Unequal Opportunity and Restorative Justice: Reading Reflections

“Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education” by Linda Darling-Hammond was a profound article that touched on the race gap in educational outcomes. In recent years, affirmative action has been attacked and overturned under the assumption that racial discrimination no longer exists. Hammond points out that, regardless of what lawmakers think, people feel racial discrimination on a daily basis and would have been protected from unequal opportunities if affirmative action was still in place.

However, programs like affirmative action would be less necessary if non-Asian minorities weren’t receiving substantially less educational opportunities than the white majority. Scoring lower on standardized tests doesn’t indicate that these students have inherent or cultural barriers to success—they simply don’t have the same funding, quality of teachers, quality of curriculum, class sizes, or class variety. Not to mention, tracking systematically disadvantages the minority students that are twice as likely to be placed in the vocational tracks, because higher track students are more prepared for college and higher education in a world that is increasingly “dependent on knowledge and education” (Hammond). Also, it is important to remember that segregation wasn’t that long ago, and red lining continues to impact our schools today. 

On the other hand, “Restorative justice is about more than just reducing suspensions” by Daisy Yuhas speaks about the cultural shift that comes with prioritizing reconciliation and empathy over punishments and discipline. While restorative justice is more human-focused and considerate of everyone involved, there are natural consequences that the party at fault has to deal with. It shifts the narrative from punishment for the sake of punishing to punishments that repairs harm.