Abstract

In this paper, there have been lots of research done on the inequality of different races when it comes to the opportunity of an education. There are many statistics that show undivided proof that there is a variation in the success rate in education and people’s future after graduation because of their race.  Smaller communities that have a higher minority per capita tend to be less wealthy than their more white per capita counterparts.  This means less tax money for schools and doesn’t allow experienced staff and learning equipment to be given to these kids.  After graduation, these kids that come from the minority neighborhoods are less qualified and less likely to get higher education than a kid that comes from a wealthier community.  This permits better jobs and in turn more money for the wealthier people, and the cycle continues.  There is very little government intervention in this issue and it is not seen as a priority.  However, If there was financial support given to these places to balance the scales, many other problems that exist will 

Throughout our society we have and currently are facing a lot of issues based upon the rights and freedoms being not the same to different people based on their race.  More specifically people that are considered minorities are more likely to be in a tougher place based upon the place that they are and the opportunities given to them.  Today people have unequal opportunities over people of a different race because there are wealth inequalities, differences in test scores, and better education.  That is what will be focused on in this essay.

In many communities in the United States, people are concentrated more based on their race because of the traditions and prejudices that happened to these people.  Over the history of this country, people have become concentrated into locations of dense racial demographics. As said in the new york times article, “More than half of the nation’s schoolchildren are in racially concentrated districts, where over 75 percent of students are either white or nonwhite” (Mervosh).  Consequently, these communities are much more likely to be less prosperous than a place like Parker, Co which is mostly a white community and has a lot higher income per capita than a mostly minority neighborhood or towns.  This is a real issue because the people in these communities have a much tougher time getting out of the “income hole” which was dug for them a long time ago.  People are in a constant state of worry that they may run out of money and have no place to get a job. This is different in flourishing communities since many young people have credentials that will make them more likely to get a job.  Since this is prevalent, there is a major inequality that presents itself between these communities.

  Most of this applies to education in these communities as less tax money is put into the schools and consequently does not have as successful graduates as a predominantly white community. In the article Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education it is stated that, “ In predominantly minority schools, which most students of color attend, schools are large (on average, more than twice as large as predominantly white schools and reaching 3,000 students or more in most cities); on average, class sizes are 15 percent larger overall (80 percent larger for non-special education classes); curriculum offerings and materials are lower in quality; and teachers are much less qualified in terms of levels of education, certification, and training in the fields they teach” (Darling- Hammond).  This cycle is a big issue because, in these sorts of situations, the less prosperous lose more and the more successful people only become richer.  This also has a consequence that people are more likely to go down bad paths to escape from these harsh situations and younger kids in school have a much lower chance of graduating than the kids who are in more wealthy situations, all because of the way the different races were treated in the past.  This still applies today as people are not getting jobs because their white counterpart is put in front of them, even if they aren’t as qualified.  Another situation could be that a white man could be chosen for a job solely because his education was more funded and regarded as better, even though a person who graduated from the less funded school in a minority neighborhood got the same grades.  These situations all are in favor of the rich white man and are a real issue as nothing is being done to help the people who are living as a minority and are struggling and have less opportunity.

This is an issue that is not commonly heard of since it is not regarded as an inequality, although many statistics can clearly state that there are major imbalances in the test scores, graduation rates, and advanced/AP students.  There is extremely little to no government assistance with these issues as there is nothing that is pressing or anything directly wrong about this in their views, however, there is a large problem that can be presented in the future.  However, there is an impending issue that these communities will just get deeper and deeper into the hole that was dug a long time ago and without help, this issue will only become bigger and more costly.  As there are less educated people in these communities it will have an impact on the next generation which just spirals out of control until it has a large impact on the economy and increases homeless and people who require aid.  As of right now, there is not an immediate problem or cost-effective solution so there is no true help coming from politicians to help fix this.  Test scores are also a big variation between the two types of communities previously discussed.  When both sides have compared test scores, there is a large amount of differentiation between the two groups.  Kids from these minority neighborhoods often have less time to study or prepare for tests such as these and have harder times knowing material for when a test arrives.  Test scores do change based on the opportunities given as said here, “A Tennessee study found that elementary school students who are assigned to ineffective teachers for three years in a row score nearly 50 percentile points lower on achievement tests than those assigned to highly effective teachers over the same period. Strikingly, minority students are about half as likely to be assigned to the most effective teachers and twice as likely to be assigned to the least effective” (Darling- Hammond).  Tests can make a large impact on one’s grade and due to these differences, it is clear that the person with the lower test scores will have lower grades and in turn, have less of a chance to get into a university for higher education or get a well-paying job.  Small variations that add up like these over an entire district of people can have a major impact on the wealth of these communities.

