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Cultural Deprivation: The Hispanic Challenge
Why do some groups not succeed in academic settings? One theory brought up in “Understanding inequality” suggests that the gap in the socioeconomic status drives the inequalities in the school system. The low and working class have less time and income to intervene with schooling. This means they have less time to meet with teachers, hire tutors, and provide continuous transportation. Therefore the lower class can’t possibly compete with the middle and upper classes. Angela Valenzuela gives the accounts of some Hispanic students’ experiences in school. These students feel that it is the inferior nature of the schools in the US that contribute to the low success levels. The schools in Mexico have “teachers [that] value and nurture in their students an ability to communicate and express themselves with confidence” (Valenzuela). This is what leads to success in schooling, which the United States does not provide them. Another explanation to this is a theory of cultural deprivation. This is the idea that certain cognitive styles connect to different ethnic groups. It just so happens that what school demands from students is a characteristic of the White and Asian races, which is abstraction , while other less successful groups like African Americans and Latinos possess more concrete thinking. Current manifestations of this can be seen from Samuel Huntington’s article “The Hispanic Challenge.”
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In Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring, Angela Valenzuela investigates immigrant and Mexican American experiences in education. Valenzuela mentions differences in high schools between U.S born youth and immigrants such as how immigrants she interviewed seemed to achieve in school as they feel privileged to achieve secondary education. However, she found that her study provided evidence of student failure due to schools subtracting resources from these youths. Both are plagued by stereotypes of lacking intellectual and linguistic traits along with the fear of losing their culture. As a Mexican American with many family members who immigrated to the U.S to pursue a higher education, I have experience with Valenzuela’s
She describes it as “subtractive schooling,” a process in which students are left vulnerable to academic failure due to structural forces that impose on their ethnic identities and cultural backgrounds. The author explains that immigrants go through a dis-identification process, which seeks to Americanize them inadvertently forces minority status upon them. The division comes when their own ethnic identity of what it means to be Mexican to them is compromised. A prime example of this the use of linguistics and cultural practices. In the subtractive schooling process, all things Mexican or tied to the students’ identity is purposely diluted as is the use of the Spanish language. The concept of Mexicanidad becomes blurry as many Mexican/Mexican-American’s consider speaking Spanish as synonymous to what being Mexican is. In the subtractive schooling process, students are expected to know and speak English fluency, on the other hand in order to be considered truly Mexican they must also speak Spanish fluently. Many 2nd generational immigrants don’t fair as well as 1st generation because of the lack of bilingualism and biculturalism, skills that make the 1st generation more successful than the
When someone say’s “hispanic,” what definition comes to mind? Hispanics are not one nationality, nor one culture. Instead, Hispanics are greatly diverse people. Our language and cultural origins are Spanish and Latin American, regardless of race and color. Hispanics can be European, Indian, or of African descent, or any combination of the three. The culture could be linked to Mexico, the Caribbean countries, Central America, South America and Spain. Hispanics were once considered a rarity in the United States, now we are found throughout the country.
A significant part in being Chicano is embracing your roots and fighting for your rights. Chicano culture was at its peak in the 60’s and 70’s when Chicanos were exhausted of being oppressed. Chicanos young and old, decided that it was time to take a stand by not only expressing their feelings but their pride. This inspired the rise in Chicano art coming out at that time as well as a bunch of sayings going around like “Brown pride” and “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us”. Most of my mom’s side identify as Chicano, especially the ones that were growing up at that time. They appreciate the movement, the art, and the lifestyle. In fact, I know that at least one of my tias participated in the school walkouts for Chicano rights. When I’m at a family party, I still notice that Chicano pride even in my older cousins who were born years after the peak. I understand that to some, Chicanos are perceived as cholos. There are some but not all, but all the older ones do show off their pride as I’ve seen.
The Latino community is considered the largest demographic minority in the United States and is expect to increase by approximately 15% in 2050 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002). The Latino population is comprised of many subgroups from many different regions that have developed unique beliefs, norms, and sociopolitical experiences. Although the term Latino is used throughout this paper, it is important to underscore the great diversity found within the Latino community to avoid the development and perpetuation of stereotypes. In clinical practice, it is important to evaluate the individual in terms of their racial identity, acculturation, and socioeconomic status among other factors to create a more individualized and effective treatment
Child rearing and family structure within the Hispanic culture is noticeably different than what is present in the mainstream Western culture of today. One apparent difference is in gender roles. There exists a vastly different expectation in Hispanic culture for males and females. The male is considered to be the independent breadwinner, and the head of the household. Accordingly, the female role is one of submission and provider of childcare. In contrast, it is more than acceptable in Western culture for a female to maintain a non-traditional role. Hispanic culture additionally differs from Western culture in the traditional makeup of the family. Within Hispanic culture the extended family plays a huge role
Education is the key to individual opportunity, the strength of our economy, and the vitality of our democracy. In the 21st century, this nation cannot afford to leave anyone behind. While the academic achievement and educational attainment of Hispanic Americans has been moving in the right direction, untenable gaps still exist between Hispanic students and their counterparts in the areas of early childhood education, learning English, academic achievement, and high school and college completion.
