Education Is The Most Vital Factor For Achieving Upward Social Mobility

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.

The goal of social mobility has not been relevant until recently. For example, in the mid-twentieth century, democratic equality was sought after due to the need for equal opportunity in schooling, no matter the socioeconomic background, race, gender, or handicap a child may have been impaired by. Education soon became increasingly available to all social classes,

This article says, “Too many of America’s most disadvantaged children grow up without the skills needed to thrive in the twenty-first century. Whether in educational attainment between income groups or racial/ethnic groups or across geographic locations—inequality persists.” This creates long-term problems within that community. Meaning people who start out with disadvantages, usually don’t have the skills that the upper class more privileged kids do which help them eventually get jobs and maintain this middle to upper class community. The disadvantages people receive bad jobs and

Changes in the make-up of the U.S. population are likely to cause continued growth income disparity. The U.S. population is growing most rapidly among the groups that are most likely to have low incomes and experience some form of discrimination. Children in these groups are less likely to attend college or to receive other educational

Racial disparities exist in every aspect of our society. It exists in religion, socioeconomic status, life-chances, media, etc. It affects everyone even if they realize or not. Education is one of the things that are also affected by the racial stratification occurring in the United States. In this paper I will look in to whether Tennessee is better or worse for educational advancement by comparing four races and their high school graduation rates on the national and state levels. The four races used will be; Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White. I will then tie specific theories to why these disparities may exist. This will hopefully give insight in to this touchy topic and provide a starting point for correcting the gap.

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

Racial discrimination is the main and ongoing problem in the social life of Americans. When we look at the gap of incomes between White and African Americans, we can see the inequality between these two groups. In general, whites have more annual earnings than their black counterparts in America. Lori Ann Campbell and Robert L. Kaufman emphasized that the wealth determinants, which are the indicators of socio-economic status, have effected more on Whites than Blacks. And even when society is organized, there is still some disparities on account of race and ethnicity. (Campbell and Kaufman, 2006). And income disparities between African and White Americans have definitely effected the peace of the social life. According to Campell and

Social mobility is a measure of how children’s social and economic position in adulthood compare to that of their parents. A major factor that many people believe can impact social mobility is education. However, I believe the impact of education is largely determined by the quality of education, which today is determined by where you live. Therefore, systems that discriminate against certain individuals based their neighborhood, largely impact their ability to obtain a good education, and as a result limit the extent of their social mobility. An example of this is redlining, coined by sociologist John McKnight, to describe a discriminatory practice, by which banks and insurance companies refuse loans to certain people based on where they live, because the geographic area is deemed as poor or financially risky. The areas they refused to invest in were predominantly neighborhoods of color, marked by redline separating the areas that were okay to invest in from neighborhoods that were “risky”. The implications of this system reinforced a cycle of decline in these areas due to business’s inability to prosper as a result of being blocked from obtaining loans. I want to make it clear that the system of redlining that I am describing is still alive and well in the present day, but takes on a slightly different form due to technology. In this paper, I will examine educational-redlining, as a means of social immobility to explore the relationship between the sociological concepts

A conversation ingrained in my memory involved two adolescent boys from San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). When asked about their future ambitions, one student casually responded that he would “go to prison like his father.” The other expressed a desire to rise above his inner city milieu, but had little sense his abilities or of his options. In stark contrast, students from Alamo Heights, an affluent neighboring district, held ambitions to become doctors, lawyers, and politicians, and demonstrated an understanding of the prerequisites for their desired career path. The graduation rate of Alamo Heights stood at 98% while SAISD’s graduation rate lingered around 60%. The contrast between these two districts grows more disturbing when considered through the lens of racial equality. While SAISD’s population is 98% minority, the Anglo population in Alamo Heights totals slightly over 55%. Yet, 74% of Alamo Heights graduates achieve a four-year college diploma, while only 4% percent of SAISD alumni attain a bachelor’s degree. An opportunity gap results from this discrepancy, ultimately proving detrimental to social mobility.

In America, the prospect of social mobility is near impossible if one does not graduate from college and secure a stable job coming out of college. In the previous generations, many American families could own a house, have a nice Chevy, and work at a nice paying job with a High School diploma. This would not be the case today, many who graduate out of High School will always be stuck at minimum wage careers. This partly due to racial issues, jobs becoming automated and competitive career fields.

Racial discrimination dominated over social classes creating an unfair way to divide people. "In all areas of life, Americans were persuaded that the major races - black, Indian, Asian, and white - could not and should not live or work together and certainly not as equals." (Smedley 221) All other races were homogenized, regardless of education, skills, language, religion, income, or place of origin, into one simple category. Class separation was temporary and situational, as so many Americans were quick to uncover. White Americans believed that anyone who succeeded in business, politics, entertainment, or their professions automatically improved their class status and eliminated the barriers to upper class institutions. Class barriers can be surpassed; race barriers can not.

In modern times, social class has had a major importance in the furthering of not just African Americans life’s but in the status of all minorities. If Race is less important why does the government still feel the need to still categorize in the national census it carry out each year with categories such as white and black. Wilson says that changes in status were going to expand less along the lines of race and concentrate more along the lines of education but he hasn’t pondered about the difficulties that African Americans have too obtain a proper education (Woods,2011, Wilson1980). While education is a big determining factor for upward mobility in the African American community all their basic needs must be taken care of first, this is where a more psychological approach can be taken in to consideration for example Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

In a 2015 article written by the New York Times, it was seen in the census data that in 2013, black children were almost four times more likely to live in poverty than their white counterparts. According to the data, 38.3% of black children lived in poverty, as opposed to only 10.7% of white children. However, researchers did not investigate into the reasons why this trend was seen. After taking this sociology class and other ethnic studies classes, I have drawn on the Minority Status and Socioeconomic Standing section of this class, as well as relating this issue to the theory of job stratification in the United States. I conclude that three of the reasons that there are more poor black children than poor white children is because of the differences

For many years now the people in power or “whites” have passed laws so that other racial groups are kept at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These racial group that are kept at the bottom become racialized and oppressed therefore they become unequal to the people that are at the top of this hierarchy. The racial groups that are kept at the bottom vary from the Native-Americans to the Mexican-Americans and obviously the African-Americans. In this essay I will be comparing how the racialization process has been similar and different between these racial groups. I will also define race and racialization. Furthermore, I will explain how class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship has impacted the racialization process within these groups.

The problem of educational disparities among various ethno-racial groups that make up the United States has been a long studied topic. Theories have ranged widely in what they consider as the primary factors for these disparities. Biological and individualist perspectives have cited inherent genetic inferiorities as the cause of these disparities. Others have taken into account social forces but have maintained that the cause is due to the creation of a culture of subordination and poverty that does not allow social advancement. Still others have tended to focus on systemic inequalities and on the roles of prejudice and discrimination (Sidanius et al, 1998).