I'm a veteran inner city high school teacher, and I'll take a shot at answering that. There are two possible reasons.
One, the student might have passed with a very low passing grade (like a D or a low C). The 8th grade teacher might then recommend that the student repeat the course in high school, for the good of the student.
The second possibility is that the student might have done halfway decently in that 8th grade math class, but did not do well on a standardized assessment test. We have such tests in my next of the woods. They are state-wide.
Do poorly on an 8th grade assessment test, and you are automatically placed in a starter math class in 9th grade. Again, for the good of the student.
I have NEVER seen any student, black or white, placed in a class for racial reasons. To suggest that is vile.
My thoughts exactly.
I've always found the accusation that the nation's public school teachers (who on the whole are some of the most liberal, Dem-supporting people in the country) are all just nasty racist, Klan members trying to hold black students back farcical.
When I was in school in virtually all white classes, white students who did poorly held themselves back. Nobody blamed the teachers or the school admin.
Black students hold themselves back. Libs are just totally unable to face that fact.