St. Louis Stereotypes

In the article “Fremont high school”, Jonathan Kozol describes how the inability to provide the needed funding and address the necessities of minority children is preventing students from functioning properly at school. He talks to Meriya, a student who expresses her disgust on the unequal consideration given to urban and suburban schools. She and her classmates undergo physical and personal embarrassments. Kozol states that the average ninth grade student reads at fourth or fifth grade level while a third read at third grade level or below. Although academic problems are the main factor for low grades, students deal with other factors every day. For example, School bathrooms are unsanitary, air condition does not work, classrooms have limited

In Streetwise, Elijah Anderson (1990) discusses the social forces at work in an urban area he calls the Village-Northton. His is a sociological field study of the daily interactions between the residents of an area encompassing two communities--in his words, "one black and low income to very poor (with an extremely high infant mortality rate), [and] the other racially mixed but becoming increasingly middle to upper income and white" (Anderson, 1990, p. ix). In keeping with valid sociological fieldwork, Anderson (1990) immersed himself in the community from the summer of 1975 through the summer of 1989.

I live at 383 East, 143rd street and my zip code is 10454. It is an area in which Latinos are the main population. This area is called Mott Haven in which there are many public housing projects. I live in one of the housing project in which my neighbors I can see they are mainly Hispanics and Blacks. Around my specific zip code area, there are different neighborhoods. In addition, even though these neighbourhood are very close to each other, there are still a lot of differences between them. I will focus on the varieties of people’s races that inhabit certain areas of the zip code 10454 and how certain areas have more schools while other areas have more businesses.

The book, Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban Schooling, tells us about the problems that inner-city students face in schools across America. There is an apparent problem with discrimination towards black and poorer families within some suburban districts. The effect of this is a vicious cycle of limited/ scare resources of educational opportunities for students. Author, Lewis-McCoy examines a suburban area in which a “promised land” of educational opportunities and beneficial resources has failed to live up to it’s name. America’s suburbs are seeing an increase in diverse families, yet there is still a challenge of giving equal and high quality educational opportunities to them.

In the writing Fremont High School by Jonathan Kozol he discusses the reality of urban schools and how they are unable to obtain the proper education. At Fremont High School children are not always able to eat during their lunch period, the proper education needed for college is not obtained, the school reflects institutional discrimination, and the building is overcrowded limiting course offerings for children.

At Hazelwood High School, they do things differently than at my school. At Hazelwood, most of the people worry about themselves and nobody else. Most of the school doesn’t get good grades and the school does not do anything about it. One day in English class Andy walked out when they were reading Macbeth because it was too emotional for Andy to handle. His friends were concerned and told the school counselor. They said, “But… but… it seems like… like… he needs help or somethin’.” Then the counselor said, “Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you boys this, but he is getting some outside counseling… So you boys can relax and be assured that he is getting whatever help he needs”(100). At Harrisburg High School, if someone had an issue like that, the counselors and teachers would be concerned, even if the person was getting outside help. Another thing about education that is different than mine is the school. In Ronda’s English homework, she wrote, “Our school building must have been built about a million years ago, because it was brown and tall and raggedy-looking, but it fit right in with the rest of the day”(16). At my high school, we are very fortunate to have a very new building to learn inside of. At Hazelwood High, they were not fortunate enough to have a new high school be built. Culture and education are very important pieces of people’s

“When we can predict how well students will do in school by looking at their zip code, we know we have a serious systemic problem” (Gloria Ladson-Billings 20). When we are able to forecast how a child will perform by where the child resides, then how can we say that every child is receiving quality education. The unsuccessful educational system infused into the United States is affecting the majority of minorities. In the United States students due to their race and social class, suffer from underfunded public schools, inexperienced teachers, and housing segregation, which in turn inhibit their opportunity to succeed through education. These difficulties plaque students from the very beginning of their public school experience and follow them throughout their academic life. There are a few solutions to these issues but they have to be implemented and enforced with a slow integration.

Now days walking down the streets of Atlanta, we see the new neighborhoods consisting of condos, Starbucks, yoga classes and Chipotle. Gentrification is a growing problem in urban areas as the influx of the riches have caused the displacement of lower class families due to higher economic demands and local politics. According to Diane K. Levy, Jennifer Comey and Sandra Padilla (2005), “We define gentrification as the process whereby higher-income households move into low income neighborhoods, escalating the area’s property values to the point that displacement occurs. In addition to changes in economic class, gentrification often involves a change in a neighborhood’s racial and ethnic composition…” (p.1). Though gentrification has lasting affects on the economic status of cities, there are also repercussions that not only effect working individuals but also the students that attend school in these gentrified areas. When areas are gentrified, schools are rezoned thus leading to long lasting consequences that students must face. Some believe that gentrification is beneficial to a growing economy in a growing city, but the realities of the its lasting effects on education are often left under the radar. The issues that lie within the education system as it pertains to gentrification include day segregation and unequal opportunities between affluent and low-income areas.

