Jordan And Bell Hooks Analysis

The battle of equality in education is one that has been fought since the beginning of time, women and minorities are among the largest groups that have always been brushed to the side and ostracized by not only society but in education and based on the demands of our educational system, our society is forced to conform to the level of education that society wants. The United States has become one of the most culturally diverse places to live in. With this in mind should policies, laws and institutions, such as education, be restructured and modified to include minorities and women? Due to their personal experiences, Mike Rose, June Jordan and bell hooks believe education can be seen as the practice of exclusion and argue that in order to …show more content…
She mentions that “moving from silence into speech is for the oppressed, the colonized, the exploited and those who stand and struggle side by side, a gesture of defiance that heals… and makes growth possible” (hooks 9). For so long women and particularly women of color have been told to be seen and not heard and that their value was less than that of a man especially anything she had to say and women that are now being more vocal about issues in society is breaking that barrier and allowing women to reinvent themselves and to have a voice in society, their voices have been stripped for so long and by regaining it, it is an act of resistance; it’s terrifying to realize how easily individuals (men/society took something that is physically impossible to take away and how in this day and age it still (not as heavily) still has an impact currently where we’re still fighting for gender …show more content…
Majorly when we look at history and how it is subdivided into separate subjects to appease specific groups of people, one of the biggest issues is women’s studies and how it’s addressed; it’s a subject all on its own and becomes this “exotic terrain for those politically chic few seeking affirmation or small settlement within larger institutional structure where white women have a power base which rather than being oppositional mirrors the status quo” (hooks 51) which is extremely ironic because while we’re fighting for equality for women there is still a power struggle and injustice between races of women. An amazing teacher I had in middle school gave me advice that’ll never forget, she told me that I will have to work twice as hard in this world because I’ll not only have to compete against those that think they’re superior because I am a woman but also because I am a woman of color and if there is nothing in this life that is harder than being black it’s being a black woman.” There’s a power structure and it always seems to be women and people of color that are at the bottom, always having to put more effort in to even be considered as