Separate and Unequal

During the 1950’s through 1980’s segregation has occurred throughout public schools. It was difficult for African American students to get the proper education. In the book “School: The story of American public education” by Sheila and Sarah stated, “In 1950, people had to risk their lives and futures for equal educational opportunities. While white teenage girls were listening to buddy holly, “Peggy sue”, Melba Pattillo Beals was escaping the hanging rope of a lynch mob, dodging lighted sticks of dynamite, and washing away burning acid sprayed into her eyes.” (124-125) It’s insane how two people the same age going to school live completely different lives because of skin color. There was an activity in class where we would write our opinions and facts from the book and one major important event that stood out to me was school desegregation. Many minorities wanted desegregation to be a process of sharing power and control over education. Minorities wanted power and control so things would be fair and minorities teachers and other workers would not loose their jobs. During segregation things were unfair African American students had to walk to school which for some students was pretty far. Education was not equal white student had more privilege to succeed and move forward. Plenty of African American students were put in lower level class because of their skin color and being bullied on a daily basis. The book discussed that African Americans were bullied because from where they came from and it reminded me of today’s society but just different race. After 9/11 Muslims would be bullied contently in school or not being called a “terrorist”. After Trump was elected president Hispanics became a target. Things have improved over the years, but still have a lot to work on. The author in the book stated, “We were told by some teachers, you Mexicans are never going to amount to anything” Majority of the high school students in Texas were Mexican American and most of their activities and curriculum were controlled by Whites. Mexican Americans were not allowed to talk Spanish and were taught nothing but negative things about their culture (150). As time went on things started to change and in 1974 bilingual education was introduced. Now that desegregation occurred discrimination towards girls and women was another focus in society. The percentages of women going to school and graduating were low. It is amazing how much has changed over the years and how far along women have come. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Schools and Common Schools

Image
During class we formed groups and discussed the readings which was interesting because we got to hear other people’s opinions and also got a chance to learn more about each other. As I was reading two sentences that stood out to me was “Wealthy children could stay in school long the poorest couldn’t afford at all” (27) and “Women teacher gave children on the remote frontier an introduction to literature, standards of behavior, and national ideas” (55). Both sentences are still relevant today because plenty of students do not go to college or end up dropping out due to the fact that they can’t afford it. Although now some people get help from financial aid it is helping people who couldn’t afford receive an education. The 2 nd sentence also relates to today’s day is because majority of today’s teachers are women. It is great to see that there are currently plenty of guy teachers in this field that have a passion to educate children. An interesting topic that was also disc...
Read more

Schools during the 1900's-1950's

Image
During class we were in groups of three and discussed schooling during the 1900’s-1950’s. During these years’ school had expanded all over the United States and kids started to go to school to receive an education, experience, and be able to get a job. The percentages of high school graduated have increased dramatically. Girls would be in home economic classes and learn how to cook, sew, and clean while boys were put into these woodshop classes. The picture I posted shows how times have changed and how gender doesn't define what you want to do in life. We have women that are cops and guys going into the education field. While schooling began to grow students would switch classes, have recess and more hands on activity.  An issue that I don’t agree on is testing children and putting them in classes based on their tests scores. The book and video discussed how children took IQ tests and did not even know about it. Based on the results if a student had a low IQ teacher ...
Read more

About Me

Hello, My name is Sarah, a student at New Jersey City University double majoring in Psychology and Sociology. Literacy is important especially in today’s society. We are taught to read and write starting from such a young age by our parents, guardians, loved ones, and teachers. Without the knowledge of being able to read or write majority of us would not be able get a job, drive, check emails, use social media, or even order food on the menu. We would not be able to express how we feel or even state our opinions to others. We would not be able to put words together and communicate with others.           I have been reading and writing for as long as I can remember. I asked my mom how literacy was practiced when I was younger. She stated, “When you were around one or two years old, I would buy plenty of books and I would read to you.” She explained, how she would read to me every night and when I started to talk she would help me pronounce and put words to...
Read more