View From Here

Economic Segregation

We visited the Brooklyn Children’s Museum this past weekend with two of the grandchildren and their mother and had a wonderful round of educational experiences, looking at insects through magnifying glasses, being served pretend pizza with toppings and playing in water.  The big surprise was the cost of $37.50 for three adults and two children.   We thought that might explain why out of what appeared to be  hundred’s of young people, you would need only two hands to count the African-American youngsters enjoying the Children Museum’s experience.  With Kings County over 50% Black and Hispanic, and with the area within walking distance of the museum being the center of Black Brooklyn, there appears to be either a lack of interest in the natural sciences, or an effective, if unintended, system of economic segregation at work, denying the economically-disadvantaged youngsters who are the predominate neighbors of the beautiful new building, the life-widening experiences that are crucial to healthy child development and the very mission of the museum.  This is the kind of racial divide that stems from and perpetuates the evils of the past and for which a solution has to be found if we are to move into a different kind of future.