Schools: Episode 3

The big theme that was present throughout the entirety of this episode was “separate but equal is never truly equal” which was the idea that pushed Brown v Board of Education. Segregation, discrimination and gender bias were the main focuses of this episode and they all focused on that very idea, that separation is inherently unequal. I had always known about Brown v Board of Education, but there were some things that I didn’t know that I learned about while watching this. It was really interesting, but not surprising to learn about how long it actually took after Brown v Board of Education passed for it to be completely federally implemented. It wasn’t until money was threatened at the federal level that schools started to listen to the government and end segregation in schools. One thing I did not know, is that after integration was implemented, that the African American teachers lost their jobs and then were out of work.

The segment about Title XI was really interesting to me as well. I knew that Title XI existed, and that it was in place here at UMF but I was never exactly sure what it entailed. I was really happy to learn that it was in place to prevent gender bias and discrimination in schools, I guess I had never really realized that thing about women athletes and the lack of female athletic programs in school. This goes back to the separate but equal is never truly equal idea, because female athletic programs existed, but were not nearly as well funded as the male programs. Title XI changed that and now, equal programs exist for men and women.