Educational Disparity African Americans

These claims have been well documented. However, the connection to the graduation gap may be clearer with an answer of how other factors such as financial and other family problems brought about by poverty affect them. The rest of the book provides possible solutions to questions of invisibility such as respecting and valuing black students. Another solution is removing remedial programs for challenging curricula and supports that are appropriate.

In this paper, I will explore the aspects regarding racial inequality pertaining to education in the United States of America. It has come to my attention, based on my observations, that race is a definitive factor that plays a role in establishing socioeconomic status. In relation to socioeconomic status, variables correlating with race that I will be focusing on, is the educational and wealth aspects. An individual’s level of education is pivotal to establishing stable, consistent wealth and vice-versa; the access for quality education is inconsistent primarily among minority races/ethnicities. According to historical records ranging from the year 1980 to 2000, between Whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, and Native Americans, the educational attainment gap is widening (Kelly 2005). Education is seen to be a source of respect and key to gaining a higher income, which transfers over to greater wealth. Acknowledging the slow expansion of the educational attainment disparities, I argue that the society’s perceptions and actions addressing race perpetuates and produces social inequalities by limiting opportunities despite “equal” resources, privileges, and rights through social policies that have contributed towards the quality of America’s education system.

Ultimately the lack of reliable resources and preparation from underfunded schools leads African American students into being unprepared for college and jobs, once again reinforcing a vicious cycle of poverty within the community. Gillian B. White, a senior associate editor at The Atlantic, wrote a chilling article regarding the systematic racism that is deeply embedded in the American school system. In the article The Data: Race Influences School Funding, White states “At a given poverty level, districts that have a higher proportion of white students get substantially higher funding than districts that have more minority students” (White). In this quote White explains the clear correlation of race and inadequate funding in the American school

Education and economic justice were two forms of systemic inequalities that make inequality difficult to talk about. Education is a requirement if someone wishes to have a better life, but not everyone has access to quality education. In the U.S there has always been a battle, people of color have fought to be able to access quality education, (Philips, 2016: 130) they are constantly attending inferior and ineffective school where there are many distractions for students to be fully successful in the classrooms. Often these schools where children of color attend lack quality facilities, educational resources, and qualified teachers. Someone can’t help to notice that in general such unqualified schools are mostly in color people’s neighborhoods.

For centuries African Americans have fought for equal rights, one of them being an opportunity for the chance to get an equal education. Many people believe that African Americans have an equal or better chance at getting an education than other students. This is not the case when in fact, it is actually harder for these three reasons: African American students tend to come from harsh, poverty stricken atmospheres. Shattered family lifestyles that make it difficult to pursue a higher education because they have not received the proper information. Secondly, just because African Americans are minorities does not mean that they receive a vast amount of government assistance or financial aid to pursue a higher education. Lastly, African

Students attend school starting at pre-school then kindergarten, kindergarten to first grade and leading up to middle school then high school, the classes and teachers are supposed to prepare them for the next level. With the correct preparation and tools, after graduating high school, many students have their mind set on attending college as the next level. However many African-American male students who do have the ability to graduate high school, are not prepared for their next level which is college. Due to the quality of these schools “the school districts in urban neighborhoods have fewer academic offerings, less qualified teachers, out of date materials and lower quality curriculum” (WOOD, J. (2011), results in the poor education of the minority students attending them. Also due to the different academic and environment backgrounds that white and black students come from, many teachers are unaware of how to teach black students and how to gain their attention in the classroom. Other than

Racial inequality persists in the current U.S. education system, despite nationwide efforts to promote the acceptance of students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Minority students, most notably African American and Latino, receive lower qualities of education compared to the Caucasian majority and are, as a result, at an indisputable disadvantage after primary and secondary education. According to a 2014 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, “students of color in public schools are punished more and receive less access than white students to experienced teachers” (Abdul-Jabbar 31). Higher suspension rates and an increased frequency of corporal punishment use, allowed in 19 states as of 2014 according to Business Insider (Adwar), for minority students are two disciplinary examples of underlying racial discrimination with the current U.S. education system. Economic repercussions of racial inequality in education have been proven to include wealth gaps, higher unemployment rates, and financial instability for minorities in later life. Due to the prominence of racial segregation within schools, it remains a controversial point of debate in modern-day society, resulting in attempts such as affirmative action to establish racial equality in education. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the United States Supreme Court declared affirmative action to be a justified policy in the

