Educational Attainment in America

1455 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social inequality between blacks and whites regarding education

The message that many African American males receive throughout their lives is that they are unintelligible, uneducable, and dangerous (hooks 2004; Jackson and Moore 2008). With this message being delivered to them every day it is not hard to understand the disparity of those getting higher education and those who do not compared to their white counterparts. These messages can play a role in how their self-image is formed and defined. Other factors include poverty and incarceration. These are not the only factors that affect African American males but these are some of the common factors that affect the educational attainment of African American males. This is should be a concern because there may be something that can be done to prevent the disparity of educational attainment among African American males and white males. It can be argued that there is no way a person can develop positive self-expectations and self-mastery if they are daily being feed negative views of how society sees them. Societal expectations play a role in this development. Negative images of African American males are constantly being viewed in the media creating a source of negative stereotypes (Jackson and Moore 2008). Along with the negative images there is poverty. Among African Americans, poverty can be seen in the neighborhoods that they grow up in. The neighborhoods are frequently characterized by high rates of crime, joblessness, social isolation and few resources for child development (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Sealand 1993). Incarceration is factor that also affects African American males more than their white counterparts. In a study by Bruce Western and Christopher Wildeman it was found that “around one in five African American men exp... ... middle of paper ... ...African American Youth: The Role of Parents and the School.” Journal of Youth & Adolescence 36(4): 417-27. Mizell, C. Andre. 1999. African American Men’s Personal Sense of Mastery: The Consequences Adolescent Environment, Self-Concept, and Adult Achievement.” Journal of Black Psychology 25(2): 210-30. Jackson, Aurora. 2003. “The Effects of Family and Neighborhood Characteristics on the Behavioral and Cognitive Development of Poor Black Children: A Longitudinal Study” American Journal of Community Psychology 32(1/2): 175-86. Rumbaut, Ruben G. 2005. “Turning points in the transition to adulthood: Determinants of educational attainment, incarceration, and early childbearing among children of immigrants.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 28(6): 1041-86. Wildeman, Christopher and Bruce Western. 2010. “Incarceration in Fragile Families.” Future of Children 20(2): 157-77.

Show More
Related

  • Strengths of Black Families

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Contrary to what many people may believe, African-Americans have a strong motivation towards achieving. From the parents to the children, there is a strong orientation for wanting to learn and get ahead. Research has shown that black children have educational and occupational aspirations that are often equal to, and sometimes higher, than white children (Stevenson et al. 1990; Winfield 1991b; Hill 1999). African-American paren...

    Read More

  • HBCUs: Relevance in 21st Century

    2163 Words  | 5 Pages

    Cokley, Kevin. "The Impact of College Racial Composition on African American Students' Academic Self-Concept: A Replication and Extension." Journal of Negro Education 71.4 (2002): 288-96. JSTOR. Web.

    Read More

  • Racism: Incarceration of a Household Member and Hispanic Health Disparities

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many would argue that the reason why the incarceration rate for African Americans is sustainably higher compared to white American is because of economic situations, and because of past arrest patterns. While it is true that the economic opportunity someone has will affect their decisions, this argument doesn’t fully explain the real reason of why the rates are higher. To fully understand the reason why one must look back on America’s history and how African Americans were treated. The past arrest patterns do not explain why the gap continues to increase, however it is clear that the past arrest patterns is more an indicator of institutional racism that exists in this country. One study found that African Americans believe the reason for the high incarceration rates is becau...

    Read More

  • Identifying Strategies to Improve African American College Student Retention and Graduation Rates

    1677 Words  | 4 Pages

    As previously stated, it appears there are persistant barriers present that hinder enrollment, retention, and rate of graduation for African Americans in higher education. It is imperative that educational concerns for African Americans are addressed at all levels, but it is particularly important at the post secondary stage. Higher levels of education are associated with both lower unemployment rates and a higher income. If...

    Read More

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration of the Racial Undercaste

    3340 Words  | 7 Pages

    Throughout the semester, we have discussed many different issues that are currently prevalent in the United States, specifically those related to racial discrimination. One specific issue that I have developed interest and research in is that of institutionalized racism, specifically in the form of mass incarceration, and what kinds of effects mass incarceration has on a community. In this paper, I will briefly examine a range of issues surrounding the mass incarceration of black and Latino males, the development of a racial undercaste because of rising incarceration rates, women and children’s involvement and roles they attain in the era of mass incarceration, and the economic importance that the prison system has due to its development.

    Read More

  • African Americans Should Not Be Allowed In Schools Essay

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps more importantly, the average black teenager is raised within a single parented home, typically with their father being absent. Not only does the absence of father’s affect the home financially, but also emotionally and socially destruct the family. Although most single mothers do a great job in raising their kids, 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. For children who live only with a mother, a male teacher may be the only positive male role model in their lives. Most black teens attend urbanized schools in the city or in low budgeted areas. In most cases, these schools does not always function at it’s full potential, due to the high number of students. The average high school graduation rate in the nation’s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in...

