Why Do Kids Choose To Self-Segregate?

Fifty-five years after Brown v. Board, why do kids choose to self-segregate? The long-accepted solution to this problem has been school diversity. But the science is quite clear that this solution has failed to fix the problem: as schools get more diverse, kids just tend to self-segregate more, so kids in more diverse schools end up not having more friends of other races. Kids in diverse schools do not necessarily have better racial attitudes, and commonly have worse (Bronson, 2009). Older students tend to self-segregate in order to be considered authentic amongst their peer. Often to avoid being labeled as a sell-out, students who would otherwise choose to be with a peer of another skin color, will succumb to ethnic peer pressure and choose

Today, it seems the most contention and controversy is in silence. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says it best, “"There comes a time when silence is betrayal. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter (Tabaka, 2016)." The silence of a parents when they do not talk to their children about diversity causes students to listen to the loud and often unforgiving voices of their peers. Students need to know that it is accepted to have a friend or a group of friends whose melanin is different from their own. Often their parents relationships consists of mostly people who share the same ethnic and racial background. This lack of exposure to diversity tends to perpetuate from generation to generation. The schools may attempt to segregate but until students witness the interworking of interracial friendships at home, it is easier to self-segregate. The role of family members and specific critical incidents in their youth are powerful factors in developing a commitment to social justice (Marshall & Oliva, 2010). The bottom line is as with most things, “It begins at