Law to Segregate Omaha Schools Divides Nebraska et al

Law to Segregate Omaha Schools Divides Nebraska - New York Times

Omaha Schools Split Along Ethnic Lines - Washington Post

NAACP Sues to Block Omaha Redistricting - AP

The revised districting of schools in Omaha along racial lines begs scrutiny. The discomfort of favorite son-billionaire Warren Buffet gives us a clue of where to start.

The national airing of pervasive segregation in his hometown embarrasses him, and other prominent citizens. But what is the cause of this segregation?

Are Omaha’s leaders simply bigots who never got the word, forty years ago, that red-lining is immoral, and illegal? Or is it that people of the same race simply prefer to live near each other, and we should not paint the city as a 1950’s backwater?

Furthermore, are the education needs of these communities such that localized control might significantly aide them? Black and Hispanic students are consistently underperforming White students, in amounts that insure lifelong subordination. Doing nothing is not an option.

Behaviors, not neighbors, drives performance. If local educators understand this, their kids should not be saddled with a perception problem, which may or may not be caused by racism.

James C. Collier

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