Statistics have shown that 9.7% of African American fathers who don’t live with their children help their with their homework. Although the number may seem low, our white counterparts are at 5% when it comes to this category. This illustrates the effort in the African American community to influence the next generations. These small acts may not have an initial impact, but in the long run it can be the difference of their child enrolling into college. It could be the difference of what career the child chooses to pursue. The powerful potential that lies within the child could be brought out by the

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Black-White achievement gaps narrowed until a steady decline manifested itself during the 1990s (Lee, 2006). The persistent discourse on the achievement gaps in educational circles demonstrates the challenge in the United States of providing adequate learning opportunities for all its students. Today, as we know, the existence of educational disparities in the United States not only affects cultural capital but also this country’s ability to maintain a strong human capital (Auguste, Hancock, & Laboissierre, 2009; Jacobson, Olsen, Rice, Sweetland, Ralph, 2001; OECD, 2012). The 44th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll (2012) on the public’s attitudes on public schools, for example, revealed that 89% of the national participants recognized that the closing of the achievement gap was something of a milestone (Bushaw, W.J., & Lopez, S.J., 2012). Indeed, during the last couple of decades the elevated federal and state accountability policies (Fusarelli, 2004) have further underscored and communicated how our public K-12 educational institutions have struggled to improve the educational achievements

Despite the importance of education to uphold the American Dream, why do African-Americans dawdle behind whites when it comes to attaining a higher education when it will provide them with greater advantages? Some may argue that African-Americans have a lack of aptitude and intelligence. Unemployment, drug use, and permissive cultural values are all considered to be factors of academic failure. On the contrary, there are several reasons why blacks are falling behind when it comes to education. Some of the major issues that cause this hold up are the racial perceptions of African-Americans or identity development through race like racial centrality, negative stereotypes, and a parents’ management and mentorship.

Since the creation of a comprehensive public schooling system, American citizens have held a great faith in the power of education (Tyack & Cuban, 1995) and that institutions commitment to meet the needs and interests of all young citizens (Tyack & Hansot, 1986). Yet, access to an “equal” K-12 education has always been a contested struggle for black citizens in the United States. The access to equitable public schools continues to be a topic of contested debate across this country. On the one hand, educational institution have provided opportunities for some, while on the other hand, some argued rigged (Anderson, 2009) to provide minimal improvements in the lives for black and brown students, because of the continued structural, institutional, and symbolic advantages and disadvantages that are distributed unequally (Tyack, 1974), based on race (Diamond, 2006). According to educational historian, David Labaree (2010), this nation’s democratic equality principle of education has been increasingly undermined by the countertendencies toward inequality, with usually students of color and low-income receiving the wrong end of the stick (McGee-Banks, 1993).

The educational System is designed in a way that African American students do not receive the same affordable equal access to higher level of learning opportunity in the United States. From the beginning, African

Within the United States, an ideology exists called The American Dream: every single citizen of the United States it able to be successful with hard-work and dedication. In an educational perspective, we live with the expectation that every single child will live to walk down with their classmates in front of their friends and family, receive a certificate that is physical proof of your achievements, and throw their tassels to the left side to call themselves a “graduate.” Thus, if he/she fails to do so, we ingrain in their heads that it’s their fault, that they could have worked harder, spent more time learning derivatives, and take advanced placement classes. However, this is far from reality. Not only are we drowning the younger generation of today in stress and pressure, but we are disregarding the real problem. In actuality. The lack of colored graduates is derived from a Meso systematic problem― racial inequality within the education system.

Building wealth becomes increasingly unmanageable without steady employment, but the unemployment rate for people of color has been consistently twice that white people, regardless of the fluctuations in the economy. An education is a way to help you achieve that goal. However, the rate for unemployment for blacks with college degrees is twice as high to be unemployed than all other graduates, according to The American Non-Dilemma: Racial Inequality Without Racism, a book published by Nancy DiTomaso, a professor of sociology, at Rutgers University who lectures inequality and organizational diversity. This is because applications with white-sounding names have a fifty percent chance higher than black sounding names to get callbacks, even when the resume does not change. Previous to the business opportunities, a person must obtain an education.

African Americans have become more equal in education because a poll reported that in 2012, 85% of blacks completed four years of high school. Whereas only 26% completed it in 1964. The number of black undergraduate college students has expanded by nearly 2.5 million. Most colleges in today’s times are made up of foreign and African American young adults. Years ago, different schools were made and most of the time African Americans could not get