Wes Moore the author and other Wes Moore both experienced difficult childhoods. For the most part, their difficulties seemed to stem from choices that they made or choices other people made that affected them. As the book presented the situations, a lot of their problems seemed to be a result of choices rather than something like systemic racism, which is the opposite of what the video of the professor claimed. (WIVB) School seemed to be the only thing that could be considered a structural issue, yet they both skipped very regularly from a young age and never even gave it a real chance. They both lived in neighborhoods that were not the greatest, and even when their mothers moved them to different neighborhoods, they still found their way back to the “bad” parts of the city.

Even in the 90’s the figures suggest that whites consisted of over two thirds of the population in Dover, however ten years later in 2000 Latinos consisted of over 77% of Dovers population whereas only 19% white. In the analysis Dover symbolizes how the whites in the neighborhood lacked the loyalty that the citizens of Beltway had for their community, fleeting at the first signs of a declining neighborhood and not sticking around to defend it. Although this aspect of the study seems to be racist and condescending, signaling out hispanics moving into a community as the result of a decline, Wilson and Taub support their assertions by suggesting class. Race is tightly infused with class, and it would be an analytical mistake to discuss race relations in Dover without accounting for the overlap between race and class” (Kindle Location 1205). They also seem to assert that Dover was a falling community once the industries shut down, leaving most of the whites in the area either poor and on fixed income or rich and fleeting. The poor that did not leave the community became apart of the decline in the city, as well as the majority of impoverished hispanics

However, Wacquant brings the term “inner city” to light, breaking down its meaning: “black and poor.” Living in Chicago gives one an exemplary example of the term “inner city” meaning “poor, black ghettos.” The references to “inner city” schools being synonymous with “poor quality” and “mostly African American” are damaging to urban terminology and creating a predetermined perspective of those who call the “inner city” home. The “hypersegregation” of the city of Chicago is a topic within itself, but the institution of segregation is, without question, existent here. In addition, “inner city” is becoming a label which implies unavoidable incarceration.

Today, America is a blend of hues where every society assembles. Valuable Knowledge is the means by which understudies have been confined to have Razas thinks about. Manor stop High is a school where there are blend races and backings the diverse societies. Tucson secondary school is truly prohibitive than stronghold park since understudies are not permitted to see both sides of their way of life. Both schools have the larger part of Mexican understudies and have crude notorieties. Tucson secondary school and Castle Park High have distinctive perspectives of how culture and training ought to be taught and for understudies having flexibility .

In the article entitled, A Tale of Two Schools: How Poor Children Are Lost to the World, by Jonathan Kozol, the writer is comparing the differences between New Trier High School, a school in Illinois that’s nestled in an affluent neighborhood against Du Sable High School, a school situated in an impoverished neighborhood that has 100% African American student in attendance. The article sadden and confirms things that myself and many others are already aware of, but has not been able to change. Schools located within the poor communities are

The federal government played a role in establishing and maintaining residential segregation in metropolitan areas. For example, Rothstein states that after the New Deal and World War II, federally funded public housing was explicitly and racially segregated (5). The projects were designated for either whites or blacks, later becoming increasingly black. Neighborhoods that were historically segregated still continue today with the very same characteristics – racially and economically homogeneity. Children who grow up in and attend schools in these neighborhoods encounter what Sherman refers to as “youth disconnection”. In essence, youth disconnection is the lack of exposure to important influences that help with human development. Sherman takes into account statistics about disconnected youth which include being twice as likely to live in poverty, three times as likely to leave high school without a diploma, half as likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree, and etc (“How Disadvantages Caused by Residential Segregation End Up Costing Billions”). How can students thrive in environments that are historically segregated and disadvantaged? Access to a better education along with other influences beneficial to development should to be decided based upon the location in which a student

Culture of poverty would be used to explain Village park housing. Like many cities certain area codes are known to have a high incidence of high school drop outs, drug activity and lower income families. Stan and Tina have practice orientation because both are interested in the latest fashion trends, demeanor and language .Both exhibit signs expected in a culture of poverty: Stan’s drugs charges and Tina’s teen pregnancy, but both do well academically at school. Stan and Tina could potentially not be statistics if they have the right adult support .