I think you are right to point out that addressing an issue head on, when dealing with inequality is always a tricky issue. We certainly never want to separate students based on skin or social class in the guise that we are helping them. This would be unconstitutional because it would go against the Supreme Court’s decision that “seperate but equal” would not be tolerated. Seperate but equal is not the kind of program we are talking about here. Students of all races should learn together and get the same resources and instruction as the next kid. It is also great for them to interact with each other in order to break down social stigmas and boundaries. What we are talking about here, is some simple retribution for the disparities which already exsist. As I stated before, there is no deficite of white, rich, successful role models in our literature and in our television programing. Advantaged populations don’t need us to go the extra mile for them. In addition to reading minority texts acroos all student populations, I find it inspirational to give minority students minority role models that they can look up to. It is not fair for students to grow up being told that “white is right” by the selection of role models that have to chose from. Some of the optional cultural activities are also a great way for minorities to feel that their culture is important and valuable. This is all so vital to a young persons development of a sense of self, sense of motivation, and sense of pride in their own heritage and their own accomplishments.

I’m conserned that you seem to be saying two conflicting things in your comment.

You say that giving benefits to minorities will cause the problem to never go away:
“As long as individuals are given benefits over other individuals solely based on color, gender, or minority status, it will never go away.”

Then you say that no matter what we do the problem will not go away.

“The reality of the situation is that this will never go away. No matter how hard people try, no matter how many laws are made, no matter how many government programs are created, there will always be those that have less. There will always be those that are discriminated against. There will always be those that are marginalized and looked down upon. The reality is that we live in a world full of sin. These issues cannot be solved by programs because at root they take place in each individual, it is human nature.”

I feel like this is a negative and pre-defeated attitude to have in such an important matter.

You do say that we should still work to solve the problem:
“Just because it will never go away does not mean that we should tolerate it though. Those who do discriminate or marginalize should be punished for it, and at the very least when seen or heard each individual should make sure that it is stopped.”

but I don’t know if we can assume that marginalization and discrimination are powers that exist on a case by case basis.

Thanks for engaging me in this discussion about equality in our education systems. If you have any more suggestions about adressing this problem, I’d love to hear more of your thoughts.

Thanks, Bethany

The reality of the situation is that this will never go away. No matter how hard people try, no matter how many laws are made, no matter how many government programs are created, there will always be those that have less. There will always be those that are discriminated against. There will always be those that are marginalized and looked down upon. The reality is that we live in a world full of sin. These issues cannot be solved by programs because at root they take place in each individual, it is human nature.

Just because it will never go away does not mean that we should tolerate it though. Those who do discriminate or marginalize should be punished for it, and at the very least when seen or heard each individual should make sure that it is stopped.

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