В Сан-Антонио историческая сегрегация и неравенство в школьном финансировании продолжают угнетать бедные районы

San Antonio’s segregation has been in place for centuries. Modern socioeconomic factors reinforce the boundaries that keep locals trapped. The origins of this inequality trace back to San Antonio’s infancy. The banks of the San Antonio River have supported life for thousands of years. In the 1700s, Spanish settlers began swarming in from present-day Mexico, establishing missions along the river to expand colonization and impose Catholicism on the native inhabitants. Following the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, American settlers flooded into the city, and racial enclaves began to emerge. As San Antonio grew into one of the largest cities in Texas, racial segregation would take root within the population. Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, a federal agency called the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation rated areas of American cities by how risky they were to lend to, causing white neighborhoods to receive a disproportionate amount of loans. Communities of color were delineated into loan-hazardous zones, meaning they were deemed as a high risk to financial institutions. The redlining of these communities has held back generations of Texans from escaping the cycle of government-imposed destitution. A vast majority of the areas labeled as “hazardous” by the HOLC are still largely populated by minorities and remain impoverished to this day. Among the top metro areas in the country, San Antonio ranks third highest in poverty rate. The neighborhoods deemed safe to lend to have retained the same wealth and whiteness over the past century. The inequality of the mid-1900s has permanently tainted San Antonio’s future. An attendance zone refers to which public school a student can attend. Students must attend a school in their area, meaning a student in a low-income neighborhood must attend the poorly funded, overcrowded public school near them. These attendance zones are often heavily segmented in student demographics, test scores and state funding. San Antonio is split into 18 independent school districts. This division further segregates and alienates local youth who already face poverty and strife. Attendance zones are just one of the many tenets of modern systematic oppression, preventing the disenfranchised from enjoying the same benefits as their neighbors. The disparity in funding between school districts is so imbalanced that it spurred a Supreme Court case. In 1973, parents of Edgewood ISD students filed a suit against the state of Texas, citing the discriminatory system of funding public schools, and argued that funding based on property value gave an unfair advantage to affluent neighborhoods. The court ruled 5-4 that the classist system was constitutional; the system has remained in place for over 50 years. Economic and educational inequality fuels violent crime among San Antonio’s at-risk communities. Local youth grow up without community support or opportunities, and juvenile crime rates have been rising in Alamo City for the past few years. Without gainful employment, decent education or a sense of community, at-risk youth are forced to perpetuate the same cycle that has been in place for a century. Segregation has no easy remedy. San Antonio has a long way to go toward equity, but it is within reach. The prejudiced system of school funding needs to be completely reconstructed to benefit underprivileged inner-city schools. The city desperately needs more affordable housing for its expanding population. Targeted job creation and training in afflicted communities is crucial to combating poverty and crime. To heal those affected, systematic action must be taken against the institutions that have kept their boot on the neck of the impoverished.