Housing & Education –Lecture Outline

In general: Prejudice, Discrimination and Institutional Discrimination still present at significant levels in housing industryand in educationagainst minorities, esp. African Americans

Education--Showed parts of Video “precious Knowledge” on Tucson, AZ High School Chicano Studies program, what is was like and some of its successes.Importance of changing curriculum to make school more interesting/relevant, and key role of teachers in reaching out to students and establishing caring relationships.

Arizona ban on Ethnic Studies, esp. Mexican American / Chicano Studies, despite success in lowering drop-out rates of Hispanic students, who otherwise have highest drop-out rates nationally (Saenz et al. web rdg.)

Texas cuts to education funding as Latinos have become the majority of public school students? (Saenz et al web rdg.)

Education funding Inequality like in NYC area –How unequal & howit falls along race/ethnic and class lines. How all of this impacts educational opportunities for lower-income minority group students (Kozol web rdg.)

High levels of racial isolation for Black, Latino, and White students – roll-back of school integration policies

(esp. African American and Latinos). ThisReinforces much inequality in educational opportunity… [Future increasing diversity of US student population is at odds with this relative halting on integration] (Orfield and Lee rdg. 43)

College admissions -- Who is most likely to be admitted despite not meeting minimum requirements for admissions at highly selective universities, & Why. (Schmidt in Fletcher et al. web rdg.)

Race and SES very much affect educational opportunities (Kozol web rdg. stresses this, as does Flethcer et al web rdg. and others to some degree)

Housing--

Overview of Home Mortgage Process -- conventional mortgage vs. Sub-Prime mortgage. Home equity. Proliferation of sub-prime mortgages for Minority group members, esp. Arfican Americans & Latinos, and housing crsis falling most heavily on those groups. Widespread fraud against borrowers by lenders in years leading up to 2008 crisis.

Showed part of Video “American Casino” as illustration of this-- economic crisis roots in home mortgage industry that was rife with fraud and other unethical practices and preyed up minority borrowers and left many losing their homes through this more subtle form of lending discrimination ( “reverse red-lining”)

Disproportionate impact of Sub-Prime mortgages on African Americans. African Americans targeted for S-P loans, even when qualified for regular conventional mortgages – a new form of “red-lining,” more subtle form of discrim. Lots of fraud & faulty lending practices (Oliver and Shapiro, H&A #42)

Approximate range of frequency of housing discrimination for African Americans and Latinos

how housing matters greatly for quality of life--level of services & economic opportunities health vary greatly by neighborhood, so housing segregations creates very unequal opportunities(Farley & Squires rdg. 41 in H&A)

Whites interviewed by (Johnson & Shapiro, rdg. 44 in H&A) discuss “good neighborhoods” and “good schools” in very racialized terms, evidence of a lot of prejudice and bias, often not subtle…

Other things we did not discuss, but you should know something about:

Reasons for continued existence (though slow decline) in racial separation / segregation in housing, especially for African Americans (and Latinos) --- (steering by realtors and unequal access to financing for qualified borrowers, white self-preference compared to preferences of blacks, etc.). (Farley & Squires rdg. 41 in H&A)

How to reduce Achievement Bap between black and white H.S. students—Student attitudes toward school vary by race. Listen to student surveys! Importance of Teacher-Student relationships – multicultural training and other measures to enhance that – lead to narrowing of achievement gap (Fletcher web rdg.) And watch carefully racial differences in school discipline(Lewin rdg. in Fletcher et al.web rdg.)

Age effect and how and why inter-racial friendships often decrease with age in school (Tatum and O’Neil rdg. 16).

Teachers need to be racially sensitive when teaching diverse classrooms of students, such as making sure minority group members are included in the curriculum (& discussions) in empowering ways – minority groups seen as agents of change not just victims (Tatum and O’Neil rdg. 16).