The Facade Of Universal Inclusion

Inclusive practice is a process of identifying, understanding and breaking down barriers to participation and belonging. Inclusion is about ensuring that children and young people, whatever their background or situation, are able to participate fully in all aspects of the life of the school. Inclusive practices will ensure that everyone feels valued and has a sense of belonging. Inclusion is not about viewing everyone as the same or providing the same work, but about providing the same opportunities and access to a

Freedom and citizenship are the foundational concepts of politics. However, there are disagreements among political scientists and philosophers as to how they define those concepts. This article attempts to present a short overview of the idea of freedom and citizenship from a modern political perspective. I focus on the way Thomas Jefferson and Hannah Arendt interpret those concepts and how their interpretations converse with one another.

Harlan thus courageously argues that the “separate but equal” doctrine not only violates the fundamental principles of democracy, namely equality and freedom, but also contravenes the U.S.

In the article “Surges and slips: Immigration in America over 200 years” by Associated Press discusses immigration into the United States of America. This article relates the current issues facing the White house during this presidency. In the body paragraphs of this article: immigration laws, civil rights history, and the conflicting economic and social issues that confront the country. Furthermore the conclusion brings the audience’s attention back to current issues. During the section titled “Immigration Laws Shape Diversity of Nation,” the author discusses early limits on citizenship. As seen in the second to last paragraph of the section,”A 1790 law limited citizenship to ‘free white persons’ of ‘good moral character’ who had lived in

Jacobson spends a great deal of time analyzing the way in which ideas about citizenship played into changing perceptions about race and whiteness at the turn of the Twentieth Century. This is expressed in the constant evaluation of a given group’s “fitness for self-government” and how this concept was used to promote inferiority among particular “races” and thus maintain traditional power relations. Jacobson states that “citizenship and whiteness were conjoined,”(p.29) and in saying so he is commenting on the very foundations of the American power structure as it took on the task of deciding who would be entitled to the rights and privileges of being American. It is to this point that further discussion of gender is necessary. If citizenship is understood as being fundamentally connected to the right to participate in democracy then it must be noted that this right was systematically denied to women as well as non-whites at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Therefore to truly benefit from the privileges of American citizenship one need not only be white but also male, a reality that is not expressed in Jacobson’s analysis. By not including a further analysis on gender, Jacobson leaves the reader with the impression that race relations operated independent of gender relations, when in fact sexuality was deeply connected to the construction of racial identities. Jacobson

The period between Reconstruction and World War I was a time of tremendous social, economic, and cultural change in the United States. The end of the Civil War, the shrinking of the frontier, the rise of immigration, and the rapid growth of industry that characterized this time period brought many issues of race, class, and status to the forefront of politics. Many different opinions came to light about what it means to be an American and the dynamic between the American individual and American society. The differing answers to these questions created both divisions and unifications between different races, classes, and political parties. Through careful analysis of historical documents from the period, it is evident that society owes all individuals basic civil rights and the ability to make a living through harnessing their skills in the workplace. Conversely, the individual owes society work that benefits society as a whole and participation in government through suffrage.

The notion of inclusion is progressively being accepted as a vital method of learning in our growing school systems. I believe that every student, those with and without exceptionalities, have the right to be included in a general education classroom. Students with learning, social and behavioral exceptionalities or varied abilities deserve the right to be provided with the same opportunities as any other students in the regular general education classroom. The information that I have acquired through my own experiences (in my observations and my classes) have molded my goals as a future teacher. I believe that teaching and education are fundamental in getting students to grow, learn, and flourish;

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution were historical milestones in which the ever controversial topic of racial equality was first challenged. In theory, these two movements laid the groundwork for a racially equal United States of America. A country in which every member, regardless of skin color, or race were to be treated equally under the eyes of the law and to one day be treated as equals within all realms of society. As historic and powerful as these movements were, they did

In Shelby Steele’s essay, “The New Sovereignty,” he targets two audiences. The audiences are Minorities who have taken advantage of their benefits from the government and just everyday American citizens. Shelby Steele’s purpose is to inform the people of the collective entitlement problem that has taken over America. Using repetition and historic examples, Shelby was able to make these rhetorical choices effective since the problem he addressed has also been repeating over time.

The ratification of the civil right act in 1960s allowed African Americans to get their freedom and acceptance in the society. However, at the end of the 1960s, the definition of democracy started to mean something opposite of its true meaning. Shelby Steele is a well-known African American author, professor, and commentator on race relations. Steele wrote “The New Sovereignty” in 1992, and in this essay, Steele was trying to persuade the American society, specifically all the minority groups seeking entitlement, to no longer rely on entitlements, but abandon the culture of dependency, to see how those two impede the desire for equality. Steele says that because America was meant to be a democratic society with integration; not a society that

Society has been significantly revolutionized since the beginnings of the United States. The very history of the country has been cursed with racism and the harsh oppression of minorities. In fact, America’s power and economy were founded on a Marxist theory of a two-class system. On the top of that system were the slave owners, and at the very bottom were the slaves themselves (Balkaran, 1999). Slavery and segregation used to be huge components in the lives of Americans. During those times, “Americans” were white, landowning men; obviously that principle has been altered a great deal. People of color, women, and the poor actually have been given suffrage by amendments in the Constitution. Although the United States’ culture and society

Thomas Paine, a revolutionary, intellectual, and supporter of American independence from England published a book titled, “Rights of Man” which deals with the government shielding the natural rights of its people. Initially, the book captures the diverse aspect of this nation, but it fails to reveal the struggles that arise to preserve and adapt to such a society. Paine expresses his optimism towards the supposed perfection of American society, as one “made up...of people from different nations,” with certain expectations. Additionally, the time gap between “Rights of Man” and modern America cannot be neglected. Paine wrote during an era in which “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man” was the essential objective of the country. However, modern-day America experiences opposite ideals and Paine’s theory no longer remains true because of the educational gap between the rich and poor, terrorism, and racial profiling.

Most Americans place their pride in being apart of a country where a man can start at the bottom and work his way to the top. We also stress the fact that we are “all created equal” with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” (Jefferson 45) During the early 1900s white Americans picked and chose who they saw fit to live in America and become an American. “Those that separate the desirable from the undesirable citizen or neighbor are individual rather than race.”

By the end of the war, the new immigrant groups had been fully accepted as loyal ethnic Americans, rather than members of distinct and inferior “races.” And the contradiction between the principle of equal freedom and the actual status of blacks had come to the forefront of national life.

The necessary qualities of a good democratic citizen require an individual to recognize an injustice within the law, actively oppose that law, and to do so regardless if that unjust law affects the citizen personally. Rousseau, Emerson, and Douglass all agree that freedom and equality are natural rights endowed to all humans. However the three authors diverge in consensus when envisioning the necessary qualities of a good democratic citizen, such as the position from which each author is theorizing, a citizen’s obligation to the state, and the moral implications of slavery. Douglass’s view of a good democratic citizen is superior because, unlike Rousseau and Emerson, Douglass is able to theorize from the position of a free black man and is therefore able to recognize the intersections of race and inequality within the law and politics.