Assimilation In Public Education

In her book, Another Kind of Public Education, Patricia Hill Collins describes a startling personal incident, which reveals the prevalent inequities still present in the American school system. The author attended Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she was one of few African Americans in her class. As a result of her minority status, the author transformed into a quiet girl and felt uncomfortable in her classes. One day, Patricia’s teacher invites her to deliver a Flag Speech. Patricia composes a speech, but she also includes personal information about the failures of American ideals, which her teacher eventually deletes. As Patricia conveys, “How was it, I asked that the flag could signify the lofty ideals of democracy suggested by …show more content…
Assimilation is one possible model of democracy and occurs when individuals yield their own cultural beliefs to allow for group harmony. In particular, assimilation does allow citizens to display their loyalty, when they sacrifice their own customs to become American. As expected, with the process of assimilation individuals can lose valuable cultural traditions, which shaped their identity. Moreover, multi-culturalism is another possible model of democracy and this philosophy deems diversity makes the United States stronger. One positive aspect of multi-culturalism it encourages discussions about culture and allows for cultural traditions to persist. Conversely, multiculturalism can separate groups and amplify differences between them. A final model of democracy is mestizaje or an in-between stage. Different cultures interact rapidly as a result of migration and technology. This mixing of cultures or “cultural fusion” is not complete and unfortunately the process led to global dilemmas, including war and imperialism. Patricia Hill Collins leaves her models of democracy discussion open and alleges mestizaje seems the most effective. Still, American citizens should consider combining parts of the three …show more content…
Recently, the public sphere in the United States has acquired a new meaning. Many people deem all citizens possess an equal chance to voice their opinions, but social groups can also play a role in who is permitted to speak. However, Patricia Hill Collins conveys, “In the United States, who gets to speak and who is silences, who gets to lead and who must follow depend primarily on socially constructed categories, such as race, gender, nationality, religion, social class, or sexual orientation” (19). Frequently, people focus on the individuals, who have achieved despite the odds. Yet Patricia Hill Collins questions how the achievements of individuals, like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey subdue the problems and stereotypes the typical African American faces in the United