The Privilege of Higher Education and the Oppression of Minority Status
Currently, I feel that I am privileged because I have been given the opportunity to receive a higher education at an Ivy League school. In addition to this privilege, I am also an African American that has experienced racial disadvantages as a female minority, yet I am able to receive an education that many African Americans will never receive. This privilege shows up in my life when I go back to my old neighborhood and see the poverty, racism, and social inequality that many African Americans must endure on a daily basis. At school, I am able to leave the world of racial oppression behind by attending classes with wealthy men and women that are predominantly white. I have experienced the hardship of living in a lower class environment with the added burden of racial discrimination as a part of living in a racially …show more content…
For instance, there is logic to the racism that is still present in higher education, since I am a rare example of an African American woman attending a predominantly white Ivy League college. Historically, African Americans were restricted from attending Ivy League institutions, such as Princeton, as one example of how racial bigotry in higher education has a negative track record in this country: “In 1960, just 1 African American entered in a freshman class of over 800 at Princeton” (Karabel, 2005, p.392). This form of racial exclusion is a major part of the oppression that African Americans have had to endure throughout history, which defines the rationale for inequality that many minorities experience at Ivy League schools. Therefore, many African Americans experience racial oppression by being denied the opportunity to attend college at the Ivy League
Currently, I feel that I am privileged because I have been given the opportunity to receive a higher education at an Ivy League school. In addition to this privilege, I am also an African American that has experienced racial disadvantages as a female minority, yet I am able to receive an education that many African Americans will never receive. This privilege shows up in my life when I go back to my old neighborhood and see the poverty, racism, and social inequality that many African Americans must endure on a daily basis. At school, I am able to leave the world of racial oppression behind by attending classes with wealthy men and women that are predominantly white. I have experienced the hardship of living in a lower class environment with the added burden of racial discrimination as a part of living in a racially …show more content…
For instance, there is logic to the racism that is still present in higher education, since I am a rare example of an African American woman attending a predominantly white Ivy League college. Historically, African Americans were restricted from attending Ivy League institutions, such as Princeton, as one example of how racial bigotry in higher education has a negative track record in this country: “In 1960, just 1 African American entered in a freshman class of over 800 at Princeton” (Karabel, 2005, p.392). This form of racial exclusion is a major part of the oppression that African Americans have had to endure throughout history, which defines the rationale for inequality that many minorities experience at Ivy League schools. Therefore, many African Americans experience racial oppression by being denied the opportunity to attend college at the Ivy League