South African American Education

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Marginalized Mis-Education:
Comparing Higher Education in South Africa and Black America

“Education is the great engine of national development… the disparities in funding tell a story of racist education.” –Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom

South Africa’s apartheid system has afflicted the country with deep-seated, racially oppressing educational disparities. Similarly, the United States also shares a rich history of the so-called “mis-education” of marginalized racial communities, especially with African-Americans (Green 154). The systematic enforced segregation employed by both governments has implicated a huge cost for people of color, notably seen in “vast disparities between academic achievement and proficiency rates” between whites …show more content…

1837). The purpose of these schools was to give the opportunity of higher education African Americans. Americans soon realized after the ending of the Civil War that former slaves would require education as members of society. The group who stepped up to the challenge may surprise most: Missionaries. These Christian abolitionists sought to create academic institutions for slaves, and found opposition when Southern whites, nowhere near thrilled with the idea in the first place, attempted to compromise by pushing an agenda for vocational schooling (Green 160). Green calls their opposition “vehement objection.” But the missionaries would not falter, setting a precedent for African American higher education for decades to come. The mantra of these missionaries was to prove that White and Blacks were “equally able to learn and to achieve”. Deeply historical institutions such as Fisk University and Atlanta University were all founded by …show more content…

That is, students of color are highly disadvantaged in terms of ability, specifically within STEM courses. The recommendation made by Badat in her reports specifically suggests improved access for black students in the fields of science, engineering, and technology, predicated upon “significant improvements” within the South African school system. For America, the improvements also must occur at the municipal level. Impoverished areas populated primarily by minorities (in many cases as a result of “white flight”) find that college is synonymous with debt. 90% of black students take out federal student loans, while only 65% of whites

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