Segregation (Atlanta, Harlem, Jersey: appointed, private schools, university)

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

Is anyone brave enough to respond to post #117 about Benjamin E. Mays HS ??

Well there is no real mystery as to why Mays is 98% black and 2% latino though I doubt highly there aren't white kids that go there. The section of the city that Mays is in is surrounded by both black upper middle class neighborhoods and lower (some parts are extremely lower class) black neighborhoods. Southwest Atlanta is also the "blackest" part of Atlanta population wise.

As for why more white kids from other parts of town don't go there, that's not something one could say for certain though I have my suspicions. For some reason there are a lot of people in Atlanta who wrongly believe that if you are white, and if you go to southwest, you will be killed on sight. As far as I know that has never happened.

That being said Mays is an excellent High School. Their magnet program is one of the best in the state and any kid who resides in the City of Atlanta can apply to attend school there no matter which neighborhood they live in as long as they pass the entrance exam for the school. Many kids do this as well as we had several students who came down from North Fulton to attend the Performing Arts program at my high school.

[StPaulEastSider]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

As for why more white kids from other parts of town don't go there, that's not something one could say for certain though I have my suspicions. For some reason there are a lot of people in Atlanta who wrongly believe that if you are white, and if you go to southwest, you will be killed on sight. As far as I know that has never happened.

That being said Mays is an excellent High School. Their magnet program is one of the best in the state and any kid who resides in the City of Atlanta can apply to attend school there no matter which neighborhood they live in as long as they pass the entrance exam for the school. Many kids do this as well as we had several students who came down from North Fulton to attend the Performing Arts program at my high school.

Okay, any kid in the City of Atlanta can apply, and it's a Math & Science magnet, so there has to be interest... I guess I am just showing my northerness here, but I still don't get it. Up here in the Twin Cities we don't have schools which are THAT segregated.

My boyfriend in high school went to North High School in Minneapolis, which is in the predominately black part of town. People would assume my boyfriend was black due to where he went to school. But he was white, he attended North because they had an excellent Broadcast Journalism magnet program, and he wasn't the only white kid that bused into North Mpls to attend North High, not by a long shot.

I guess that's why I am so perplexed by the fact Mays HS's magnet program is not attracting more white students. I still don't get it. When I tell friends here in Minnesota we plan to send our daughter to an all-black school the reaction I usually get is "How's that? Haven't they heard of 'Brown vs BofE' ??" I explain it's really 98% black, they say "same difference."

Well, Mays is a good school, my daughter is looking forward to attending school there. In fact she dropped her instrument this past year and has decided to pick up again after we were told Mays has a stong band, marching band and orchestra program. So all's good here... we just gotta wrap our minds around the fact the south is still the south... at least that's how I processed this info.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

Okay, any kid in the City of Atlanta can apply, and it's a Math & Science magnet, so there has to be interest... I guess I am just showing my northerness here, but I still don't get it. Up here in the Twin Cities we don't have schools which are THAT segregated.

My boyfriend in high school went to North High School in Minneapolis, which is in the predominately black part of town. People would assume my boyfriend was black due to where he went to school. But he was white, he attended North because they had an excellent Broadcast Journalism magnet program, and he wasn't the only white kid that bused into North Mpls to attend North High, not by a long shot.

I guess that's why I am so perplexed by the fact Mays HS's magnet program is not attracting more white students. I still don't get it. When I tell friends here in Minnesota we plan to send our daughter to an all-black school the reaction I usually get is "How's that? Haven't they heard of 'Brown vs BofE' ??" I explain it's really 98% black, they say "same difference."

Well, Mays is a good school, my daughter is looking forward to attending school there. In fact she dropped her instrument this past year and has decided to pick up again after we were told Mays has a stong band, marching band and orchestra program. So all's good here... we just gotta wrap our minds around the fact the south is still the south... at least that's how I processed this info.

There are probably a million reasons why more white kids don't attend Mays but it's really down to matter of geography. Let's not forget now that Atlanta is one of the "blackest" cities in the country so having a school where 98% of the students are black isn't something that should be a sign of anything. Does anyone bat an eye when a school is 98% white in a predominately white city?

I'm curious though, where did you find out that Mays was 98% black?

