562
July 31, 2015

The Problem We All Live With - Part One

Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there's one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. Nikole Hannah-Jones looks at a district that, not long ago, accidentally launched a desegregation program.

Norman Rockwell's painting "The Problem We All Live With" depicting Ruby Bridges – the first black child to attend an all white elementary school in the South. Image from the website of the Norman Rockwell Museum.

More in this Series

Prologue

By

Nikole Hannah-Jones
Ira speaks with New York Times Magazine Reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones about her years reporting on education and the various kinds of school reforms administrators have tried to close the achievement gap that never seem to work. Nikole says there's one reform that people have pretty much given up on, despite a lot of evidence that it works – school integration. (11 minutes)
Act Two

The Problem We All Live With PART TWO

By

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Nikole Hannah-Jones' story on the Normandy school district from the first part of the show continues. (14 minutes)

Nikole also wrote about Normandy for ProPublica, and she wrote an incredibly memorable story about choosing a school for her own daughter for The New York Times.

And Elisa Crouch's article in St Louis Dispatch that documented the day in the life of one Normandy senior is here.

Song:

“Is It Because I'm Black” by Syl Johnson

Related

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these

Staff Recommendations

View all
38
Oct. 11, 1996

Simulated Worlds

Civil War reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle, and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America.

Share

Share

Serial Season Three is here. Listen Now →