Rationale
At George Wythe High School, on the South side of the James River, almost all of my students are black. That is the norm in our city schools; out of the five comprehensive, public high schools in Richmond, only two have significant racial diversity and they are both over 82% black. The racial makeup of our student body has socio-economic implications, as one in three African Americans in Richmond today live below the federal poverty line. 3 As a Title I school, we receive federal funding for programs and equipment that the local community cannot contribute on its own. Although all students in Richmond Public Schools receive free meals, transportation, and coverage of most field trip expenses, there is a persistent, community-wide belief that city government serially underfunds school operations. Students at George Wythe complain about dirty bathrooms, classrooms without technology, and no labs for science experiments. Last year, only 59% of Wythe’s senior class graduated and not a single Advanced Placement (AP) student passed an AP test.
Richmond Public Schools are socio-economically and racially homogeneous although the city is culturally diverse. This is largely because an estimated 30% of the city’s school-aged children currently attend private schools. If families who live in the city can afford tuition and provide transportation, they often choose to send their children somewhere other than their zoned school. High schools like George Wythe are where kids end up whose families can’t send them anyplace else.
A large number of George Wythe students live in federally-subsidized public housing and our school zone includes the 402-unit apartment complex called Hillside Court. Hillside, sitting in a post-industrial region of the city’s South Side, is bordered by razor-wire fencing, a wide access road, and a neighborhood of rundown mid-century cottages. A well-worn footpath indicates pedestrian traffic out of the apartment complex and to a corner grocery store several blocks away. Among Wythe students, there is a popular moniker for Hillside: “The Bottom,” which students signify with hand gestures and their clothing. Outsiders may link “Bottom Life” to drugs, crime, and poverty, but Hillside Court’s residents share important bonds: many of their extended family members live in the apartment complex and their lives are highly interconnected, not just by a history of struggle, but by daily interactions and shared celebrations.
With this curricular unit, I explore the history of Richmond’s public housing with seniors in my Government classes, some of whom are Hillside residents. First, we look at the development of our nation’s public housing, then Richmond’s, and lastly, at Hillside Court specifically. The unit culminates in an oral history project and collaborative community service project in the apartment complex. These endeavors sharpen students’ research, interview, and interpersonal skills, and deepen the connections they see between classroom learning and their daily lives.
Ideally, this study also equips students to notice when local leaders make public policy decisions, especially those that pertain to housing. As they learn the story of Hillside alongside the story of public housing in other US cities, they realize that while many of our city’s problems can be traced to Richmond’s colonial past, more recent events and decisions have determined the plight of today’s public housing residents across the nation. Particular federal, state, and local housing policies have reaped results that were neither accidental nor incidental. Ultimately, this truth can empower students to work for social justice in our city.
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