Do African American Students have equal Chances in the American educational System? Tracing the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement

Pre-University Paper from the year 2022 in the subject Pedagogy - School System, Educational and School Politics, grade: 14 P, Gymnasium Am Deutenberg Villingen-Schwenningen, language: English, abstract: Tracing the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in the American educational system - equal chances for African American students? For a general understanding of why the question if African American students have the same chances as everyone else is even relevant, I started my research paper with the historic background, including the situation before the Civil Rights Movement and what changed afterward, especially concentrating on the major court case 'Brown v. Board of Education', which made separation in public facilities unconstitutional. So if after the movement everyone is supposed to get treated equally under the law, it may be easy to assume that African Americans must have the same opportunities, but unfortunately, it is not that easy. Several studies try to find out whether segregation of school districts, higher education barriers, poverty rates and so on really affect the education of black students, leading me to also analyze their influences on the final question, if the educational system provides African Americans with the same opportunities as privileged white students. After explaining the current situation and researching further studies, I therefore conclude if black students have the same chances or not. Finally, I am going to give examples of the most important changes required to solve the problems black students are confronted with today, to assure that everyone has an equal start in life, preventing further racial discrimination and hurdles of African Americans, which often root in an unequal start early in life. Lastly, it was particularly challenging to lower down the different aspects you need to consider to decide if African American students have equal chances, due to all the different factors that impact whether you academically succeed or not.