A short story on how something like this happens in the first place:
A decade ago, give or take, nearby Seminole County, FL public schools created a department (called “Choices”) specifically to desegregate the school population. This was at the behest of the federal government applying pressure on the school board.
Due to Central Florida’s long history of geographical segregation, Seminole County was one of the most segregated school systems in the country. Even today, some areas within the county randomize school populations to eliminate geographic segregation.
School systems identify low social-economic status students (referred to as “low-SES”) based off free and reduced lunch applications. To the school systems’ credit, they provide additional services to low-SES students (ie. partnership programs with ISP’s for free internet). Low-SES students within Seminole Country are primarily located in geographically segregated African-American communities.
Central Florida has a long history of institutionalized segregation. Hell, I-4, the main highway that bisects Orlando, was routed through African-American communities and around white communities.
I’ve lived here 30 years. Anecdotally, I think things are getting better. However, we have such a long way to go to undo the social damage caused by our ancestors. It does not surprise me that school officials and teachers in predominantly white geographic locations would do something as stupid as this assembly. Institutional segregation and racism lingers on for generations after those who originally perpetrated it are long dead.
If you are reading this in the US, civil rights and social equality will be a constant evolutionary struggle throughout your lifetime. No one person can wave a magic wand and repair hundreds of years of racism. Be a kind person. Treat others who think, act, or look different from you with the same respect you have for yourself. Those who perpetrate racist ideals or philosophies should be admonished, and considered to be socially unacceptable.
