Racial inequality in education

Subject in Social Sciences

Racial inequality in education has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including This American Life. 2 people have made recorded remarks about it.

What people said

NajyaNikole Hannah-Jones's 16-year-old daughter, a high school sophomore

  • Najya said being academically behind in ninth grade made her feel like a 'dumb black girl in a white school.'

    “It was like, oh my gosh, you're a dumb black girl in a white school. That's what it made me feel. Why should I have to suffer with that?”

    This American Life: 898: An Argument (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 49:31

  • Najya described encountering white classmates using the N-word at her selective high school.

    “I noticed that there were kids that were comfortable saying the N-word. I also experienced that. There were white kids that were saying the N-word”

    This American Life: 898: An Argument (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 39:52

What Najya has said about Racial inequality in education →

Nikole Hannah-JonesAmerican journalist and New York Times Magazine writer who teaches at Howard University

  • Hannah-Jones said the confidence she built in Najya as a Black girl could be destroyed within weeks at the predominantly white school.

    “me trying to build my child's confidence as a Black girl and the inherent intellect and worth. And then it can be destroyed, like, in two weeks in this school”

    This American Life: 898: An Argument (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 41:29

  • Hannah-Jones said Najya's mostly Black elementary school spared her the feelings of inferiority Hannah-Jones experienced as a bused student.

    “in her formative years, she didn't have that experience that I had of formative. feeling less than other kids, of feeling like, is there something wrong with Black people?”

    This American Life: 898: An Argument (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 11:59

What Nikole Hannah-Jones has said about Racial inequality in education →

Podcasts

Episodes

  • 898: An Argument

    This American Life · Sep 26, 2026 · 1 h 3 min

    Nikole Hannah-Jones revisits her famous essay on choosing a segregated public school for her daughter Najya, who argues with her about that choice a decade later.