In the Ted Talk “How America’s public schools keep kids in poverty,” by Kandice Sumner she uses her personal experience to show frustration with the education system and how it’s racist or biased against blacks and browns. Throughout her whole speech, she talks about educational systems and her kids and how segregation is becoming a thing in schools.
She a starts off by saying that her kids are the best then she states the following “However, because their "real" parents aren't rich and, I argue, because they are mostly of color, they will seldom get to see in themselves the awesomeness that I see in them.” (Sumner, 2016). Here Kandice makes the point that color students won't see their full potential like she does. Then she keeps on going saying that she lived in a family that wasn’t wealthy so her neighborhood wasn’t wealthy, so her school wasn’t necessarily the best; however that didn’t stop her from going to school she would take an hour long bus ride to get a better education. She thought everyone had a life like her but she didn’t notice this until she was older how she had access to certain things her kids didn’t or her friends from her neighborhood didn’t. Then she asks the following “Why is a high-quality education only exclusive to the rich?” (Sumner, 2016) This question is pretty easy to answer. Education is exclusive to rich people because they have money and their parents have connections or know other important or rich people which can help them out. This
One fifteen-year-old girl explains that “It’s more like being hidden” (Kozol 3). A young girl wrote to Kozol saying, “You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing. Can you help us?” (Kozol 3). A principal at an overly crowed school pointed at a trash bag covering part of the collapsing ceiling, telling Kozol, “This would not happen to white children” (Kozol 4). Many political leaders claim that the economy is to blame for failing schools, but the reality is that these schools are awful even during economic growth and success. In truth, parents of minority parents are thought of as people who can be discounted and their children are not considered valuable. Teachers at these schools are paid grossly less than teachers at other
It has become common today to dismiss the lack of education coming from our impoverished public schools. Jonathan Kozol an award winning social injustice writer, trying to bring to light how our school system talks to their students. In his essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal," Kozol visits many public high schools as well as public elementary schools across the country, realizing the outrageous truth about segregating in our public education system. Kozol, cross-examining children describing their feelings as being put away where no one desires your presence. Children feeling diminished for being a minority; attending a school that does not take into consideration at the least the child’s well being. Showing clear signs of segregation in the education system.
In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of his “war on poverty” in hopes of closing the achievement gap between low income schools, which typically house larger percentages of student of color, and their more affluent counterparts. The act has been redefined and reauthorized every five years since its original enactment. However, despite the last 50 years of education reform, the disparity amongst high and low poverty schools is as large as it ever was. In turn, the disparity between students of color and white students has only grown. Clearly, the one size fits all approach to education America has been using does not work. The U.S public education system is broken and, as a country, very
Segregation … has the tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system.” What Warren is saying is that segregated schools puts colored children at a disadvantage because it makes them feel inferior to other children and delivers an inadequate education to
In the week's reading it offered a unique perspective education of segregated school by the percentage of black and hispanic students. The arguments that can be mafe about the myth of educations and empowerment in the reading "Still Separate, Still Unequal" by Jonathan Kozol, is still being affected by funds. The author speaks about statistics present the overpopulated schools are filled with minorities. "Whether the issue is inequity alone or deepening resegregation or the labyrinthine intertwining of the two, it is well past the time for us to start the work that it will take to change this." "We do not have the things you have," Alliyah told me when she wrote to ask if I would come and visit her school in the South Bronx. "Can you help us?"
This paper is aimed at raising questions on the TED talk’s subjects of injustice and how we are priming some kids for college and others for prison. Bryan Stevenson talks on the topics of injustice and poverty stating that there is a correlation between the two and he also talks about reforming our justice system which would lead to changing some very crucial amendments within our constitutional rights. The questions I raise to his statements are as follows, one… considering that the biggest statistic for the death of young black males under the age of 20 is other black males does a societal change need to be made? Two, in regards to changing the way our justice system works, would you be ok with allowing people like Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez, and other psychopaths to roam freely after 20 years without the death penalty. Three, would you be willing to get rid of the 4th and 5th amendments as well as the exclusionary rule in exchange for a blanket allowance of all truthful evidence? Now in regards to Alice Goffman and her speech on College vs Prison I felt a sense of urgency to state “good, but what are the solutions?” or what do you propose we do as a society to keep our youth out of prison and get them on the track to success? Ms. Goffman’s statements were geared more towards pointing the finger rather than offering a viable solution to the problem.
The essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal”, by Jonathan Kozol, discusses the harsh truth of public school systems, and how they have become an isolation and segregation of inequality that students are subjected to; as a result, to receive an education. Throughout the essay, Kozol proves evidence of the inequality that African American and Hispanic children face in the current school systems across the country. Kozol supports his testimony by providing the reader with factual statistics and percentages, of how segregated the public school systems have become within many major cities. He exposes the details and statistic of how wealthier schools received better funding and opportunity than the low-income and poverty struck school systems throughout the major cities across the country.
