Structures and Institutions

I volunteer with middle school kids in a pretty impoverished neighborhood in South Austin. This Tuesday, one of the girls I mentor asked me if I could take her to a dollar store so that she could buy a Valentine’s gift for her parents—they didn’t get to go out to eat together because they were afraid of being deported. Wow. Talk about a reality/major privilege check. This is all I could think about when I read “Privilege, Oppression, and Difference.” When is the last time I had to worry about something like that? When is the last time I acknowledged I don’t have to worry about things like that? As a white person, I definitely experience “the luxury of obliviousness.” I’m thankful we’ve been learning about privilege and inequality and what we can do about it as social workers.

I really enjoyed the Atlantic article “Can Schools Be Fixed?” I have heard people say that “education is the great equalizer” and that kids could break out of the cycle of poverty if they just went to school. But of course, this can’t happen if the schools themselves are unequal! The article is right: segregation is holding kids back. I listened to an episode of “This American Life” about desegregation (here is the link: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with). I was shocked to learn that desegregation actually peaked in the 1980s! Since then, schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal. As for how to address this problem, I noticed a few points that were frequently mentioned by the professionals in the Atlantic article. First of all, there should be a bigger investment in teachers! Placing more value on our teachers—giving them the resources they need, treating the profession more seriously, etc—would make a tremendous impact. Secondly, standardized testing was discussed a lot. I work at a summer camp and before kids come, they are asked to fill out a survey. One of the questions asks them about their biggest struggle that school year. This past summer, ¾ of the kids answered “standardized testing!” I think standardized testing caters to one kind of intelligence, and kids that don’t have that are being left behind (I think this is definitely an example of structural discrimination). Finally, of course, there is the problem of segregation. I hope that lawmakers see this article and can use it to implement change, because schools have the potential to make a serious impact on kids’ lives.

I was fascinated with the idea of our “individualized” society, and how we value our personal selves more than our social selves (and sometimes don’t even realize we have social self!). I understand how this loss of collectivity is disastrous in times of tragedy—when I was reading this, I kept thinking about what we read last week about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Was anyone else blown away by Fields and Fields comparison of how we talk about race today to witchcraft? This piece made me hopeful that one day we will realize that the way we categorize people based on what they look like (or who they’re attracted to, or their abilities, etc.) is a little crazy. Additionally, the idea that racism is not an emotion, but rather a double standard, really stuck out to me. I like thinking of it this way because sometimes people are really stuck in the way they feel and it’s hard to change someone’s emotions. But maybe double standards can be done away with through education. It won’t be easy, but it’s a change that needs to happen!

“Dropout Nation” was pretty interesting to me because I tutor kids that have a high chance of dropping out of school before they graduate. I was really impressed by the school’s staff and their willingness to go so far for the kids to try and help them succeed. Again, it comes back to making sure every school has awesome teachers (I liked that “Human Capital” was one of the facets of the Apollo 20 project). However, the main thing I got out of this video was the principal saying that you can’t take their anger personally—their anger is about their life situations, not you. I think I’ll definitely be able to apply this to my volunteer work, because it’s easy to be discouraged when you feel like a kid is angry with you.

These assignments gave me several ideas about changes we can make in schools. I hope I’m able to help implement them one day.

Sources:

Fields, K., & Fields, B. (2012). “Introduction.” Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life. New York, NY: Verso.

Johnson, A. (2006). Privilege, Power, and Difference (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Koughan, F., & Vargas, K. (2012, Sept 25). Frontline: Dropout Nation (Video). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/dropout-nation/.

Wong, A., Green, A., & Zhou, L. (2015, Dec 30).  “Can Schools Be Fixed?” The Atlantic.