Exploring Education with Courtney

https://mixingupblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/asianasian-american-identity-campaign-at-ic/ In “Beyond Black and White: The Model Minority Myth and the Invisibility of Asian American Students” Jean Yonemura Wing argues against the “model minority” image of Asian Americans and presents the findings of a study of six Asian American high school students. As I read the article, my constant thought was to acknowledge the fact that each individual is unique in this country regardless of race or ethnicity and that everyone has a story. So often Asian Americans are classified into one homogenous group, yet this article points out that Asian American students are one of the most diverse groups with varying  “...national origin and history, class background, immigration status, language(s) spoken, or parents’ educational levels and occupations, or what classes they are taking.” (456-457) Everyone is unique and has a story. In the 1850s, Asians were seen as “uncivilized and filthy”...

In “My class didn’t trump my race: Using Oppression to Face Privilege”, we are provided with multiple examples of Robin DiAngelo’s realization of her white privilege in America. Although she grew up poor, she was poor and White, which was essentially “better” than being poor and Black. She discovered this at a young age, stating, “I was acutely aware that I was poor, that I was dirty, that I was not normal, and that there was something ‘wrong’ with me. But I also knew that I was not Black.”  (53) She later goes on to say, “White people know on some level that being White in this society is ‘better’ than being a person of color, and this, along with the very real doors Whiteness opens, serves to mediate the oppression experienced in those other social locations.” (54) At a young age her grandmother taught her not to touch anything that was touched by Blacks, that even though she herself was poor, dirty, and hungry, there were still others out there who had it worse and were ...

The readings this week emphasize the “separate and unequal” education that is provided to students based on both their race and social class. In Goldstein’s The Only Valid Passport from Poverty, the author describes the evolution of desegregation. In this slow moving process, we find that many had opposing views on desegregation, exemplifying both positives and the negatives of the process at that time. Goldstein states, “...there had been concern in the black community that merging black and white schools could decimate the black middle class, which depended on jobs in segregated schools.” (111) Many states were attempting to “equalize teachers” but what that really meant was black educators being fired or replaced by their white counterparts, and black students being turned away by white schools. Mirroring last week’s readings regarding community, this article quotes Anna Julia Cooper who said, “...in black schools led by black educators, ‘children were more li...

Is education the passport to success? Not quite. In Grace Boggs’ article, “Education: The Great Obsession” she argues that the educational system continues to fail and divide students, and that a longer duration of education does not necessarily equal success. She writes, “ ...the high school diploma is no longer a sign of academic achievement but of the youngster’s seat-warming endurance over a twelve-year period.” Students are still involved in a system that prepares them for an industry that is outdated. They are being treated as empty containers in which teachers place textual facts/truths to be regurgitated on the day of the assessment and forgotten after. Students are rewarded for their ability to follow instructions and respond to “one right answer” questions. Boggs mentions, “...the schools had become babysitting institutions in which their children had been socially promoted year after year, regardless of achievement levels as determined by the schools’ own tests.” The...