Hello, all.

We hope this message finds you well. As a friendly reminder, our CONNECT group will meet this Sunday, March 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue (600 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20001) in the meeting space on the fourth floor. If you haven't already, please read chapter 3, "Burning Brown to the Ground." Below are a couple questions for you to consider in advance of our discussion, though we'll cover additional territory as well. 
  • The NAACP was the target of numerous attempts to foil, undermine, criminalize, or penalize efforts at representing black parents and their children's right to a quality education. How did state legislative action and federal legislative action help or hinder the NAACP’s efforts? 
  • In an earlier chapter, Dr. Anderson writes, "The bottom line was that black economic independence was anathema to a power structure that depended on cheap, exploitable, rightless labor and required black subordination." How is this notion recognized and/or undermined by the white power structure, in particular with regard to education, after the Russians launched Sputnik into space?   
Also, both of us have backgrounds working in the education or legal fields and spent some of our pre-meeting discussing how modern-day legislation informally though not always unintentionally facilitates segregation in public school systems. We pulled some interesting, additional reading that is totally optional. We won't be basing our discussion on these resources but hope they will give you some idea of how chapter 3 articulates themes still influencing public school enrollment/districting patterns. 
 
1.  White Rage in the Modern Era:  Part One, Act One, This American Life, The Problem We All Live With.  
 
Toward the end of Part One, Act One, listen to the voices of the parents objecting to African American children joining their school. As you listen, what emotions are in the parents' voices as they discuss this plan that would result in desegregation?
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with
 
2.  Kentucky Re-segregation Plan
 
While Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY metro area) has long been lauded for a successful desegregation plan, the Kentucky House recently passed legislation to derail the community's choice to desegregate.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/the-city-that-believed-in-desegregation/388532/
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/gop-bill-could-dismantle-one-of-nations-most-robust-school-desegregation-efforts/2017/03/04/114a31e8-ff6b-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_bussing-745pm-1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
 
3.  ProPublica Segregation Series
 
Examines the racial divide in modern America.
https://www.propublica.org/series/segregation-now
 
4. "New Zones for Park Slope's Popular P.S. 321 and P.S. 107 Unveiled," DNAInfo.com 
 
Captures school zoning issues stemming from gentrification of Park Slope, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. 
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121018/park-slope/park-slope-school-zoning-proposal-unveiled-by-doe 
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121114/park-slope/doe-releases-new-rezoning-plan-for-park-slope-schools
 
We look forward to our discussion on Sunday! Don't forget to bring photo identification. An attendant at the reception area will have your name and direct you to the right room. Please keep Lionel’s cell phone number handy in case you have questions on Sunday: [].
 
Best,
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