The Achievement Gap in America has separated and divided America's youth into more or less, two different cultures of socioeconomic placement. The first being the predominantly Caucasian students at American elementary schools, high schools, and colleges that excel greatly in their education. Most of the time earning them middle to upper class jobs in the economy, the aforementioned group contrasts significantly with its opposite culture of American youth. The second culture, the population that is mostly made up of the minority races, takes it's place in the American education system as the population of students who are less interested in getting a decent education and taking advantage of the resources that are offered, for various underlying reasons. This in turn manufactures less people of this type of culture to be readily available for higher paying jobs, and often times unemployable for a job at all. The Achievement Gap in America is influenced by many cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that separate lower and higher achieving students based on these factors, and leave a high amount of unemployed Americans as a result, if not incarcerated or deceased.
The term Hispanic is used to describe Spanish speaking natives. Spanish is one of the fastest expanding languages in the world and accounts for 21 different countries as their official language. About half of Hispanics originate in Mexico, and there is a lot diversity within the 21 Hispanics countries, therefore even their own traditions and heritages will be specific to them. It is also important to remember that most Hispanics do not like to be referred to as Hispanic but instead from where they reside; for example, Mexican American and Puerto Rican. Hispanics are very family oriented and they consider the oldest male to be the figure of authority, although when it comes to important decisions, the whole family contributes. Other important
Latinos have struggled to discover their place inside of a white America for too many years. Past stereotypes and across racism they have fought to belong. Still America is unwilling to open her arms to them. Instead she demands assimilation. With her pot full of stew she asks, "What flavor will you add to this brew?" Some question, some rebel, and others climb in. I argue that it is not the Latino who willingly agreed to partake in this stew. It is America who forced her ideals upon them through mass media and stale history. However her effort has failed, for they have refused to melt.
My object of study is Hispanic women experience inequality in education due to the social constructs of subordination of women and Hispanic culture. Historically women have been conditioned with a patriarchal system, which a woman’s domain should be at home, to be a homemaker. The ideology of inferiority can and will justify the deprivation of natural born rights. During the progressive area and women’s rights movement women wanted to be seen as people, they wanted to have rights to own property, negotiate wages, legal documents, access to birth control, and the right to vote, those women who had the voice to deal with these issues were white upper and middle class women. During this time Hispanic women, amongst other minorities, were fighting battles against racism, segregation, exploitation in the work force, access to a good education, and oppression through Hispanic culture. It is not just a struggle to be Hispanic overcoming the inequalities within the education system but to be a Hispanic women within the education system has greater disadvantages. This case study will investigate what forces contribute to the inequality within the education system for Hispanic women in the United States.
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
. . . African American, Latino/a, and Native American students score less well on standardized tests. [Achievement] gaps persist in additional levels of achievement, such as grades and class rank. . . . In addition, African American students are more likely to be placed in special education classes and, once placed, are less likely to be mainstreamed or returned to regular classes (Davis, 96).
A minority student is generally classified as belonging to a lower-income family than the average white American, who is classified by earning a higher income. A student belonging to a low-income family will not have the same opportunities as a student from a high-income background. A student from a high-income family will be able to afford more study aids and supplies. A student from a low-income family, generally a minority, does not have access to these resources. Because they frequently cannot afford the same materials as their white counterparts, they generally do not perform as strongly on standardized tests. Wealthy families are generally very well educated. They have greater knowledge of how to guide their children in the right direction for academic success. Some can afford a private school with better teachers and a more comfortable learning environment. Paying for college is easier, and academics often take greater priority in these well-to-do households. Usually, poorer families have a harder time paying for college and supporting their children. Schools in low-income areas tend to lack funding for good teachers and supplies because of their financial situation. More often than not, the main goal of these families is to have their children get through high school so that they can begin ea...
...trated in the inner city where the worst, most impoverished schools are located. Therefore, even if they wish to attend school, they still receive have less access to good teachers and a good learning environment. And perhaps the most detrimental issue that minorities face is that they are often stigmatized as inferior. This causes them to be treated differently and it causes them to have low expectations for themselves, which leads to poor performance.