Last summer, the popular radio program "This American Life" produced an episode entitled, "The Problem We All Live With." This episode and its successor dealt with the issue of school integration, detailing the story of the Normandy School District's accidental integration and the Hartford School District's all-out intentional integration plan. Over and over again, the program insists that desegregating schools is an important action in helping students learn. Integration in schools is important and incredibly beneficial; I am living proof.
I attend Davidson Fine Arts in Richmond County, which, until 2013, was required to be diverse by law. Forty-five percent of the students had to be white, 45 percent of the students had to be black and 10 percent of the students had to be "other." Now, even after the ruling outlawing any consideration of race in the application process, Davidson remains diverse naturally, with 44 percent white, 42 percent black and 14 percent other.
Davidson has consistently been ranked as one of the top schools in the area, but it is impossible to tell if the school's diversity is a major cause. What is evident, however, is the powerful impact the school's diversity has on the students. I know that thanks to Davidson, I have had exposure to so many different cultures and walks of life. In my Advanced Placement Chemistry class, in addition to classmates born in America, I have one friend born in the Philippines and another born in Nigeria.
Junior Nigel Enoch credits Davidson's diversity with greatly shaping his worldview.
"Davidson's diverse social atmosphere," he said, "both on campus and on trips not only allowed me to find myself but also completely accept others and their own unique identities."
Davidson's diversity also lends itself to stronger performances. Every February, Davidson puts on "The Black History Show," a stunning collaboration between all of the fine arts, celebrating the rich heritage of Black Culture. Every performance at Davidson exudes diversity, and watching students of every color and from every background perform and create beautiful art together is a powerful image, especially in the formally divided Augusta, Georgia.
The positive impacts of diversity isn't just limited to Davidson Fine Arts, though. A study at University of Wisconsin-Madison found that students in diverse environments had positive effects on students' cognitive development and leadership skills. The study also found that diverse groups were higher in effectiveness and had a deeper level of critical analysis throughout the experiment. The transfer students discussed in the episode of "This American Life" also achieved higher test scores and were more likely to graduate college, proving the positive impact diversity can also have on academics. It is simple. Diverse schools do better.
America is becoming more and more diverse, and America's schools must reflect this diversity. After the ruling of Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District, it has been more difficult to integrate schools, but many continue to push to get more diverse schools. Diversity is helpful academically, to all students, not just minorities, and it results in the higher test scores so many school districts desire. Integrated schools are essential to closing the ever-increasing minority achievement gap and are necessary in setting up students for success in the increasingly diverse world.
The diversity offered at Davidson Fine Arts has provided myself and so many of my classmates with a valuable chance to experience and learn from many different cultures and backgrounds. I cherish getting to learn and to create with so many different people. As one other Davidson student, Mari Ellyzsa Valencia, reflects, "Davidson's diversity has allowed me to expand my knowledge in different cultures, as well as different personalities, which has allowed me to become more open minded and excited to meet new people in the world. It has allowed me to feel more comfortable in who I am as an Asian American. I can easily be myself around the people at Davidson without feeling criticized."
Integrated schools provide immense positive academic and social change for students, but so few schools take the initiative to desegregate. I would like to urge other school districts to work hard to integrate more and more schools, as integration helps all students, and the exposure to diversity while young will follow students for the rest of their lives. Diversity is an essential supplement to learning, and not only helps students learn academics better, but learn more about themselves and the world.
