There were more Black students in the Stuyvesant Class of *1940* (at least 23) than in the class of 2016 (9).

THREAD @MaraGay @elizashapiro @nhannahjones https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1107814236263202816

Here are the 2016 numbers from the NYC DOE: 9 African-American students out of 802 (1.12%)

For 1940, I looked at the Stuy yearbook from that year, which is available online and did a count by the pictures in the class of 1940. At least 23 African-American students out of 571 (4.02%)
This is an imperfect method so I tried to be conservative.

A-Di Stuy Class of 1940 (at least 5 African-American students)

Di-Hl Stuy Class of 1940 (at least 4 African-American students, 2 of them class presidents?)

Hu-Pa Stuy Class of 1940 (at least 5 African-American students)

Pa-Wo Stuy Class of 1940 (at least 9 African-American students)

You can see the 1940 Stuy yearbook here. Classmates also has the 1930 and 1931 yearbooks and later ones. The format makes it harder to see faces, but it looks like there were many fewer black students in '30 and '31. https://www.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/209929

How is it possible there were more African-American students at Stuy in the pre-Civil Rights era than today?

The reliance on a single factor is more powerful and harmful than 80 years of progress--a factor this thread raises serious questions about. https://twitter.com/akilbello/status/1108544587394678785