    Read More

  • Incarcerated Black Males

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Black male incarceration has done much to ensure that black female-headed households are now equal in poverty. Black male imprisonment also has much to do with rising black male unemployment rates. As these men re-enter the workforce, they now likely have less skills than when they first entered prison. There are few, if any, programs, which train these men to effectively re-enter society. As jobs continue to move out further and further into the suburbs, these males, who are from the inner city, are left with few living wage employment options.

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory

    1752 Words  | 4 Pages

    Race, gender, and socioeconomic status are enduring social characteristics that influence life outcomes and children and adolescents cannot control (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010). With the unequal distribution of society’s resources based on race and gender and the negative view of African American males, African American males’ ability to access and complete college is hampered. Although athletics is often viewed as a way to improve one’s life chances, African-American male athletes perform worse academically than any of their peers (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010), which threatens their college completion goals.

    Read More

  • Racial Inequalities in the Justice System

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    In theory if this trend continues it is estimated that about 1 in 3 black males being born can be expected to spend time in prison and some point in his life. One in nine African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently incarcerated. Although the rate of imprisonment for women is considerably lower than males African American women are incarc... ... middle of paper ... ... King, R., and Mauer, M., (2007).

    Read More

  • African American Students and Equal Education

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    As cliché as it sounds, it is true that many African American students come from very harsh and poverty stricken environments. They tend to go to under resourced schools as well that do not provide the proper knowledge for them to further their education. And even worse, these schools tend to be segregated since they are usually in the harsher parts of a neighborhood. Sadly, it’s the segregated schools are one of the main reasons why black students decide not to go on to pursue a higher education. According to "The Way Out of the Black Poverty Cycle", a black student that attends an integrated suburban school is six times more likely to graduate compared to a segregated under resourced school. An African Americans family structure and the opinions of family members affects if their decision to further their education as well. Many African American children grow up un...

    Read More

  • Essay On Mass Incarceration

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites, it is projected that one in every three African Americans born are expected to go to prison. The consequences for black men have radiated out to their families. By 2000, more than 1 million black children had a father in jail or prison"(Coates pg.2). Men going to prison at such high rates has left many women to fend for themselves.

    Read More

  • Essay On African American Security

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everybody grows up in a different place. For some people, including African-Americans, they grew up in a poor neighbor. You’re probably wondering what growing up in a poor neighborhood has to do with anything. Well, let me tell you this. According to Congressperson Danny Davis, he said that 70% of black men who are between ages 18-45 that grew up in a neighborhood with poverty especially in Chicago are ex-offenders. This means that because these African-American men grew in poverty, they’re more likely to commit crimes. And from the U.S. Department of Commerce, a total of 26.2 percent, or 10.8 million African Americans grew up in poverty. Knowing all this, over 5.5 million African-Americans

    Read More

  • College Readiness

    2483 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. (2006).Black Student College Graduation Rates Remain Low, But Modest Progress Begins to Show. Retrieved from: http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blackstudent_gradrates.html

    Read More

  • Education and Egalitarianism in America

    4693 Words  | 10 Pages

    The American educator Horace Mann once said: "As an apple is not in any proper sense an apple until it is ripe, so a human being is not in any proper sense a human being until he is educated." Education is the process through which people endeavor to pass along to their children their hard-won wisdom and their aspirations for a better world. This process begins shortly after birth, as parents seek to train the infant to behave as their culture demands. They soon, for instance, teach the child how to turn babbling sounds into language and, through example and precept, they try to instill in the child the attitudes, values, skills, and knowledge that will govern their offspring's behavior throughout later life. Schooling, or formal education, consists of experiences that are deliberately planned and utilized to help young people learn what adults consider important for them to know and to help teach them how they should respond to choices. This education has been influenced by three important parts of modern American society: wisdom of the heart, egalitarianism, and practicality... the greatest of these, practicality. In the absence of written records, no one can be sure what education man first provided for his children. Most anthropologists believe, though, that the educational practices of prehistoric times were probably like those of primitive tribes in the 20th century, such as the Australian aborigines and the Aleuts. Formal instruction was probably given just before the child's initiation into adulthood -- the puberty rite -- and involved tribal customs and beliefs too complicated to be learned by direct experience. Children learned most of the skills, duties, customs, and beliefs of the tribe through an informal apprenticeship -- by taking part in such adult activities as hunting, fishing, farming, toolmaking, and cooking. In such simple tribal societies, school was not a special place... it was life itself. However, the educational process has changed over the decades, and it now vaguely represents what it was in ancient times, or even in early American society. While the schools that the colonists established in the 17th century in the New England, Southern, and Middle colonies differed from one another, each reflected a concept of schooling that had been left behind in Europe. Most poor children learned through apprenticeship and had no formal schooling at all. Those who did go to elementary school were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.

    Read More

  • Borderlands Reflection

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over time Black and Brown individuals have faced life changing obstacles that impact their choice to improve their educational background. This paper highlights my family’s educational background and how it motivates me to have high expectations with my education and to maintain high career goals. Even though the United States is known to be the land of opportunity, this country fails to provide individuals of color the similar opportunity the white individuals are given. My family is an example of attempting to achieve the American dream. As my grandparents escaped the Civil War in El Salvador to better their lives, they continued to work hard to improve the lives of their children. Money has always played a huge role among the Black and Brown

    Read More

More about Educational Attainment in America

Open Document