With many Southern school districts no longer supervised by federal courts regarding desegregation, some suburban districts are essentially re-segregating by withdrawing from county school systems and creating independent systems.
“The New School Segregation,” a paper on the issue by UNC School of Law assistant professor Erika Wilson, has received attention from two prestigious sources. The paper was among those chosen for discussion at the Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum at Yale Law School June 28-29. Papers are selected by a jury of scholars.
Wilson’s paper notes, “The secessions almost always result in the seceding municipality having a predominately white…and affluent school system, while the remaining county-based school district has a higher percentage of minority and poor students,” she says.
Her article will also be published in the Cornell Law Review.
“I hope the paper shines a light on the ways in which certain local government structures and policies, though facially race-neutral, exacerbate racial segregation in schools,” Wilson says. “I also hope the paper can be used to help change the way we think about the benefits and burdens of municipal control of schools, particularly in the South, given the South’s sordid history with racially segregated and unequal schools.”
Wilson’s areas of expertise include civil litigation, civil rights, education and school reform, public policy and race discrimination. Her research focuses on issues connected to education law and policy.
She has had additional recent publishing success.
“Reverse Passing,” an article she co-authored with professor Khaled Beydoun, now at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School, will be published in the UCLA Law Review. The article examines aspects of affirmative action.
Regarding Wilson’s invitation to the forum at Yale, Carolina Law professor and associate dean for faculty development Holning Lau says, “Being selected to participate is a highly prestigious honor… It’s also a great accomplishment for Erika to have two articles accepted for publication by top journals within a few weeks of each other this past semester.”
Lau notes, “Erika is part of a very strong cohort of junior faculty at Carolina Law. Many of our junior colleagues have recently been recognized for their scholarly achievements.”
-May 31, 2016