Prewriting strategy
- Introduction/ George S counts, how Americans value education as a tool against poverty
- Examples of application of affirmative action in American society
- Thesis statement derivation, how education equates everyone’s chances at success in life
- Thesis development; efforts taken in American society that provide equal education opportunities for everyone
- Challenges that have faced the affirmative action movement, and the way forward at expanding on and preserving current gains
Introduction
‘Americans regard education as the means by which the inequalities among individuals are to be erased and by which every desirable end is to be achieved’ George S Counts. By this statement, Counts gives a perspective on the central role education plays in American society. Education is a tool utilized by the American society to bridge the gap between social classes while also acting as a tool against poverty. The introducers of public education, the pioneers in Massachusetts intended the education system as the system that would help in helping the masses avoid poverty, while reducing the crime associated with such poverty. The missionaries who introduced education to the liberated slaves after the civil war intended education as a tool to help the liberated slaves gain some of their dignity lost through subjection to slavery, while also helping them acquire formal means of employment, thus escaping from poverty. In this paper, consideration is on the role that education plays in erasing barriers and providing a fair competition platform for all on economic opportunities, and the similarity of the American education system to its market oriented economy. Further, Mario B. Rojas, IV, highlights a timeline of the activities taken in implementing affirmative action in accordance to the article ‘The Evolution of Affirmative Action’. When individuals are provided with similar chances for development, the level of success achieved is determined by their own effort in achieving their goals.
In affording all learners similar chances at achieving their dreams, the American society has progressively instituted measures aimed at easing the chances individual has to an equal education to any other citizen. While impressive progress has been made in this respect, the situation was not always easy with many battles having to be won for the attainment of equality amongst learners. Affirmative action is used to refer, and according to the Merriam-Webster “an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women”. About the minority, it is easy to imagine members of a minority race such as blacks and Hispanics as being disadvantaged while the situation has not always been the same. At the introduction of mass education, education had previously been the preserve of the elite few who sought to maintain their leading position in society generation after generation. In this case, the majority of whites were biased against in the attainment of education; affirmative action therefore is more aptly described as an initiative taken to introduce education to all persons irrespective of their social status and racial background. Mario B. Rojas in his article cites three cases that demonstrate the evolution of affirmative action and the steps it had to go through to attain the relative level of maturity enjoyed by the American education and employment culture and practices.
Some of the affirmative actions initiated in achieving equality of education and in schools are the busing practice where children are ferried from their neighborhood into some distant neighborhood schools in an attempt at achieving racial equality in schools. The practice of busing arose after the setting up black community schools, which were exclusively for black school going children, with parallel schools for their white peers. According to George S. Counts, polls conducted on the issue of busing indicate that the majority of white parents are opposed to busing, while some black parents are also opposed to the practice. While the intent and progress are both positive, it will take some time for all parents to accept fully the need for such initiatives.
While education has achieved relative success in implementing affirmative action, the professional field faces a different dilemma with increasing number of people opposed to affirmative action. After the success of initiatives aimed at helping the minorities attains equal opportunities in education, such as quotas, their entry into the professional field necessitated special consideration against majority competition. Considerations previously fought for by minorities such as set asides, preferential entrance into the university, are facing challenges presently. According to the Mario B. Rojas article, during the bush administration, regulations opposed to preferential trade treatment of minority groups owned companies, and preferential entry into university passed. The change in tide, in the affirmative action because occurs due to the perceived unfair advantages gained by the minority groups over the rest of the population by receiving preferential treatment.
The affirmative action movement has achieved a lot since its genesis; however, the aim of fairness and equality of opportunity should not be lost, while the minority should strive not to appear as taking advantage of these regulations in order to preserve the progress attained thus far.
Works Cited
Counts, George S. "The American Way." The American Way. AMVN, 15 Nov. 2004. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://amvn.blogspot.com/>.
"Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences." Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society - Human Sciences. URJHS, 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://www.kon.org/urc/v11/rojas.html>.
