Power Lines: Changing a Culture of Segregation in New York Schools
New York has the most segregated schools in the country. And New York City is home to the largest and one of the most segregated public school systems in the nation – read that again: IN THE NATION. A homogenized city it is not. Not on the streets, the sidewalks, subways or bodegas, anyway. But the schools are another story altogether.
This problem is not new. According to The Civil Rights Project at University of California, Los Angeles, New York City has been more segregated for black students than any state in the South for several decades.
How does this happen? And why?
Watch a live stream of the event "Power Lines: Race, Class, The City & Its Schools" on December 10 at 6 p.m. at The Greene Space.
Poet and activist Staceyann Chin moderates a panel on Thursday evening to dig into these questions and examine how a segregated learning environment impacts New York City's communities at large, including its neighborhoods, families and individual lives.
The panelists, including activist and former NFL player Wade Davis II, Fusion reporter Collier Meyerson, documentary filmmaker Hamilton Harris and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz, will discuss how students, parents and residents alike are all affected when schools segregate along class and racial lines.
After the panel conversation, WNYC producer Rebecca Carroll, who also produced the event, will lead Q&A to offer audience members a chance to add their voices and inquiries to the mix.
For viewers of the live stream, ask your questions and follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #SegregatedBrooklyn.
On Twitter, you can follow the moderators and panelists at their respective handles:
- Stacyann Chinn: @staceyannchin
- Collier Meyerson: @collier
- Wade Davis II: @Wade_Davis28
- Matt Zoller Seitz: @mattzollerseitz
- Rebecca Carroll: @rebel19
This event's media partner is The Establishment. The Establishment is a multimedia company run and funded by women that’s predicated on a simple, yet radical notion: the world is a better, more interesting place when everyone has a voice. Follow them on Twitter: @ESTBLSHMNT
Power Lines is supported in part by the Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
