The aspects of inequality in school Essay Example

element of discrimination in schools in 4 groups; Race, Social class, geographical location, and religion. The most evident in the American society is inequality on the basis of race, social class, and geographical location. Students studying in one school are treated differently or the entire school been favored and treated differently from another school on this basis. None of these inequalities in school has any advantage. As much as the inequality seems to favor the majority group, the minority group is undermined and disadvantaged.

The aspect of inequality in schools has been evident on the basis of race. Although the society is in rush to eliminate racism through various anti-racism rallies, it is ironical to realize that the racism is upheld by the elite. The two major races in America are the white and the blacks. In schools, the American education systems seem to favor the whites more, and in a way discriminate the blacks. Several cases have been witnessed where black American students are discriminated against the white students in the same school. The issue of racial segregation in school did not begin tomorrow. According to some scholars, it is a root that has been establishing since the beginning of the education system in America. Racial segregation in schools is as old as the education itself. This was witnessed during the imperial period when the black American children were not allowed to study in one school with the whites. There were schools for the whites and blacks (Cookson 128).

The same racial segregation trickled down the generation after imperialism. Stolen Education, which is a Video Project, produced in 2013 shows the state of the American schools

in 1950's. The document elaborates how Mexican- American students underwent discrimination in Texas schools. The author gives a story of a student known as Lupe, who consecutively registered poor performance, not because he was a slow learner, but the issue of discrimination was really affecting him psychologically. When the situation became intense, Lupe was forced to present the case of discrimination to Federal court in 1956, amongst eight other discriminated students. Lupe, among the eight other students, was facing discrimination in their school just because they were Mexican-Americans.

Another incident of racial discrimination in schools was witnessed in the first peer-reviewed article by Logan. The author gives a clear analysis of how the schools were divided into racial groups. Children from different racial and ethnic background attended different schools. These schools did not only vary in performance but also facilities and the mode of teaching. Among the major subdivisions were the black and Hispanic race versus the White and the Asian race. At a point, people felt unequal and racial discrimination was legalized within the society. This led to the division of the schools into two major categories; schools for the blacks and school for the whites. The black

Americans who were major of African origin and the Hispanic race were only allowed to study in the schools for the blacks. Among others in this category were the Mexican Americans. The whites and the Asians were favored and attended the white schools.

Giving a comparison between the two schools; the white and the black schools, there was a great variation. The mode of teaching was different, where the white schools offered better teaching programs than the black schools.

The facilities in the two schools were totally incomparable. The white schools were better equipped and of high standards, whereas the black schools lacked even the basic facilities. The aspect of legalized discrimination in schools was like a double edged sword. The blacks faced discrimination in white schools, as well as the whites faced discrimination in black schools. This element culminated from the society. The author of "Brown vs. Board of education" gives a story of a brown that fought tirelessly for his daughter to attend a white school which was five blocks away. Ironically, there was a nearby school but for the black race (Remold 198).

The aspect of inequality in schools also takes a social status boundary. Inequality in schools has extended to financial capabilities. The family level of income is another phenomenon that has led to discrimination and inequality in schools. It is not only in America but across the world that there are two major categories of schools; the schools for the rich and the poor. The education received by an ordinary student from a low-income family is just a shadow of education as the real education is left in the hands of the few wealthy individuals in the society. The aspect of financial stability has categorized schools into private and public schools. The public schools, which are mostly funded by the government and well-wishers, are believed to be for the low-income families. The privately sponsored schools are for the rich few who can afford such services within the society (Carter 200).

The low-income Americans are forced by financial circumstances to take their children to the low-income and public schools. The rich and

financially stable families take their children to private and self-sponsored schools within out outside the nation. These two schools offer education in varied quality. The public schools for the low-income are characterized by poor facilities and basic teachings. The students in these schools are not exposed to equal learning standards with those in self-sponsored schools. In the schools for the rich, the teaching is different. Such schools are equipped with the best facilities that enhance better learning for the students. This equally reciprocates to excellent performance among the rich family students and poor performance among the children who are from poor families, just because of the schools the two groups are studying.

