Summary Of Deculturalization And Struggle For Equality

Paper #1 In Joel Spring’s, “Deculturalization and Struggle for Equality”, he argues that during the construction of the new world (contemporary United States) nonwhite racial groups were created by elitist in order to have them deculturalized and maintain a system of racial superiority. Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Blacks and Asians were each subject to systematic oppression in regards to racial formation, deculturalization, segregation and nation building. These dominated groups share the struggle of equality in this nation where “All men are equal” brought upon them by educational policies contrary to their socioeconomic interest and appealing to Euro-Americans. Racial formation is a vast summation of signifying actions and

Deculturalization is the attempt to strip cultures, language, and religion and to “civilize” another people. Methods of deculturalization included isolation, change of language, imposition through curriculum and textbooks, denial of expression and use of teachers of the superior group. The first method I mentioned, isolation, was used with Native Americans in attempt to not have to result to physical confrontation for the acquirement of more land. Efforts to “civilize” the Native Americans was the KEY to more land which means more money which means more power and inevitably more oppression of nonwhites. By having dropped their culture, natives become “Americanized” thus contributing “positively” to those racially superior. The land removal policies of the 1830’s moved natives west and federally funded schools that again, attempted to “civilize” for capital gain. I feel that deculturalization of this caliber is no longer as it was before. I did however attend a High school with a graduating class that did not have any white people so the only culture around was that of Mexican

When the colonist set for the new world a cheap source of labor was needed in order to literally build the new nation. Today a cheap labor source is acquired through different means, that is, Segregation. Segregation can be defined as the separation of students of the basis of their race to assure an “inexpensive source of labor” (Spring 43). Economic exploitation through education encompasses an inferior education where students are left in the dark because of the minimal chance of school as a means for economic achievement. This adds on to one group of people (whites) to feeling financially superior to others because of resulting classes. The legal doctrine “separate but equal” justified the segregation of schools although universally the schools for nonwhites were greatly underfinanced compared to those of whites. In Brown V. Board of Education, the verdict is overturned and made “Separate is not Equal” ending segregation in schools, well in a very slow manner. Segregation still factors a huge roll in American Education. Again, the high school I attended was predominantly Mexican and compared to other schools I have visited there is a huge gap in the financial support of each institution. Only 10 of 433 students that I graduated with are still in college, the 423 left are either convicts, dead, or working minimum wage jobs, not as a source of leisurely expenses but as a means of