This was my assignment for ENGL1100 on persuasive writing and controversy.
(i woulda posted this in the Education room but,like i said, yall don't read it unless its on the YARD. Viva el verano 2003)
Race Matters....or does it?
Two Black sisters i know who are in their school's Top Twenty have 4.2's, take all honors classes, but only scored a 15 on their ACT assesment, and 890 on their SAT. I have a 3.5, take all honors classes, but scored a 29 on the ACT assessment and a 1210 on SAT. We both grew up in the inner-city. The difference between us? I attend a predominantly White high school out of our district, while they attend our district's all-Black high school.
I used to hate it, since the majority of my friends went to their school. Whenever I'd meet new people and we'd get around to the "what school do you go to" part of the conversation, I endured the gratuitous eyerolls and sucked teeth. Jokes about my "selling out" and "trying to be White" were commonplace, since Scott High is located less than 5 blocks from my house. Not to mention football and basketball season, since I am a band member. At halftime, I longed to be high-stepping and dancing with them playing contemporary radio hits instead roll-stepping like tin soldiers while playing "Spinning Wheel."
So I spent the greater amount of my underclassmen years in futile attempt at convincing my mother to let me go there, instead of waking up an hour earlier to catch the bus to uncool Start High School. I appealed on the basis of scholarships. "Scott's graduating class was awarded $1,200,000 in scholarships last year.They can't be doing that bad." She didn't budge. I appealed on the basis of my major, music education. "If I want to be a music teacher, shouldn't I attend the school with the best band? That will prepare me better for the college curriculum." She didn't budge. I appealed on the basis on multiculturalism. "It's hard being one of a handfull of Black students in my classes, Momma! If I went to Scott, I would feel more comfortable. You're a sellout if you think it's bad just because its a Black school." She rolled her eyes. Finally, I made my final appeal. "Have you seen their GPA and standardized test scores of their valedictorian? If I go to Scott, I would definitely make Top Twenty. Matter of fact, I could be the valedictorian!" She stopped reading the paper, and gave me that all-knowing mother look. And I understood.
Now that I am a senior, I'm glad I attended Start.
Sad to say, inner-city high schools, in general, have worse academic performances than predominantly White ones. And most inner-city schools are predominantly Black. So its true, Black high schools perform worse than White high schools.
It’s a vicious cycle. Blacks compose the majority of inner-city (“the ghetto”) inhabitants. These are usually crowded areas with the lowest per capita income. Chronic unemployment and unstable single-parent families are rampant. Every expert in the world will emphasize the importance of parents having an active role in the education of their children, and that a child’s scholastic performance is directly related to his home life. Its hard for parent to help their children with homework if they are stressed with these other things. With home conditions like these, it is easy to understand why crime is rampant. A neighborhood’s crime level directly affects its property value.
School funding is based on the property value of the houses in the district, and the attendance record of its students. So if the school is located in the inner-city, where crime has depreciated the real estate and stressful conditions make children not even want to go to school, it has a smaller budget to work with. Budget cuts mean teacher cuts, supply cuts, curriculum downsizing, overcrowding of classes, so there are less teachers to give personal attention to students who feel no one cares about them in the first place. If all a teenager experiences, day in and day out, is crime, poverty, mediocrity, and apathy, and that teenager has no role model to show them that a proper education can get you out of that lifestyle and environment, they will grow to not value education either. To paraphrase Malcolm X, with a poor education, you can only get a poor job with a poor-paying wage that allows you to live in a poor house in a poor neighborhood. And the cycle continues.
In Black high schools, there is less impetus to push a challenging curriculum on students they don’t believe will attend college, and less preparation for success on standardized tests. Thus, bright students who WANT to go to college don’t have the academic background needed to score high on the tests that get you into college. Which would explain why my friends have 4.2’s but only scored a 15 on the ACT. Which would explain why a student from Woodward, who took all honors classes, transferred to Start and had to go back to average classes because of the curriculum disparity.
I do not feel the same way about Black colleges. Black colleges and universities offer just as challenging a curriculum as a predominantly White institution of the same tier. But when it comes to high schools laying the educational foundation to get you there, White is right.
comments?[/b]
Thats true as hell. Cuz I went to a white Catholic High School and Ive seen dudes who I went to middle school with pullin 3.5s and stuff while I was strugglin for my 2.7 but when SAT time came I had my 1250 while they were still strugglin to break a thousand. Now Im in college sittin pretty wit a 3.2 College is so much easier than high school to me now
I would have to agree...I went to the best high school in my city...took all tha AP classes...and it turns out that upon arriving at Hampton, I was still underprepared compared to the kids who came from the suburbs or private school. Then again I'm alot better off than some of the kids I knew who came from other high schools in Cleveland
this is sad, but very true. when i was attending black schools in detroit and nashville, the curriculum was so easy it was ridiculous. now that i am at a "white" school in bartlett, i've seen a huge difference. they have a better and challenging curriculum. even though my gpa has dropped from a 4.0+ to a steady 3.6, i actually enjoy the challenge.
Its sad but in a way, I'd have to agree. I attend the best highschool in the state which is a a city public school, but its also a magnet school, which means that they pick students based on academic acheivement rather than just accepting community children. Though my school is majority African American, most who people donate to my school get the impression that it is majority caucasian because of the neighborhood its located in and because of the test scores/rank of our school.
My friend who attends another public school has a 3.5, is in the top 25 percent of her class, but has a 21 ACT had to struggle to find scholarships and get into college.
I have a 3.0, I'm in the 50 percent range, and I have a 25 ACT (which is low for my school). And I had no problem getting accepted in schools or getting scholarships.
Its sad that the educational system in America discriminates likes that, but its so true.
it just seems to me like the problem is everyone's fault. like u can't put everything on the teachers, because if the kids don't value education because of their environment in the first place, the teachers can only do so much, u kno? but on the other hand, not all innercity kids skip class, so for the ones that DO care about their education, they should at least be assured that the school in their district is capable of providing quality education for their studens
Quality teachers leave black schools and go to the suburbs or with white folk, some with the mentality that White is right, so Black schools wil never be up to par especially when you have a society that doesn't believe or wanna invest in you. Sad but true. I went to predominately black schools all my life and don't regret it at all. I think I and along with others, came out pretty well.
Man, I love my people!! 8) 