It is pathetic how the gap between the income groups – Poor and the Rich has been extended from the living standards to the aspect of education. With the changing economy and widening gap between the low income and the rich in the society, it is most probably that the situation will be worse if not managed at these early stages. As the rich society continues to expand, the other side of the society; the poor group is expanding drastically. Approximately, over 48% of the Americans are living in poverty, with this income gap widening on daily basis. The widening income gap means that as much as the gap between the poor and the rich continues to widen, the aspect of education imbalance continues to continue to grow within the communities thus leaving the poor behind. The worse of the matter is that it is only the education that can eradicate poverty, and it's the same education that the poor people are been discriminated

from, just because of their poor backgrounds.

Other levels of inequalities that have not been so much discussed by researchers are geographical location differences. Schools located in urban areas are quite different from those in the rural regions. There is inequality between these two learning institutions. Schools located within towns have better facilities that enhance effective learning for the students. Most of the schools in rural regions are underdeveloped, with poor learning facilities that equally undermine teaching and learning the process. This inequality has been evident in the performance of the two schools, where schools in urban areas exhibit good academic performance compared to those in the rural areas.

Still, under the geographical inequality, the schools within urban centers are disadvantaged because of their environments. Comparing the rural and urban setup, urban areas, comprising of towns and big cities are industrialized, overcrowded and busy with numerous business activities taking pace. These environments are either noisy or non-conducive for learning the process. Disturbance from hooting cars disrupts the learning process. The students are also exposed to busy life in towns; hence have little time for their studies. Although the schools in town have the best facilities, they, however, lack adequate resources to cater for expansion and development. The urban schools are crowded because of the high population within the urban centers, making the learning process a challenge. The urban schools are also exposed to disturbance from riots and strikes, unlike rural schools where there are no cases of demonstrations and riots. On the side of the rural schools, are situated in conducive environments, free from disturbances such as noise pollution and rush life. These schools are advantaged with

a serene environment, with expandable environments.

The aspect of inequality in schools has grown from the ancient past and carried forward to the current generation. Inequality in schools has undermined academic progress and learning within the society. The discriminated minority especially the blacks and the poor are exposed to psychological torture. Discrimination is stressing especially among the youth, and this affects their academic performance. The element of discrimination grows up in them, and at times, the discriminated students may tend to drop out of school and give up in lives. The poor performance recorded in some schools is because of inequality, uneven administration of teaching and facilities, with the advantaged schools registering best results to those of the disadvantaged schools (Kozol 98).

The element of inequality in schools extends to the society, creating a drift between the two groups, the advantaged and the disadvantaged. When a black American is treated inequality in their learning institutions, they tend to develop a negative attitude towards the advantaged whites. Similarly, a child from a poor family will grow up with same differences exhibited in their schools with those of the rich families. This forms the basis and the foundation of social discrimination, racism, and inequality. The enlightened society through education should set a good example and fight to bring equality in the society, but when the roots of inequality grow within them from their schools, fighting such vices makes it a challenge.

Inequality in schools, whether carried out at social or racial level undermines national progress. The disadvantaged group, which could have registered excellent performance on a uniform learning forum registers bad grades and becomes wasted brains. The society should wake

up and fight the issue of inequality in school in order to create a uniform society and meet the goal of national development. In order to fight against inequality in schools, we should begin from the society. A black American who cannot work or live in one compound with a white American will definitely teach the same norm to the children. We should first create a uniform society, with social equality and free from racial, social and religious discrimination. It is important to engage in social equality campaigns and educate the society on the importance of equality as a unity goal. Creation of a uniform society will be reciprocated to the next generation, and the whites and the blacks will learn together in one school without discrimination (Wishon 56).

The government has a role to play in creating unity in the education systems and learning institutions. The ministry of education should engage in development missions to ensure that the public schools have similar facilities and offer similar learning programs to those offered in privately sponsored schools. Through this, children from low-income families will have the privileged to enjoy similar and uniform education to those in the private schools and equally register good academic performance. Creating equality in schools will not only benefit the disadvantaged group but the entire nation in general. Apart from creating a uniform and harmonized society, the nation will have a productive elite who will help in economic development through their skills. It is hereby important for the American government to take is a national initiative and fight this vice for a better generation and national development.

Work cited

1. Benner, Chris, and Manuel Pastor.
   

“Can’t We All Just Get Along?” Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America's Metro Areas, University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2015, pp. 1–24,Carter, Prudence L. Stubborn Roots: Race,