During the course of this unit, the 5th grade students of room 10 (at 99th Street school) didn’t just read about history, they made history. Students started to learn about the concepts of segregation, equity, and the ramifications of the Brown v Board of Education decision. Through various mediums such as movies, activities, dialogue, and critical research, the students were able to make comparisons between how education was in the past and how it is today. The students analyzed census maps of Los Angeles to understand the demographic shifts over time, while paying close attention to their community of Watts. They also supplemented the map study by looking at class pictures of the entire 5th grade over a span of years. Interestingly enough, the 5th grade photos added evidence to the students’ conclusions. Furthermore, the students conducted critical research by interviewing the 99th Street community, and trying to answer some main guiding questions. The students were responsible for generating their own questions, setting up interviews, and going over their interviews and transcribing them.
Looking back 50 years after the Brown v Board decision, have things changed and in what ways? Are schools equal and desegregated today?
From that research, the students wrote persuasive essays and a class poem, made PowerPoint presentations, created human story boards (Tableau Theatre activity), created artwork, and performed (at 99th St., Locke High, and at UCLA). This unit was across disciplines and founded by 5th grade standards. Again, the students decided that they didn’t want to just read about history, they wanted to make history. Watching the students go from learners to producers, they indeed were able to make history.
The following are excerpts of various students’ essays and research:
"After watching movies, interviewing teachers, and recording our conversations, we learned that some schools are desegregated and improved. But some have not been desegregated, and have stayed the same, or even gotten worse. Schools usually allow people of any race to attend that school as whites, but L.A. is mostly segregated, isn’t it?
For example, this school (99th) has a majority of African Americans and Latinos. Our books are messed up, the food is disgusting, and we don’t have any playground equipment. Basically, this school isn’t too good. In places like Santa Monica, the schools have really good books. The food is delicious, and they have good playground equipment, and grass. The students are mostly white. What I am trying to say is, schools were unfair back then, and they still are today!
We do not think that schools are equal or desegregated. It will be a while before schools improve. Schools are mostly still segregated because L.A. is still segregated. At Monte Vista, there is only a little bit of Black students. There are some Latinos and Chinese, but it isn’t all mixed because you can see that there are mostly white students. At 99th, there are only Black and Latino students."
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Ms. Munoz’s school was mostly Latino. She says, “I didn’t like the cafeteria food. The books were good, they weren’t very interesting, but they were good. I took the bus to school. I wouldn’t necessarily say they are segregated, but I would say depending on where you live, that’s what you are going to find.”
Ms. Roberts said, “To some degree, the school was segregated.”
Ms. Lamar said, “LA is segregated. Where you live determines how your school is. People couldn’t have the same education and the same supplies. Sometimes if Black people went to a white school, Black people had to share supplies with other Black people.”
Ms. Martin said, “I grew up here in California, so there was not segregation like there was in the south. Race was not something we would talk about.”
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"Comparing back then and right now, things might have changed a little bit. Some of the things that haven’t changed that much are segregated schools. There are still some people that are racist. One example is that Latinos have to take a Spanish test before they can graduate.
After 50 years since the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, are schools desegregated? No, because LA is already segregated. Mostly some of the people that live in Watts are mostly African American and Latinos. At first there used to be only white people in Watts. Most of the white people moved out of Watts. So African Americans and Latinos moved into and stayed in Watts. Today, the neighborhood of Watts is mostly African American and Latino.
People continue to be mistreated and its unfair. Today, there are some teachers that are still not equal and fair to their students. Beverly Hills has schools that have the best educational supplies and they have the best play areas. Schools continue to not be fair and equal."