In 1954 the Supreme Court saw a case called Brown v. Board of Education of Kansas. This case was about segregation of public schools but before this was to be found unconstitutional, the school system in Kansas and all over the United States had segregated schools. For example, Topeka Kansas had 18 neighborhood schools for white children, but only 4 schools for African American children. (Brown v. Board of Education) Many people believe that the problem is no longer existent; however, many present day African American students still attend schools that are segregated. This problem goes all the way back to the 18th and 19th centuries when slavery was prevalent, yet still to this day it has not come to an end. Complete racial integration has yet to happen in many areas. This problem is not only in the Kansas City School District, but all over the country. The segregation of races in schools can impact a student’s future greatly. The Kansas City school district has been known to have the most troubled school’s systems for a long time.(Source) I’m sure the school board is well aware of the problem of racial inequality that is before them, but I will help them become more aware of the problem and how it affects a student’s future. In today’s society it is commonly overlooked on how important the subject of racial segregation really is. In this memo I will discuss the topics of racial socialization and school based discrimination in Kansas City, and the resulting effects that
Is racial segregation in schools coming back from the past to haunt our primary and secondary students? In the essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid” by Jonathan Kozol talks about how racial segregation is making a comeback and is becoming particularly apparent between low-income urban cities and wealthy upper suburban areas. In this essay, Kozol talks about his visits to these urban schools that aren’t getting much attention. These schools where the majority are kids of color and seem to be lacking resources that other “uptown” schools wouldn’t lack. Throughout the essay he gives the reader statistics of the demography of schools in different areas of the east coast. This really helps the reader understand his point of how racial
In the article “Still separate, still unequal” Jonathan Kozol describes the reality of urban public schools and the segregation in education, which is still a major problem in our educational system. According to the author the main problem for minorities is money. White students can afford a good education before they enter kindergarten, while minority students are limited in what they study. For example, suburban schools, which primarily consist of white students, have better education than urban schools which primarily have African American and Hispanics. If Jonatan Kozol is right that the educational system is still separate and unequal, as I think he is, then we need to reassess the popular assumption that the educational system is the
“Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system.” Through this quote, the Warren Court thoroughly established why separate is not and has never been truly equal in regards to public education since segregation consequently lays down a system that has a damaging effect on the psyche of young African-American students leading them to deem themselves as inferior to Caucasians. Moreover, it causes African-American students to internalize their feelings of inferiority which causes them to have a lack of motivation in their education, slow their learning and mental growth, and miss out on achieving their full educational potential. Furthermore, one can assume that segregation could cause African-American students to mistakenly consider themselves as less academically and
In the article “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Education Apartheid” author Jonathan Kozol informs us about inequality and segregation in today’s school systems. Kozol talks about schools were minority’s makes up the student body. For example, Kozol refers to John F. Kennedy High School where the majority of the student body is made up by African Americans and Hispanic students, only a third of the students are white. Kozol states that schools like these are typically underprivileged schools that normally have structural issues and also lack behind in technology and resources for students. Kozol also brings up the predominately white schools where on average there is more money spent on students and funding is not a problem, these
As I read about the achievement gap (Taylor), I felt a sense of despair. Families of color are positioned between a rock and a hard place. When children enter kindergarten, the racial gap is half of its ultimate size because many children of color do not participate in high-quality programs. How can people of color "catch up" to their counterparts when they are behind at the age of 5? There are also institutional factors that continue this achievement gap and perpetuate racism by consequence. After Brown v Board of Education (1954), white families enrolled their children in private and suburban schools. Since school busing has been discontinued, school assignments based on residential neighborhoods have created racially segregated schools.
After reading the text I decided to analyze Still Separate, Still Unequal by Johnathan Kozol. His call to action at the end of the article drives his point: just because we have laws set that says we are no longer segregated and that we should all be treated equally, does not mean that it is true. Different cultures are still treated unequally as proven by Kozol’s research into schooling in lower income areas. He trys to prove that even though Americans do not forcefully separate blacks and whites anymore, they get separated on their own. They get separated by class and location leaving schools with majority of Hispanics and blacks and sometimes only one percent white. Kozol wants the change that Brown v. Board of Education started.
Despite Mah’Ria’s mother’s efforts, there was nothing she could do to improve the situation for her daughter, which is the case for most parents who don’t have the connections and power in society that comes as a result of wealth. It was sad to see that when Normandy kids finally had the opportunity to attend school in a different district, the Francis Howell district parents were unhappy and stereotyped them without knowing their struggles. The first step to changing policy is awareness of the disparity due to economic ability, and awareness was a something the parents from the Francis Howell district lacked. In this podcast, we see the systematic racism that still exists in today’s society. If it weren’t for the Normandy school district losing its accreditation, Mah’Ria would still be stuck in a school that scored 0 Points for academic achievement. There is evidence that school segregation improves test scores and attendance among students and is a program that should be valued for the success and equality it could bring low-income