Educating For Privilege Analysis

Through this recent recession the gap for financial aid has become increasingly large due to the fact that colleges are basing some of their applications by their financial situation. This in turn creates widening on lower to middle class families who cannot send their children to school because the cost are too great to bear with large amounts of financial aid. The wealthy students are not only being accepted to these pricy private universities but are being given grant and aid so that they can make it through. The poorer students are not even given the chance to attend those school not because of their brain but because of their lack of funding. In today’s society were the upper class has become very distant to the middle and

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

In the beginning of the year I entered this class with a very sheltered and ignorant view of current and past events. Through time and sociological evolution I have begun to see things in a different light. The development of my ability, to look at something or some kind of situation, lets me use the sociological terms in such a manner to relate them to micro and macro problems in society. This started with the assigned readings of the class; the aim was to decipher the messages the authors were presenting. The goal was then to dig deeper and use my experiences to help myself understand the concepts throughout the course. "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited." Plutarch (46-120 CE--common era) I was no longer

tand then be expected to be living a life of prosperity today? Whites knew without an education Black people would not be able to eradicate the dire dilemma slavery put them in. Thus, that was the sole reason this particular White Privilege has been unanimously withheld from Blacks for almost their entire existence in the United States. It was not until 1968 when the doors were swung open and school segregation was determined unlawful in “all schools” across the US (tolerance.org) were Black people given access to education, especially a college degreed education. Hence, if Macintosh pondered what her White Privilege gave to her that really mattered to most Black people and if she really wanted her article to do its part towards disbanding the permanency of racism, which she eludes to in the article, then she would have pondered the White Privilege of education and she would have listed the lack education has been for centuries for Black people among her White Privileges. She would have even, highlighted such an important White Privilege. Yet most of the “White Privileges” Ms. Macintosh listed were blasé, at most. And as many years since Ms. Macintosh wrote the article, White Privilege, it boggles the mind that people consider it so profound that it is still being, today, in schools, colleges, and universities to discuss racism in the US.

America’s education system is one of the most respectable, reputable and sought after commodities in our society, but it is also the most overcrowded, discriminatory, and controversial system ever established. Most people yearn for a higher education because it 's what 's expected in this society in order to get ahead. It means a better job, more money, power, prestige and a sense of entitlement. But this system has let down the children that are supposed to benefit from it. Education discriminates against minorities, and poorer class students are not expected nor encouraged to attain a higher education. The education system is set up to ensure that every child get a basic

Privilege and oppression are concepts that provides clarification on people’s experience. They both contribute to intersectionality which explain notion that people’s perspectives and experiences differ in term of the categories of identity. Each person may experience privilege and/ or oppression from institutional structures depending on their situations. It mean that systems of privilege and oppression can intersect and a person could experience privilege and oppression simultaneously. These systems are influence by the micro level and micro level of people’s lives and experiences. Privilege, oppression, and intersectionality affect people’s experiences of key social issues, such as rape culture and beauty norms and appearance standards. These issue will be discussed in this essay.

Privilege is giving someone unearned advantages that all cannot attain. When you are privilege most likely you are ignorant to the fact that you have received the best education, compared to others who do not share the same privileges. In this article the author mainly discusses the effects of social and economic privilege in our education system. Socio-economics deals with a person social class and income level. People who have the advantage of belonging to this social class are upper-middle and the upper class. They are the people who make six or more figures, compared to those who only make about $40,000 a year. The upper-middle and the upper class live opulently. To live opulent you have to have money, and money brings status and influence in

The education system is notorious for teaching its own agenda, and not necessarily all the facts of a situation. For many years, the education system on all levels has been teaching students what it means to have privilege, and how life would be if they did not. Usually, the white students are the subject of privilege, and the minority student are the subject of life with racism, and without privilege. White privilege has been an underlying lesson to students for generations, and contributes to the power and superiority white people feel over everyone else. When the Michael Brown shooting occurred, it opened up many people’s eyes to the inequalities that are being perpetrated by the very education system meant to teach students how to live

