Inequalities In The Promised Land Summary

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In this paper I will discuss Inequality In The Promised Land by E. L’Heureuz Lewis-McCoy. McCoy examines the underlying inequality and micro racial aggressions present within the seemingly diverse and progressive Rolling Acres Public School system. Three major themes I will focus on are the concerted cultivation approach to parenting, the disparity in the ability of students of different races to acquire access to resources, and how the engagement of poor and middle class parents impacts their children’s education. I will also discuss “Marked: Race, Crime & Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration” by Devah Pager. Pager’s work focuses on the effects that the criminal justice system has on ex-inmates, more specifically the effects of race …show more content…

Researcher Annette Laureau proposed the theory of concerted cultivation which “is practiced by middle-class families and is often characterized by the enrollment of children in structured extracurricular activities with adult supervision” (5). For example, my family considers themselves members of the middle-class and used this approach to raise me. Throughout elementary school, I was engaged in after-school organized programs and/or sports, including origami, drama, soccer, and basketball. McCoy argues “these socialization experiences serve as fields of learning where their children develop cultural capital that proves to be advantageous” (5). I agree with the part of McCoys argument which declares that these experiences and activities provide advantages to those who participate. For example, I currently ask my parents why they had signed me up for so many activities and their answer is always so that I would know how to interact with people, form relationships, and consecutively become a well-rounded person. I think that this approach has proved successful in my case because I was in the top 5 of my high school class, had been accepted to a prestigious university and started a successful YouTube channel all before turning 18. I believe this to be due to the skills I acquired, the networks I maintained and took advantage of from my extracurricular activities, as well as the hard work I

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