Sydney Phillips Blog#2: Reflection & Diversity Imperative
I had my first DIG meeting last Thursday and was able to express concerns I had in class, one of which was taking in all of the assigned reading each week. As a result of the group’s concern’s Julian designed an activity around writing tips. It was important to be able to hear other student’s ideas for what works for them and what doesn’t, as well as gaining tips to better my own reading. Before we engaged in our class discussion we went outside and participated in activity to better prepare us. I was skeptical at first but I honestly enjoyed linking fingers with classmates and seeing the ways each of us have been privileged or not. I discovered many ways of being privileged that I wasn’t previously aware, such as my family owning a house, having a house full of books, and a parent who graduated college. I ended up being one of the only few close to the front and it made me feel uneasy, however, with proper respect for others I know that doesn’t make me any better.
After we took part in the activity we discussed K-12 Pipeline and its impacts on educational equity. Although I read chapter 2 and 3 it was still eye opening to see the statistics presented on the slides. I was shocked my how many more whites score higher on the SAT than African Americans or Latinos. It became apparent to me that our K-12 school system is not equal for everyone and each student and school is not given a fair chance. What is sad is that those who start in the lowest quartile almost never have the ability to catch up. Teachers are not as prepared and schools are not given enough resources to effectively teach students. It was hard to accept the glaring inequities because I wish they didn’t exist, but through class discussion and experience I am aware that they do. We then discussed the other various articles on white privilege and I was again saddened by the covert discrimination that still exists today. People of similar backgrounds and socioeconomic status’ tend in the same neighborhoods, therefore, those living in low income areas don’t receive as much funding. Less expectation and praise may be given to those students, as demonstrated through the quick in-class activity. Mostly, I was stunned and troubled by the statistics.
This week we read Chapter 6 and 8 in Diversity in American Higher Education. Chapter 6 on the Diversity Rationale contained a lot information, most of which I hadn’t previously been aware of. The Diversity Rational is an interpretation that stemmed from a Supreme Court decision and says that race may be used as a selective factor in college admissions as long as racial quotas are not being endorsed. I found chapter 6 somewhat hard to follow. It contained a lot of information and terms that I wasn’t familiar with until I looked up the terms. I felt that chapter 8 complimented the statistics that were in class last Friday. Due to the socioeconomic status of many African Americans in the 1940s, many received poor education compared to that of White’s. I felt as though chapter 8 was easier to understand and presented ways, such as affirmative action, to help solve the problem of underrepresentation of minorities in college. The third assigned reading was an article that related to chapter 6 and included various Supreme Court decisions regarding race and education throughout history. It contained facts on specific cases and how it still impacts educational equity to this day. Overall, the reading was difficult to digest upon first glance but became easier to understand as I researched terms and read over things more than once.
