Inequality in Education
We live in a world with many problems that seriously need to be addressed. As a college student today, it sometimes seems that every issue is on the brink of destruction to the greater population. Today, you hear of many political, social, economic, and environmental issues that seem to be too large and complicated of a task for all of us to really come together and fix. This is mainly due to the widespread mindset of our culture and how we choose to either recognize or not recognize something that isn’t right in the world, and thus a shift in our thinking is required to make the necessary change. Equal opportunity in our education system for people of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds is a type …show more content…
This idea is discussed in Beverly Daniel Tatum’s work, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum looks at the various psychological stages that an African American youth goes through in finding who they are. A process that is somewhat different from White children. Tatum states that, “Academic success is more often associated with being White” (Tatum). She goes on to say that when psychological phases of discovering race gets to a certain point “the search for identity leads towards cultural stereotypes and away from anything that might be associated with Whiteness, academic performance often declines” (Tatum 367). This is the type of social issue that requires a overhauling of our cultural mindset and values, and the disappearance of harmful stereotypes. Merely creating a few special programs for these children is not going to change their reality. The reality that they may in fact get bullied for trying to succeed because it may be seen as not in accordance with their race or culture. Though this sounds like a large and almost impossible task, in order to really break down these racial barriers and allow a child of any race feel free to be who they truly are, we need to break down these stereotypes at their core and change how we view one another. It would seem that Tatum’s observation is correct and could perhaps be one of the main reasons for minority children not reaching their full potential. Robert Balfanz, a director of Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins, analyzes as little as just over 600 schools where most high school students (predominantly young men of Afircan American or Hispanic descent) drop out before graduation. He has developed a program to help these youths stay on track, in which he has been successful. In his work entitled “Stop Holding Us Back,” he even offers a way in which to
We live in a world with many problems that seriously need to be addressed. As a college student today, it sometimes seems that every issue is on the brink of destruction to the greater population. Today, you hear of many political, social, economic, and environmental issues that seem to be too large and complicated of a task for all of us to really come together and fix. This is mainly due to the widespread mindset of our culture and how we choose to either recognize or not recognize something that isn’t right in the world, and thus a shift in our thinking is required to make the necessary change. Equal opportunity in our education system for people of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds is a type …show more content…
This idea is discussed in Beverly Daniel Tatum’s work, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum looks at the various psychological stages that an African American youth goes through in finding who they are. A process that is somewhat different from White children. Tatum states that, “Academic success is more often associated with being White” (Tatum). She goes on to say that when psychological phases of discovering race gets to a certain point “the search for identity leads towards cultural stereotypes and away from anything that might be associated with Whiteness, academic performance often declines” (Tatum 367). This is the type of social issue that requires a overhauling of our cultural mindset and values, and the disappearance of harmful stereotypes. Merely creating a few special programs for these children is not going to change their reality. The reality that they may in fact get bullied for trying to succeed because it may be seen as not in accordance with their race or culture. Though this sounds like a large and almost impossible task, in order to really break down these racial barriers and allow a child of any race feel free to be who they truly are, we need to break down these stereotypes at their core and change how we view one another. It would seem that Tatum’s observation is correct and could perhaps be one of the main reasons for minority children not reaching their full potential. Robert Balfanz, a director of Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins, analyzes as little as just over 600 schools where most high school students (predominantly young men of Afircan American or Hispanic descent) drop out before graduation. He has developed a program to help these youths stay on track, in which he has been successful. In his work entitled “Stop Holding Us Back,” he even offers a way in which to