Module Three Part III Blog Assignment

 

Reform laws and programs along with activists have worked so hard to get our education system to the way it is now, where any child no matter their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, is able to attend public school and get a good, if not a decent education. Unfortunately, it is still not as ideal as we would like it to be because of the lack of open mindedness that continues being passed down to individuals from generation to generation. In the Ted Talk, Kandice Sumner stated that although we follow a nonsegregated and equal doctrine, we are even more segregated than ever. This statement had me, along with many others I’m sure, contemplating its meaning. Busing is a system Sumner shared her experience with, that allows children of underserved urban school to attend suburban schools that have many more resources available, allowing those students to engage in a more advanced and expanded curriculum.

 Separate but equal, in my opinion will not exist for a very long time. Although, I can’t predict the future, it is difficult to visualize a society where everyone is considered equal because capitalism for example, has shown us that the rich will continue getting rich while the poor, no matter how hard they work, will stay poor. Society has always aimed at keeping us separated. When discussing race, many African Americans still hold resentment against white people for the pain and suffering their ancestors endured years ago, which is why some would rather not associate themselves with those individuals. Some white people on the other hand have been raised to discriminate and judge those who don’t look like them, those minorities who haven’t been offered the same opportunities as them. This is why many white Americans continue to look down upon and “neglect” the population of low income minorities who have it much harder than they do.

 In education, although many schools in this country follow similar curriculums, there will always be schools that are bigger and better equipped with resources and staff. When I went to high school, I believed our school had great resources and teachers who really did have our best interests at heart but, when visiting another high school located further down south in the suburbs, I realized there will always be better. The school we visited had 4 different buildings, each specializing in different areas that met the interests of students attending them, which my school did not have. This other school also had a cooking program equipped with a huge kitchen and tools, along with several other amenities, which again my school did not have. It was also no surprise that many of the students that attended the school in the suburbs were mostly white and Asian students, while those who attended my school, an urban high school, consisted of minorities. 

This part of the book was also another piece of evidence proving that separate but equal sounds ideal but will not be plausible for a very long time. This country has seen multiple court cases and verdicts that changed the course of the education system such as Brown v. Board, the case that led to the integration of schools all across America. The discussion of the Mexican American students who were punished for speaking Spanish in schools in Crystal City, Texas also stood out to me the most in this section because moving to a new country and leaving everything you are accustomed to is hard enough as is, so imagine doing this and being forced to learn a new language and culture, with no support… it can definitely make things much more difficult.