Education and economic justice were two forms of systemic inequalities that make inequality difficult to talk about. Education is a requirement if someone wishes to have a better life, but not everyone has access to quality education. In the U.S there has always been a battle, people of color have fought to be able to access quality education, (Philips, 2016: 130) they are constantly attending inferior and ineffective school where there are many distractions for students to be fully successful in the classrooms. Often these schools where children of color attend lack quality facilities, educational resources, and qualified teachers. Someone can’t help to notice that in general such unqualified schools are mostly in color people’s neighborhoods.
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s
In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of his “war on poverty” in hopes of closing the achievement gap between low income schools, which typically house larger percentages of student of color, and their more affluent counterparts. The act has been redefined and reauthorized every five years since its original enactment. However, despite the last 50 years of education reform, the disparity amongst high and low poverty schools is as large as it ever was. In turn, the disparity between students of color and white students has only grown. Clearly, the one size fits all approach to education America has been using does not work. The U.S public education system is broken and, as a country, very
In today’s day and age most people expect the educational system to be equal among all students; people expect these students to grow up and get a good job with the education they have been taught throughout the years. But how can this be achieved when the system is not even close to being equal or fair? In this world, there are schools in poverty and then there are more privileged schools. At the higher class schools, the students are given an amazing education with more supplies and funding, whereas at the schools in poverty it is the complete opposite. In Kandice Sumners TedTalk (2016), How America's public schools keep kids in poverty, she rants about this exact topic. She has seen both worlds of the school controversy. She’s been to a high-class school and learned so much from them as a student, but now she teaches at a school in poverty and only wishes that she could have the same exact supplies and funding for her students. There is obviously a
Ultimately the lack of reliable resources and preparation from underfunded schools leads African American students into being unprepared for college and jobs, once again reinforcing a vicious cycle of poverty within the community. Gillian B. White, a senior associate editor at The Atlantic, wrote a chilling article regarding the systematic racism that is deeply embedded in the American school system. In the article The Data: Race Influences School Funding, White states “At a given poverty level, districts that have a higher proportion of white students get substantially higher funding than districts that have more minority students” (White). In this quote White explains the clear correlation of race and inadequate funding in the American school
Living in a peaceful world would mean that no one (and I mean NO ONE) would go hungry or be without basic medical care; denying individuals access to food, clean water and basic medical care is both in-humane as well as ignorant. The inhumanity of denying food to individuals who cannot by no fault of their own feed themselves when we have supermarkets, refrigerators, and pantries over flowing a bounty of food. Turning away from a person who is hungry, while the US as a nations spends more on its household pets than it does in donations to local food bangs demonstrates ignorance of our understanding that perhaps the stem of violence both here and overseas could be stymied if we’d only offered not only bags of rice but a safe place to grow
As an American, we revel in our freedoms. Not everything is free, however, we have laws that were created for safety. They help keep everyone happy, alive and well. The foundation for these laws came from the founding fathers; they wished for Americans alive then, alive now, and alive years from now feeling safe and free. However, there are fatal flaws in the documents created by the founding fathers. These documents are not effective in establishing and preserving freedoms of Americans because they confined the definition of a valued American to white males as well as allowed the means of corruption to enter our laws through lack of rigidity.
Inequality is a problem that has had an effect on the United States for many years. Although throughout the years the severity of inequality has fluctuated, it has increased greatly within the past two decades. There are many factors that could have influenced this increase. Some of the factors include technology and deindustrialization.
