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Racial inequality in education sociology
Racial inequality in education essay
Racial inequality in education essay
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God I Hate…
God, I hate getting up this early. But I only got three months left; then I’ll never have to get up early again. Three more months and this time I graduate. Dads doing pretty good on the railroad job now. Hasn’t been laid off for a couple of years now. David is doing good in the Navy, and my future at Taco Bell is almost a guarantee. Don’t know why this diploma shit is so important to everyone, I’m making 165.00 a week now and I’m only 18! That’s better than some factories and I don’t work as hard as they do. If I wasn’t going to this dumbass high school everyday; I’ll bet I could make 200 or even 225 dollars a week. They’d let me work. I’m the best employee they got. Someday I’ll own Taco Bell.
“Okay! Okay! I’m up damn it!” I yell at Mom as I stare at the clock. Jesus! She didn’t graduate, and she did okay. If she only knew how badly I hated that place! Nothing was the same as it was when I was a kid. Teachers taught for the money. They don’t give a damn about us at all. Suddenly all the guys I’d grown up with were “black”. That means they can’t be seen hanging with me because I’m now “white bread”. Don’t remember it bothering them when I’d spend the night at their house or they’d stay over at mine. Now I’m part of the race that owned and sold them. Go figure. I never owned a slave. Near as I could tell, no one in my families past had ever owned one either. Oh well, timed to get ready. School starts in 30 minutes. Mom is already to take me. I think she gets off pissing me off. Was I supposed to do some homework for today? Oh well, tough shit. They’ll get it when I give it to them. Now where are my jeans?
God its cold! I hate mornings. I hate school. I hate the teachers. I hate most of the students. Why did I ever go back? Mom is taking me to school in her bathrobe again! Now ain’t that a cool look! Dingy pink nylon. Oh God! She even has the fuzzy pink slipper on! Oh this is a lovely sight. Pulling up to Marion High in a 1972 Ford station wagon driven by a crazy woman dressed in a nightgown and slippers! And pink, raggedy ones at that! Dad could get a better car now; but will he?
Post-emancipation life was just as bad for the people of “mixed blood” because they were more black than white, but not accepted by whites. In the story those with mixed blood often grouped together in societies, in hopes to raise their social standards so that there were more opportunities for...
The transition of being a black man in a time just after slavery was a hard one. A black man had to prove himself at the same time had to come to terms with the fact that he would never amount to much in a white dominated country. Some young black men did actually make it but it was a long and bitter road. Most young men fell into the same trappings as the narrator’s brother. Times were hard and most young boys growing up in Harlem were swept off their feet by the onslaught of change. For American blacks in the middle of the twentieth century, racism is another of the dark forces of destruction and meaninglessness which must be endured. Beauty, joy, triumph, security, suffering, and sorrow are all creations of community, especially of family and family-like groups. They are temporary havens from the world''s trouble, and they are also the meanings of human life.
He imagined his mother lying desperately ill and his being able to secure only a Negro doctor for her. He toyed with that idea for a few minutes and then dropped it for a momentary vision of himself participating as a sympathiser in a sit-in demonstration. This was possible but he did not linger with it. Instead, he approached the ultimate horror. He brought home a beautiful suspiciously Negroid woman. Prepare yourself, he said. There is nothing you can do about it. This is the woman I have chosen. (15)
Although there were numerous efforts to attain full equality between blacks and whites during the Civil Rights Movement, many of them were in vain because of racial distinctions, white oppression, and prejudice. Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi recounts her experiences as a child growing up in Centreville, Mississippi. She describes how growing up in Mississippi in a poor black family changed her views of race and equality, and the events that took place that changed her life forever. She begins her story at the tender age of 4, and describes how her home life changed drastically with the divorce of her parents, the loss of her home, and the constant shuffle from shack to shack as her mother tried to keep food on the table with the meager pay she earned from the numerous, mostly domestic, jobs she took. On most days, life was hard for Anne, and as she got older she struggled to understand why they were living in such poverty when the white people her mother worked for had so many nice things, and could eat more than bread and beans for dinner. It was because of this excessive poverty that Anne had to go into the workforce at such an early age, and learn what it meant to have and hold a job in order to provide her family. Anne learned very young that survival was all about working hard, though she didn’t understand the imbalance between the work she was doing and the compensation she received in return.
When the word “Mongol” is said I automatically think negative thoughts about uncultured, barbaric people who are horribly cruel and violent. That is only because I have only heard the word used to describe such a person. I have never really registered any initial information I have been taught about the subject pass the point of needing and having to know it. I felt quite incompetent on the subject and once I was given an assignment on the book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern Age, I was very perplexed for two reasons. One I have to read an outside book for a class that already requires a substantial amount of time reading the text, and secondly I have to write a research paper in History. I got over it and read the book, which surprisingly enough interested me a great deal and allow me to see the Moguls for more than just a barbaric group of Neanderthals, but rather a group of purpose driven warriors with a common goal of unity and progression. Jack Weatherford’s work has given me insight on and swayed my opinion of the Mongols.
