Does student integration in schools matter in order to ensure educational equity?

Student integration in schools is necessary to ensure educational equity. If students are not taught among people of other races, it creates a false sense of reality, and will not provide the student with the skill set that they deserve in life. First, this will only perpetuate what was already established in Brown v Board of Ed, that separate but equal is not equal, and this would only provide more unequal opportunities for students at segregated schools. While, yes, separating students by race may create a sense of security for certain students, this sense of security is false. The world is not a single race, and if that is the environment that a student is brought up in they will not be properly prepared for life post education, which is an important part of a quality education. The argument can be made that, yes students often do segregate amongst themselves in friend groups, and that there is still hostility between some students of different races, and integrating schools will not automatically fix that. However, the purpose of integrating schools is not to fix these problems overnight, the purpose is to take whatever opportunities possible to expose students to different races and cultures. Familiarity will at least do something to decrease the ignorance and fear that often prompts prejudice against races, and segregating schools only further supports the idea of making other races seem alienated, in a world where that cannot possibly be the case. Especially because students often go home to predominantly single race communities, it is important to take the opportunity, at least where one can, to provide interracial communications. Other steps can be taken further to help these students connect, such as integrating more cultural diversity into the curriculum, however integrating schools is the first step.