Social inequality exists in the United States through the Elite’s power to maintain their dominance in the United States capitalist system. The Elite Ruling class is made of the upper class and this class of individuals share similar ideology and are the members of the United State’s Superstructure. The Elite Ruling Class members of society are the decision and policy makers in the United States. Research and history has proven that many policies and decisions made by the Elite Ruling Class serve their own interest and promote their ideas. These decisions are the source of the inequality in the United States and it contributes to their ability to maintain their dominant status. The inequality is trickled down to the other classes through social policy and social institutions that affect our lives everyday citizens. A major example of this social inequality can be seen in the United States housing market or home ownership. A significant amount of studies, statics and data supports the evidence of social inequality within the US housing market or home ownership. The following passages will discuss social inequality in the United States as it is connected to Karl Marx’s theory of capitalism’s power and influence of the Elite Dominant i.e. the Ruling Class view as it relates to homeownership within the United States. Karl Marx’s theory however focuses mostly on economic s and the difference between upper and lower class not race. It is also important to point out that the Elite
(1) The question of economic and social mobility is important to the question of inequality because less economic and social mobility is an indicator of inequality. Unequal access to resources for children in their formative years, affordable higher education, private business ownership, and inheritances all perpetuate weak economic and social mobility.
For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that
Even first world countries have some major problems, I believe the biggest problem is that inequalities of different groups are still around, the biggest one in America is salary equality. Although some jobs pay different prices the fact that there are so many homeless people in areas that have vacant houses is a problem. Another big equality problem in America is age equality, the “respect your elders” term is acceptable but when someone who is older than another individual bullies or demands something from an younger person is unfair. Disorders such as depression are very common, especially in teens and young adults, and schools have really acted upon these disorders. Equality is not being totally 100% equal, that impossible, but at least make it fair for everyone.
In America, looking from the outside in, it is hard to fathom how the government runs with so many different people, religions, ethnicities, and cultures. Thomas Paine characterizes America as an amalgamate government that has no unfair treatment. This rendition is true to a certain extent, the poor have Social Security, the LGBTQ community finally has equal rights, and everyone has an equal educational opportunity. Conversely, there are many issues with America today, such as police brutality towards the black community, high prison populations, and a corrupt economic class system.
There is a problem plaguing the United States: economic inequality. The financial gap between the rich and poor is widening and it only continues to increase. Not only is the rich becoming richer but the poor is becoming poorer. If some type of change doesn't happen it will cut the middle class. Although this is not a concerning matter to some, to others it's a huge concern and it continues to be a daily problem. Because economic inequality hurts the United States economy, the government should take steps towards reducing the gap between the rich and poor.
Income inequality has been deeply affecting the economy and our society for decades. The socioeconomic inequality gap in the United States has been getting higher and higher since the late 1970s, creating more unequal opportunities for millions of people in the lower and middle classes. It seems as if the lower class families are getting crushed, while the top 1% are on top, jumping up and down, crushing them more and more. The system makes it hard for those that coming from poor income families to succeed; From it being difficult to get higher education to receiving no healthcare. The middle class are the top consumers and the heart of this economy and yet they are getting robbed out of their rights. In the article “Confronting Inequality”, author Paul Krugman explains how and why a big gap between the wages of the top 1% and the middle class is such a huge problem for the economy. He believes that this inequality will affect the standard of living for the middle class. Another scholar who shares a similar view and may agree with this statement is former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich. In his documentary, Inequality for All, like Krugman, Reich discusses his beliefs and knowledge about how the unequal distribution of wealth between classes is affecting the economy greatly. On contrary to Krugman and Reich’s views on the downside effects of income inequality in the economy, in “The Upside of
The common theme that America offers is that we are a land of opportunity and that we are the land of the free. We are a country that is currently lead by a president who is trying to “make America great again”, but as a society, how “great” are we? Although America was a country that ranked 1st in many economic and technologic advances, how many citizens received the benefits that this country provided? The common misconception is that we are a country that has continued to progress past the Great Recession not only economically, but socially. Education has shown us that if you’re a minority citizen within America, your privileges and economic opportunities are already a disadvantage at birth. In 2017, we have seen issues addressed in social media or the news over topics such as living conditions, gender inequality, and racism. Social inequality and economic inequality are formed from attributes such as race, class, and gender.