Diversity: the windows of opportunity in overcoming the academic achievement gap between African-American and white students and in overcoming racially discriminatory myths of African American students in public education

The Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 legally authorized equitable academic conditions and access for African-American students in the United States' public school systems. However, in actuality, Brown did not lead to substantial de facto changes in equity and access. The American public education system continues to confront wide disparity in the achievement of African-American students and their White counterparts due to racial discrimination. The disparity, commonly referred to as the academic achievement gap, has also given way to the emergence of racist education myths, such as: a) African-American students innately cannot learn; b) African-American students are incapable of competing academically with their White counterparts; and c) the academic achievement gap between the African-American and White student population is irreducible. In order to dispel these racially discriminatory myths, a new paradigm shift in public education in America must take place. This paradigm shift includes the immersion of diversity within both curricula and school policy. Such a shift would transform the predominantly one-culture curricula that is so detrimental to the academic achievement of African-American and other non-White students in an otherwise ethnically and racially diverse student population in the United States.