Social Justice

"Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Primer: This American Life Ep. 542--The Problem We All Live With

In this episode, Ira Glass talks with writer and journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones on school desegregation programs and the backlash such programs receive despite widespread rhetoric that America is a post-racial society. In particular, she examines the Normandy School District which serves 24 municipalities in northern St. Louis County (and was just north of where our team traveled daily).

Sites Visited

Kingdom House

Kingdom House has been in operation in St. Louis since 1902 and provides holistic community services for all ages from infancy through adulthood. Perhaps the most significant piece of the services model is the core idea of empowerment through education and integrating this to all areas of life. For example, the idea that nutrition and education go hand-in-hand was discussed, and information is provided to link health/nutrition issues with such factors as school performance.

Sumner High School

This high school employed people who well represented their students in racial identities; however, the environment still creates many issues within the school. The students are not treated with respect or dignity. Sumner is located in a low income community and helps combat educational inequity by continuing to offer high school education to those in the local area.

School Board Meeting (District 189)

On Tuesday, March 19th, we attended the monthly meeting of East St. Louis School District 189. At this meeting, parents and community members had formed a grassroots campaign called "Rise 189" (https://www.wepowerstl.org/rise-189 ) which advocated for more transparency between district leaders and representatives and the community at large. In particular, the group wanted to see 3 policy solutions put in place:

• 3 year cycle for community-wide strategic planning
• Annual report of progress toward strategic plan(s) to the community
• Record and televise all school board meetings

Our experience was one in which the school board was not responsive to the community's needs and a clear demonstration that pedigree and power does not equate to empathy, understanding, and empowerment. As one community member noted during the meeting, "Everyone deserves to be heard...it is a shame that you only want to hear from one voice."

Kipp Inspire

This middle school did not represent their students well. 99% of the students at Kipp are people of color, and approximately 50% of the teachers are of color. The students at Kipp are also not well represented by their principal or the school board, which is the same school board of their sponsor Washington University. Kipp works to close the equity gap by trying to hire teachers of color, being aware that their staff doesn't represent their students, and training their staff well. They also try to combat issues at home that effect their students ability to learn such as hunger.

Washington University in St. Louis

“Higher education has become part of the problem of inequality,” said Thomas Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute. “The elite institutions are reserved for the children born into affluence." (Addo, 2016)

One theme that became apparent over time and which emerged in our discussions with the Gephardt Institute for Civic & Community Engagement at WashU is the role of privilege in the educational pipeline. How is "success" defined? Who do we use as examples of that? And, ultimately, who decides these definitions? In nearly all settings we explored, having the privilege to attend a school like WashU would have been the preeminent example of "making it." Yet these definitions don't account for the inherently unequal hierarchy of our educational systems, particularly with regard to higher education in the U.S.

Ready Readers

This non-profit works to expose children to books before kindergarten in order to combat illiteracy in third grade. Ready Readers has volunteers go into classrooms and read to students. This non-profit is helping all of St. Louis close the education equity gap by giving many students an exposure to books that they otherwise would not have had, by training their volunteers to read well and be aware of social issues, and by backing up their cause with research relating third grade literacy and high school graduation rates.