Separate Schools – Separate Futures

Separate Schools – Separate Futures

From The Hidden History of Texas by Hank Wilson

May 28, 2026 · 8 min

About this episode

The episode explores the impact of segregation on education and the geography of Texas.

OPENING My learning curve about segregation did not happen all at once. I grew up in a Navy family and attended Catholic schools. We moved often. Different states. Different bases. Different communities. But strangely… many things stayed the same. Most of the schools I attended as a child were almost entirely white. In Virginia, in 1962, I remember having my first non-white classmate… a Hispanic girl. Later that same year, we moved back to Texas. Again, I attended Catholic schools that were overwhelmingly white. But by 1964, after we had settled in Houston, I went to San Antonio to attend high school, and I began noticing something larger than classrooms. The city itself seemed divided. Whites lived primarily on the north side. Blacks on the east side. Mexican-Americans on the west and south sides. And the schools reflected those invisible boundaries. At the time, it simply seemed normal. Years later, I realized I had been watching the geography of segregation. (pause) This is Hidden History of Texas. Episode 90: Separate Schools, Separate Futures. EDUCATION AND THE TEXAS MAP In Texas, schools have always been more than places of learning. They reflected power. Economics…

People in this episode

Host: Hank Wilson

Topics covered

  • segregation
  • education
  • race
  • geography
  • Texas history
  • opportunity

Keywords

  • segregation
  • education
  • Texas
  • race
  • geography
  • history
  • opportunity

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Texas, Virginia, Houston, San Antonio, South, East, West

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