America to Me

Starz | Release Date: August 26, 2018

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christiancowartJul 23, 2019

“America to Me” is a docuseries that will make the public realize that the American educational system was not built so all people have an equal chance to achieve their best potential. Instead, the American education system was formed by“America to Me” is a docuseries that will make the public realize that the American educational system was not built so all people have an equal chance to achieve their best potential. Instead, the American education system was formed by discriminatory laws and policies that intentionally disadvantaged black children and families. For over a hundred years, America’s laws placed white students at prestigious schools while exiling black students to unfunded schools. Despite those black families paying taxes to send their children to segregated schools, white administrators allocated their funds solely to benefit the white schools to the detriment of black schools. Black educators were not only paid substantially less, but they had to use their salaries to help the black students inside and outside of their classrooms. Contrary to the beliefs of some people, these blatant inequities, among countless others, were not instantaneously remedied in 1954 after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in the public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment. These inequities evolved into a more complex system of oppression. Discrimination in housing finance segregated communities and thereby segregated schools. In 1971, busing became a potential solution, but it also detrimentally impacted the educational capabilities of black children—by spending more time transporting to class rather than having time to prepare for class. Black students living in those suburban communities also had to overcome racial stereotypes of teachers and other students. The disciplinary policies were used to place black students in alternative schools and expel them from educational participation altogether. Standardized testing was used to place wealthy students in more rigorous classes while excluding others from the opportunity to even attempt such classes. These policies, practices, and customs still persist around the country today. “America to Me” places a diverse Chicago public school under a microscope to examine how the past’s historical discrimination persists in the modern era. While Steve James does not explicitly focus on America’s past, he shows us several different viewpoints of some students for only one school year at this wealthy and ‘liberally woke’ school. This show reveals that some may believe that we have fixed this past, but, in reality, this past has never been fixed by us. White parents don’t want to have these issues addressed until after their students graduate. Instead, they attend public meeting to demand administrators fix benign issues. The problem is not with our youth; the problem is with our adults. Adults refuse to accept and confront the fact that our educational system still allows arbitrary circumstances under which people are born—such as their race, ethnicity, ZIP code, and socioeconomic status—to determine a child’s opportunities in life, rather than all people having the chance to achieve to the best of their potential. This documentary will be one of the most influential shows that forces the American public to remedy the past and the present opportunity gap in a meaningful way. And the influence is not simply because the show raises awareness about an issue, but the show will inspire students and teachers to lead the charge in finally and conclusively remedying America’s shameful past, particularly when it comes to children receiving an education.… Expand

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