The twentieth century was a time of tremendous change that commenced with WWI and the Great Depression. While WWI brought countless deaths, the Great Depression affected both urban and rural Americans. Yet, underlying these devastating events was the abuse of black Americans. Both whites and blacks had to cope with the major occurrences of the time, but blacks also faced strife from whites themselves. During the early part of the twentieth century, white Americans Russell Baker and Mildred Armstrong Kalish gained kindred attributes from their families, especially in comparison to that of Richard Wright, a black American. The key differences between the experience of whites and blacks can be found within the mentality of the family, the extent to which they were influenced by their families in their respective lives, and the shielding from the outside world, or lack thereof, by their families. Through the compelling narrations of these three authors, readers can glimpse into this racially divided world from the perspective of individuals who actually lived through it.
Homelessness in America has always been an issue. There have been plans to help solve this issue in San Antonio, Texas, but it does cost local taxpayers millions. It is a tricky situation to solve because some people are innocent and have no other solution to help solve their necessitous situation. Although many people who are impoverished may not be bad, we should eradicate the chronically homeless because many of them are without a roof for their decisions or blameful addictions they can not control and is costing San Antonio’s taxpayers millions.
American History is a topic taught in very small detail during all levels of education. From elementary school to college, educators educated students with the facts and theories regarding the transformation of this country from the 1600s to today. While there are many events and time periods in this nation’s history that have shaped its culture and society, one of the most thoroughly studied eras in American History is that of slavery in the antebellum south. Every student in school has taken at least one class in which the teacher shows facts and figures about the horrors of slavery, or shows pictures of the squalor of slave quarters with the intention of shocking and upsetting the inhabitants of the classroom. Most students, however, are never taught the “whole story”. They never learn about the lives behind the numbers or the events behind the pictures. The realness was cover up by white supremacy. The book, “Kindred” show some struggles blacks had to face in the early days.
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
I was born a middle-class, white child. I was never self-conscious about it until now. I grew up in a small town, “hick-town” some have called it. Twenty years ago, when my family first moved there, the small green sign on the south side of town read, “Smallville, Elevation: 1450 feet, Population: 1350.” In twenty years, the second number on the sign has changed little more than the first. I remember when my father used to take me out through the orchards to talk with the farmers, for that’s what people do in Smallville. They farm. Pears, grapes, walnuts, and a few kiwis, all financed by big white banks, grown by plump white farmers, sold by chubby white brokers, and harvested by Mexican-Americans. What a country. My chubby father markets pears and grapes. And he would take me out into Rick Bengard’s pear orchard. And with acres and acres of pear trees all around us, he would tell me how Unc...
...is to understand the factors that lead people into homelessness, that keep them homeless, and how they can recover from homelessness. Advocates for the homeless have proposed policies range from taking preventative measures, such as making housing and health care affordable, to policies that deal with individuals that are already homeless, such as rapid rehousing and redefining what it means to be homeless. Although many of the experts disagree on how the homeless epidemic should be handled, many acknowledge that the federal government plays an inexpendable role in helping the homeless. Homelessness is, obviously, a complex issue, but like all difficult issues it must be undertaken. It has become clear that homelessness is not something that will eradicate itself given time, homelessness will continue to grow and evolve unless an outside force stops it in its tracks.
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
In schools, Blacks are instructed in history classes the role of the slaves in America; nevertheless, slaves are perceived as powerless and submissive. Shakur like many others grew up believing slaves were inferior beings to Whites. For example, “I had grown up believing the slaves hadn’t fought back. I remember feeling ashamed when they talked about slavery in school. The teachers made it seem that Black people had nothing to do with the official ‘emancipation’ from slavery. White people had freed us” (Shakur, 175). The method of teaching slavery in America is intended to suppress Blacks and emphasize on their “inferiority” to Whites, resulting in low-self esteem for Blacks. Students are left with the notion of slavery being consensual and beneficial to both parties, despite the agony slaves were subjected to. Assata states, “Many of us have misconceptions about Black history in amerika. What we are taught in the public school system is usually inaccurate, distorted, and packed full of outright lies” (176). American history is altered and fabricated to maintain White supremacy and alienate Blacks from gaining confidence of their African history. Through inaccurate teachings of Black American history, Blacks’ self esteem is belittled and their confidence is reduced. History is restrained to preserve racism and
The history of slavery in America is one that has reminders of the institution and its oppressive state of African Americans in modern times. The slaveholders and the slaves were intertwined in a cruel system of oppression that did not yield to either side. The white slaveholders along with their black slaves became codependent amongst each other due to societal pressures and the consequences that would follow if slaves were emancipated with race relations at a high level of danger. This codependency between the oppressed and the oppressor has survived throughout time and is prevalent in many racial relationships. The relationship between the oppressed and the oppressor can clearly be seen in Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred. In this novel, the protagonist Dana Franklin, a black woman, time travels between her present day 1977 and the antebellum era of 19th century Maryland. Throughout her journeys back to the past, Dana comes in contact with her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin, a white slave owner and Dana ultimately saves his life and intermingles with the people of the time. Butler’s story of Dana and her relationship with Rufus and other whites as she travels between the past and the present reveals how slaveholders and slaves depended on and influenced one other throughout the slaves bondage. Ultimately, the institution of slavery reveals how the oppressed and the oppressor are co-dependent; they need each other in order to survive.
It was a gloomy Tuesday despite the fact that it was late August. I had missed the first day of school because I always hated the idea of introductions and forced social situations during those times. I hated my particular school ever since I started as a freshman the