Sunday, March 27, 2011

Color Preference

Extended Comments:

Black, white, rich, poor. What's the difference? I would like to use Amanda C.'s blog this week as my extended comments. I know she used Billy's, but Her first paragraph was extremely strong. Amanda talks about how she has seen her neighbor go through tough times to keep their house. I know that this week is about the separation of black and white people, but this also ties into how much money a person or family has.

My family has been through hell and back, financially. I was always taught that I had to work my butt of to get what I wanted. I never could just splurge on something because I had the money or just because I wanted it. In my house, I learned the value of money, without a choice. Now I am not saying that I am dirt poor, but my family has come close to losing our house several times. I will never forget the week when both of my parents lost their jobs. The jobs that they had was just enough to pay for the house. Forget about food. They went grocery shopping maybe every 3 weeks. It was tough living paycheck to paycheck. This only made me work harder for what I wanted.

My town is not the richest town, nor the poorest, but it's school system is NOT good. There aren't many books in the school library, people have to pay an arm and a leg for sports, and there are NO buses to get to and from school. No, sorry, that's a lie. You had to pay $400 dollars each half of the year to take a bus. It's a public school. REALLY?!?! It was a white dominated school, but you knew that many of the kids had tough financial problems at home. I go into my service learning school and the kids are getting the same education I am. Yes, they are under privileged, but I would have to say, that would make me the same way. Just because you are in a white school doesn't mean that you have a better education.

I think that teachers become teachers to help their students to learn and make something of their lives. A school with all colored students can be in the same boat as a school with all white students. I feel, because most of the poorer schools are dominated with colored students, that that is where the attention is going. I am not looking for attention, but I am saying that there are more than just problems with predominantly black schools.

The New York TImes article is a really good one. It does seem that there are black schools and white schools. The segregation has never really ended. We just took that one more step towards equality in our nation with the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation laws. It all goes back to being in a poorer school doesn't give the best education. "The current obsession with firing teachers, attacking unions and creating ever more charter schools has done very little to improve the academic outcomes of poor black and Latino students." This quote is perfect. I have little to say after this. I have run out of words to say. Grades and money, unfortunately, go hand in hand. It's almost like that commercial you didn't go to college, so you didn't get a good job, so you work that much harder, and the cycle continues.

1 comment:

  1. i know how you feel with going through hell and back financially and i really know what youre saying about youre town not being the richest or poorest but the education NOT being the best. My home town is the same way!

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