (That last bit doesn’t apply to Bertrand Russell, of course—he was still a thinker even after Frege shot him down on the paradox. This Prof. Fryer clown is no Bertrand Russell, needless to add ...)
______
—”All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.”—Enoch Powell
—Moratorium-plus-Repatriation!
—Balkanization is better than Brazilianization!
—The 1965 Immigration-Holocaust Act: the gift that keeps on giving!
—What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the usual suspects!

Posted by Matthew on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:17 | #

This is quite obvious as mean behaviour of group will decide normal behaviour for top or bottom end of racial group.

If Blacks on average can’t achieve academic success, they will define best practice behaviour on the behaviour of greatest number of individuals who can achieve success within their group. Therefore, high achievers will be ostracized as “acting white”

Blacks, when they study solely with their own people and set their own Bell Curve, will be able to achieve “academic success” compared to their group and therefore won’t be acting white but acting like a “smart black” will act and fall into same dynamic as an Asian or White group would behave.

Although I will warn, if a above average white student(IQ of 130) goes to podunk white community with low average IQ of 85, for arguments sake this community has lost High IQ whites to city over decades, then high IQ student will be ostracized as a brain in this environment. Conversely, if he moves to the suburbs where High IQ , High achieving parents and students reside with IQ range of 105 then he will be seen a popular student.

Posted by Fred Scrooby on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 23:12 | #

My thoughts exactly, Soren—I see I’m not the only one who suspected Matthew’s comment was a little ... autobiographical, shall we say?

Matthew you might want to check out a movie called “Revenge of the Nerds”—might be a way to relieve some of your unresolved frustrations dating from high school and college ... Ooops! I didn’t mean to use the word “dating”—never intended to open old wounds, Matthew, that’s the truth—so sorry about that ... should have chosen a different word ...

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on Fri, 02 Dec 2005 23:19 | #

In my experience the clever student is NEVER popular unless he’s an athlete too. Life is deeply unfair! Shoving a few rap singers and Hollywood producers in the slammer would probably help, though!