EDIT:

Just found a site claiming that only 2 white, 1 asian, and 24 latino students out of 1870 attend Mays. Even in Atlanta that seems a little off.

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

EDIT:

Just found a site claiming that only 2 white, 1 asian, and 24 latino students out of 1870 attend Mays. Even in Atlanta that seems a little off.

Not to me. When I graduated from McNair High school in 1997, I can LITERALLY count on my hands how many people other than black I went to high school with. I don't think anything has changed since then, but maybe I'm being bit too pessimistic about my fellow southerners.

[elvez]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

Is anyone brave enough to respond to post #117 about Benjamin E. Mays HS ??

Why would I want to bus my kids all the way to Mays when Grady is ten minutes from my house? SAT scores at Grady are higher to boot. I am also sure that some kids at Mays would welcome my kids there, but I am also sure that some of the kids would give my kids trouble. Why would I want to subject them to that?

[StPaulEastSider]

Originally Posted by elvez

Why would I want to bus my kids all the way to Mays when Grady is ten minutes from my house? SAT scores at Grady are higher to boot. I am also sure that some kids at Mays would welcome my kids there, but I am also sure that some of the kids would give my kids trouble. Why would I want to subject them to that?

Why would you want to bus your kid across town? Because your kid is a math & science kid and Mays' magnet program is math and science while Grady's magnet program is communications.

[Note: While Grady's SAT scores may be higher overall, within the Mays Magnet program I would venture to guess thry are fairly similiar... Grady has the advantage of nearly 20% of it's students coming from middle-class homes, which is a significant advantage.]

Why would you want to subject you kid to "that" ? Methinks this is the root of the issue at hand. For white parents the prospect of having to deal with reverse racism is the real reason why white parents do not send their kids to Mays. I am white, but my kids are bi, they are sometimes not recognized as black even by black kids, but at least the can rest on the knowledge they are, indeed, 1/2 black. If my kids were all white, I don't know... but if we lived in the CofATL and not in the Grady attendance zone I would have to give Mays serious consideration.

[StPaulEastSider]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

There are probably a million reasons why more white kids don't attend Mays but it's really down to matter of geography. Let's not forget now that Atlanta is one of the "blackest" cities in the country so having a school where 98% of the students are black isn't something that should be a sign of anything. Does anyone bat an eye when a school is 98% white in a predominately white city?

I'm curious though, where did you find out that Mays was 98% black?

EDIT:

Just found a site claiming that only 2 white, 1 asian, and 24 latino students out of 1870 attend Mays. Even in Atlanta that seems a little off.

I got my stats from GreatsSchools dot net.

I know Atlantaa has been one of the blackest cities in America, but in recent years the numbers of white residents has risen significacantly, to the point where it is being reported ATL's white population maybe in the majority before long.

[lastminutemom]

There are actually very few white students in COA schools, especially at the high school level. The system as a whole is 10 percent white or so. Of the 2400 high school seniors this year in ATL, there were less than 6 percent who were white.

Over time, this may change. Most people, however, especially if they view their community school as good, want their students in their neighborhood schools.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by StPaulEastSider

I got my stats from GreatsSchools dot net.

I know Atlantaa has been one of the blackest cities in America, but in recent years the numbers of white residents has risen significacantly, to the point where it is being reported ATL's white population maybe in the majority before long.

The vast majority of the changing demographics can be attributed to young single or childless couples moving in town There has not been a huge growth in families. COA schools actually continue to shrink.

When families relocate to metro Atlanta, they generally envision themselves in a home with a yard, not a condo or a yardless house. When you are moving here to get a way from the high taxation level in the northeast for example, you look for lower taxes.

There is absolutely no evidence yet that people are going to raise families in townhomes and/or condos the way they do in very high priced real estate areas of the country.

[StPaulEastSider]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

EDIT:

Just found a site claiming that only 2 white, 1 asian, and 24 latino students out of 1870 attend Mays. Even in Atlanta that seems a little off.

Just curious.... where did you find these stats and what year do they pertain to?

They do seem a bit off in that 24/1870 would not make the 2% Hispanic/Latino population cited by both the Great Schools dot net and the pdf link to a Realtor-prepared document which was posted upthread.

Depending on the years involved, the numbers could all be accurate but for different years.