After reading the depressing material, it was inspiring to read about Corla Hawkins and the difference she made amid those terrible conditions. Sometimes I think I have to buy too many extra things for my classroom and spend extra hours on projects. After reading Savage Inequalities, I feel very fortunate to live in a rural community in which students' needs are met and students are valued. I did not realize that so many students in those urban areas had been written off as hopeless. That is so sad. Corla Hawkins succeeded in motivating her students and preserving their self concept. Students learned to help and teach each other. I also thought it was important how music and the arts can be used to empower all students.
After reading all those history books last semester, I just assumed segregation was becoming a thing of the past and that integration would help solve the inequalities suffered by all races. According to Still Separate, Still Unequal, I am one of those people who is and was ignorant about how children were and are being stripped of their rights and dignity in those urban areas. Are there places like this in North Carolina? How is this still allowed to happen in American public education? Can't you hear those little kids asking why they don't have what other children have?

I was disappointed that Kozol only briefly discussed rural schools. I would like to know more about situations such as ours.

Mama Kat, we all (at WMES) know that you are a wonderful teacher and that you put a lot of heart into your work. You know, in reality, our leadership may not be so hot at our school, but I do think we have quite a few "Corla Hawkinses" at our school. I think that's why we have the atmosphere that we have.

I thought the same thing as I read. I thought it was intriguing how they did not cut the funding for music and art because the students needed the enrichment. That was reassuring.

I also feel the same way about the Seperate/Unequal issue. When Larry from our other class was talking about how he grew up in the projects of NC, I never knew there was such a thing!

I agree. It was such an inspiration reading about Corla. It is amazing how she is able to motivate these students even though they are in this situation. I feel as though I should do more for my students just so they will never have to experience what the children in the book face each and everyday.

Hi WMES ladies,
yes there are areas in NC that are like that-Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greenville..... welcome to the eastern part of the state. I don't know why but being from the western part of the state I have realized how sheltered one can be-when I moved here I was shocked at how far I had moved back in time(hee hee). I am from the eastern part of the state like Larry in our other class and it is like that. have ever been to these schools no. Are they without water, etc. like East St. Louis and Chicago? I don't know but they don't have it like we do here in our own little neck of the woods. It is sad to say but you have to look at the population of blacks in the east compared to the western part of the state. Poor schools are more prevalent back there. It is an injustice to all students and society too. Reading about all of this upsets me. What can we do?

Ann
I agree that it is an injustice to society; not just to the black population. Those same people in school that we are teaching now will be the ones running restaurants, nursing homes, and even schools of the future. They may take care of us or our children, as well as the fact that our tax dollars pay for the prisons that many of these people end up in. I used to be a social worker before I got my teaching degree. I was constantly frustrated at the issue that the laws were designed to put a band-aid on problems rather than being proactive. That's how education seems to be in a lot of cases as well. For example, we tutor in 3rd grade and up with a special rush right before testing; and then we remediate those who don't pass with a chance to revisit the test...instead of putting time, money, and effort into creating quality preschool and lower grade programs that will send the upper grade teachers better readers, writers, and thinkers that will pass the first time. This would stop upper grade teachers from the constant feeling of catching people up before they can teach their own curriculum. That fact and the way Kozol described these issues has struck me with a sense of urgency about this issue. I began reading "A Hope in the Unseen" last night and it only added to this urgency. I felt so sorry for Cedric in the story that I wanted to run up there and grab him and about 50 others and build a big set of condos to house and educate people. Would you all like to start a school together?

I went to a school much like those that we have been reading about. It has brought back many memories. I lived in Greensboro until I went away to college at ASU in 1987. My elementary school was in the middle of the "projects", where the Klan/ Nazi riots were. My high school was the "black" high school before intergration. It is still to this day mostly made up of black students. I would be the only white person in many of my classes. There was no air conditioning. The other city schools had it. The science labs were very outdated and during disection, we had to share the cat. Now, don't get me wrong, it was not as bad as what we have read about, but the similarities are there. I lived in a neighborhood that was bussed to the other side of town, over 30 minutes away to try to force intergration. I would pass two other high schools on my way. There were great teachers and students there, but the inequalities were obvious. The other schools got lots of publicity from the media. Only negative things came from Dudley. I was the minority there and had a lot of trouble finding my place. I did not date, go to ball games, go to dances, or anything social. I later did transfer, like many others, closer to home and closer to the friends that I had made in junior high. At Dudley, I was in the honor's classes and at Smith, I was just average. Does that mean anything? I don't know.