As an adult, people that I encounter in my everyday life often wonder how I got to be the person that I am today – an understanding, open-minded individual who does not look down upon anyone that is less fortunate than I am and who does not look to “more” fortunate individuals as role models. When I am asked how I got to be so understanding, I answer giving credit to my parents’ value system they instilled in me as well as acknowledging their duties as public servants in the City of New York. My father was a police officer who worked in a number of precincts in some of the worst, crime ridden areas of Brooklyn and my mother worked for the Department of Social Services in Child Welfare and the Bureau of Public Assistance, initially as a case-worker, in Brooklyn as well. It was because of their experiences in the “field” and interacting with those less fortunate then we were that I gained a certain level of knowledge and understanding of the unfortunate mishaps of people of my culture and the inequalities inflicted upon the black community. Yet the most influential aspects of my knowledge came from the exposure my mother had through working for the City of New York’s child welfare system and the unfair treatments that her clients endured. As a result I will discuss the affects of social, economic and racial inequalities suffered by her clients and the impact it has had on their children’s education.
During my studies in this class, we have discussed many issues in society that affects children apart of education systems across America. After reading through our assigned texts so far, I have had time to reflect upon and add to the opinions discussed in class as far as access, gender, opportunity and particularly inequalities in today’s society and how they affect our children today. The main text that influenced most of my opinions so far is David Nasaw’s book “Schooled to Order” – which discusses the history of the public school system here in America. As shown through my reaction papers and discussions in class, I felt Nasaw’s theories and opinions were reflective of the elitist, biased and prejudiced attitudes towards the working poor. I believed that people in our society today believe that unless you come from a certain lineage, pedigree, or mass amounts of money that the individual lacks a certain level of class and therefore would not be successful adul...
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...y own observance, many of these children learn from an early age to give up hope in growing up to improve their lives through education, and sometimes do not want to strive to achieve better. My mother and I both agree that until racial, economic and social inequalities are put into balance, that this city as well as many other areas around the country minority citizens will seem to always struggle and suffer from unfair treatments. She said that it is no coincidence that most of the city’s worst schools, hospitals, and emergency services seem to largely be in heavily minority populated areas and she feels that the biggest inequality in New York is race. Admittedly, this paper has been the most difficult for me to prepare in that of the topics we discussed in class, I feel that inequalities is the main category for society’s problems in which it incorporates accessibility, opportunity, gender, and mostly race. Our education system has been set-up mainly to separate the elite from the masses, and the fact that blacks have been apart of this country’s history, unfortunately have always been the last on the social list and I believe that until it changes, they will remain that way.
Wilson, William J. More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City. New York: Norton & Company, 2009. Print.
John Howard Griffin’s chronicled experiences as a black man in his book, “Black Like Me” is an arrogant if well meaning book. It is arrogant because a 28 day experiment does not compare to the years (especially when learning right from wrong) of prolonged discrimination and racism suffered by African-Americans in the southern United States during the 1950’s.
The American society, more so, the victims and the government have assumed that racism in education is an obvious issue and no lasting solution that can curb the habit. On the contrary, this is a matter of concern in the modern era that attracts the concern of the government and the victims of African-Americans. Considering that all humans deserve the right to equal education. Again, the point here that there is racial discrimination in education in Baltimore, and it should interest those affected such as the African Americans as well as the interested bodies responsible for the delivery of equitable education, as well as the government. Beyond this limited audience, on the other hand, the argument should address any individual in the society concerned about racism in education in Baltimore and the American Society in
The essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal”, by Jonathan Kozol, discusses the reality of inner-city public school systems, and the isolation and segregation of inequality that students are subjected to; as a result, to receive an education. Throughout the essay, Kozol proves evidence of the inequality that African American and Hispanic children face in the current school systems.
He demonstrated how life was for African Americans in the southern states like South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia. He achieved his goal by dying his skin to become black man, spending several months in 1959 living as an African American as they were living at that time . For example, one of the greatest discrimination the Griffin lived was the deprivation of public services such as the use of a toilet, restaurant, library, education. He said " … this year of freedom any man could deprive another of anything so basic as the need to quench thirst or use the restroom” (61). In my opinion, this is a true example of how Negroes were deprived of physical needs and excessive abuse of whites. Although the president Lincoln had proclaimed the freedom for the Negroes hundred years ago; however, in 1950’s they still have not enjoyed it. Personally, the climax of the book is when the author start to feel the discrimination from white people to him as an African American. He said that when he was in the restroom was the only place that he felt safe, isolated and owns the space around him (132). At this point, I imagine that he was desperate, angry, and disappointed. I guess most of the black people could feel in the same way. Also he said, “… nothing but the color of skin. My experience proved that. They judged me by no other quality. My skin dark. That was sufficient reason for [white people] to deny me those rights and freedoms without which life loses its significance and becomes a matter of little more than animal survival” (115). This is the clearest way that he can prove that because of his pigmentation, he was being discriminated, he was living with a fear of people with the different skin color of him. Therefore, I believe that Griffin
Griffin feels it is necessary to understand the hardship of blacks in the United States of America. Through medications, bleaching and ultraviolet light, Griffin is able to temporarily change his skin color so that he can walk through the streets and understand the injustices faced by African Americans. Later on, the author moves farther south where he is faced with even more racism and begins to switch between white and black skin, understanding the different expressions given by society of both races. While white, Griffin finds that white people treat him with respect and black people fear him. But while black, Griffin is despised and neglected by whites and is welcomed warmly by blacks (Griffin, 1962).