We live in a country that feels the urge to label every individual, group, or race however; sometimes that label does not truly represent that individual. For instance, the U.S. Census Bureau, during the 1940s classified Hispanics/ Latinos as white. In this case being labeled, as White did not benefit Hispanics/Latinos because they did not enjoy the same privileges as a White person. However, it was not until 1970 during Nixon’s administration that the academia term Hispanic was created, but it was not included in the Census until 1980. Regardless of how long it took to be included within the Census, the Hispanic/ Latino race will always live under the oppression of the superior race due to the phenomenon

Both of these excerpts are expressing visibility. The “White Privilege” article expressed visibility by trying to show whites about unseen racial and gender issues. One thing of the many things that frustrated me was when it was written. I looked up the publication date, which was 1988. I found that her arguments were old and seemed redundant. I feel this way because she didn’t really didn’t show way she felt the way she did. She didn’t really change my feelings on this because she only wrote her essay in one perspective, which doesn’t seem accurate to me. She tries to make a big deal about racial inequality, but she doesn’t make a firm stand on her perspective. She focuses on many different issues, and not on one. The condition she states

Privilege applies to certain people who benefit more than other people in the same social, political or economic spaces (Henderson, L., week 1, 2014). Somebody might be privileged only because that person is wealthier or more powerful compared to the others. Privilege is an advantage enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most. “Privilege is expressed as an advantage based on status or rank that is used to maintain status quo” (Collins, J., et al., 2011). Privilege can applies to different concept, such as male privilege, white privilege and heterosexual privilege, all of which have implications for education. Although it is still taboo, with evolution, we have come far and we are now starting to accept equality between men and women, white and black and starting to acknowledge heterosexual.

Right on the first page in chapter six it discusses the privilege groups discomfort about discussing privilege. Yes, it is true for so many and for those who don’t feel discomfort, I call you brave and open minded. But, it is a hard thing to discuss especially with a non-privileged group of individuals. I, for one also feel discomfort and defensive sometimes in those situations, and that could be from a number of different reasons. Whether it is because I feel guilty, ashamed, judged, etc. For this I will talk about race, for those who are white, we are born this way, we didn’t choose to be white and there’s nothing you can do about it. You were born into the privileged group here in America. But, it is something that we need to accept and admit to, we are the privileged group but, we don’t because of this nasty stigma about race. Race has turned into this sharp word that scares people when it is mentioned. We, as educators need to change the stigma of that word. We need to make it so people of privilege and non privilege can discuss privilege and race with out discomfort or being offended. In this class, our race discussion had brought up white privilege and at first it was not comfortable but, as you admit to it, the easier it is to discuss.

The book, Privilege, Power, and Difference brought awareness to where I stand as a Latina female in the United States. Growing up, I did not like to focus on the differences I experienced or saw others experience. These differences made me feel angry, scared, nervous, confused, and hopeless. Instead of focusing on the unfairness I was a part of I decided to look at it as a challenge, I would prove to myself that I could do whatever I set my mind to. I took every opportunity handed to me and tried to make the best of it, to make myself proud and my family proud. At least that is what I thought at the time, but now that I have had time to reflect on my desire to succeed I know that part of that desire comes from proving to the dominant culture that minorities can succeed.

I live in a house with water and electricity. I go to a school that provides free education for all children. The people who live in my house have cars to get them and myself to and from any destination. Growing up, I saw these things as if they were my right, that they came easy to all, and that they are non-negotiable. Today I know that these things are not a right, but a privilege.

In Samuel Bowel’s and Herbert Gintis’ Education and Inequality, Bowels and Gintis investigate how education in the United States is unequal, especially to those indivduals who are financially unstable. In today’s extremely judgmental society, many are at a disadvantage based solely on their class, race, sex, etc. The quality of one’s education is compromised for a number of unfair reasons having to do with artificial inequalities.