A big side effect of this issue is that the rates of detention or suspension in these ethnic communities are at a much higher rate since there is a lot less drive to excel in school and there is also statistically a lot more crime in these areas.  This all leads to a lot more trouble than these kids are getting into which leads to worse grades or dropping out of school in some cases.  From An article from Brookings, It states, “districts with greater inequality, segregation, and lower overall socio-economic status also have larger achievement and disciplinary gap” (Shores, Kim, Still).  This can lead to less income for these people or families which in turn lessens the opportunity for prosperity in these communities.  

Today people have unequal opportunities over people of a different race because there are wealth inequalities, differences in test scores, and better education. There is a lot of potential growth and help that could happen if there are efforts to help the kids get themselves out of poverty with better education which in turn allows for a better job and more income for their families and community.  This alone could help many of these race problems and clear up a lot of drama in the country.  Instead of the projected plan to tax more based on wealth and have it help everyone that is in these poorer neighborhoods, have it benefit the schools and increase the opportunity for income for the younger generation which will, in turn, benefit everyone in these communities and fill in the hole.  That is the issue and solution to the issue of opportunity in minority communities. 

Works Cited

Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/.

Meatto, Keith. “Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 May 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/learning/lesson-plans/still-separate-still-unequal-teaching-about-school-segregation-and-educational-inequality.html.

Shores, Kenneth, et al. “Categorical Inequalities between Black and White Students Are Common in US Schools-but They Don't Have to Be.” Brookings, Brookings, 21 Feb. 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/02/21/categorical-inequalities-between-black-and-white-students-are-common-in-us-schools-but-they-dont-have-to-be/.

Annotated Bibliography

Meatto, Keith. “Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 May 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/learning/lesson-plans/still-separate-still-unequal-teaching-about-school-segregation-and-educational-inequality.html.

This article is written by the NY times and is a really good reference for the topic that I will be going over in my research essay.  The article covers the fact that many children go to school in racially separate districts.  They talk about the fact that no one in the modern-day is talking about the fact that schools are still separate because it is not necessarily factually accurate but is more of a statistic.  The final part of the article goes into solutions which will be covered in my conclusion in my essay.

Shores, Kenneth, et al. “Categorical Inequalities between Black and White Students Are Common in US Schools-but They Don't Have to Be.” Brookings, Brookings, 21 Feb. 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/02/21/categorical-inequalities-between-black-and-white-students-are-common-in-us-schools-but-they-dont-have-to-be/.

This article starts with the statistic that there is a major difference between the success rates and educational outcomes in school.  The author also states that there is a large difference in the punishment rates such as suspensions and detention.  The author talks about the way that schools in poorer, more ethnic communities tend to be failing in providing teachers and resources for students that have a statistical difference in success rates of kids.  This article also goes over how these schools need to be restructured to give students from all over equal opportunity

Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/.

The author of this article goes over how there is a race inequality that is present and affects people every day, but it is tainted by other issues.  Like the other two articles, they go over standardized test scores and the inequality between them.  Other statistics show that the top 10% of wealthy schools have up to 10 times higher test scores than those of the bottom 10%.  This article gives many good information and statistics to back up my argument.

Dominguez, Diana Carol. “The History of Inequality in Education and the Question of Equality Versus Adequacy.” The History of Inequality in Education and the Question of Equality Versus Adequacy, University of Central Florida, 2016, stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1144&context=honorstheses.

This is a longer PDF file with lots of good info about my topic.  It starts with an abstract where the author goes over the fact that everyone is supposed to be equal in opportunity according to the declaration of independence.  However, the author states that this is not the case and the philosophy of egalitarianism, which is the idea that everyone should gain equal educational opportunity, is not correctly implemented into our system in America and is bias in the racial aspect.  The article goes into lots deeper explanation of this topic but that is a summary of it.