Griffin had pondered for years how a white man must change in order to pass as a Negro, and in November 1959, he finally decided to test this, exposing himself to ultraviolet lights and ingesting pigmentation pills to darken his skin. After five days, the transformation was complete, and Griffin was ready to venture into “oblivion”.
As I read Black Boy, Griffin provided me with a small insight on the way whites and blacks were differently treated. Black Like Me was based on a white man who wanted to get a better understanding of the life of negroes and how it feels to be treated unequally. He wanted to know what stood between the white man and black man, why they could not communicate. Griffin writes in his book that, “the only way I could see to bridge the gap between us was to become a Negro” (Griffin 1). His journey then began and he lived the life of a black man. It is with such bravery that he went and risked becoming a Negro. He knew that adverse consequences would occur once people knew the truth. He did not care; I was fascinated with his desire to see what...
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Meanwhile, as the pressure of schools losing their students due to dropout, it is important that the inner city students have the support they need in school or at home, because many years of oppression have kept African-Americans from having the will to do better. Now young African-Americans have that same oppressed feeling in the schools that they are attending. When the students give up it seems as though everyone around them wants to give up. In fact, “In many parts of the country, the problems present withi...
Some people may believe that education all over the United States is equal. These people also believe that all students no matter their location, socioeconomic status, and race have the same access and quality of education, but ultimately they are wrong. Throughout history, there has been a huge educational disparity between the wealthy and marginalized communities. The academic essay “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon, an American critical thinker and researcher in education, conveys that depending on the different economic backgrounds students have, they will be taught in a specific way. He reveals that the lower economic background a child has then the lower quality their education will be and the higher their economic background is the higher quality their education is. Anyon’s theory of a social ladder is extremely useful because it sheds light on the
The good stress, or “eustress”, plays a significant factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment. Positive stress also helps enhance one’s athletic performance. Excessive stress, on the other hand, can unleash all the negative sides and cause a myriad of health risks. Bad stress can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, dwarfism and mental illnesses such as depression.
In a report by Scherer et al. (1993), it is outlined that a survey conducted by Occupational Health and Safety Assurance (OSHA) realized that most workplace injuries in the United States were a result of errors related to the employees. In breaking down the forms of errors the survey realized that they were caused by: carelessness, lack of training, and illiteracy. Looking at these causative factors, it is easy to realize that they are not only preventable but can be totally elim...
The inequality of genders is a factor to the issue of poverty. Many nations are trying their best to fix the issue of gender inequality. Gender inequality is very visible in the primary and secondary levels of education in Ghana. The amount of boys always tends to outnumber the girls. Due to the fact that many women do not have any educational background, they either end up trading or get engaged in agriculture activity. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are barely recognized in issues that are non-agriculture. About 64% of women are mainly employed in the agriculture sector. The low employment level of women makes poverty a stronghold in the household of women. Women tend to not get enough income to support themselves and their families, especially when they are single parents or the man is unemployed. Women also tend to face low employment rates, and those with a good education, who have the chance of being employed, rarely get the opportunity. The women who are lucky enough to get employed are rarely promoted due to their
As a student of Economics, Women’s Studies and International Studies, I have been interested in understanding development policies dedicated towards women globally. The intention of development policies is to improve the lives of women by empowering them but most policy makers avoid explaining the root cause of oppression. Therefore, many policies are devised to treat the symptom and not the cause. Examining development policies targeting women in the light of feminist theories is essential for creating a positive impact on the society. The focus of this paper is to illustrate the intersection of development policies and feminist theories. The citations also involve feminist critiques of some development approaches. I analyze the development policies formulated for the women in the Global South by exploring the areas of education, economic independence, health and globalization.. The intention behind this paper is to connect the feminist theories we learnt in the class to a practical application. I use western feminist theories to compare and critique the international development pr...