- The information provided in the Statistical Abstracts of the United States Census Bureau demonstrates a peculiar variation in the levels of students. This is based on the diverse ethnic lines that exist in this country. From the data given the section of high school level graduates amongst blacks and whites presents a situation which has developed over time. For instance, in the earlier years of 1970, the disparity between white high school graduates and the black graduates was so high. In this period, white’s graduates from high school were 54.5 whereas the black’s counterparts were only 31.4. This is quite a huge gap considering the fact that education is a basic right to be provided for all children regardless of their ethnicity. However, from the 1980’s the situation is seen to improve progressively and in 2010 the numbers are almost equal. In 2010, Whites high school graduates stand at 87.6 with the blacks at 84.2. This shows that the difference in high school graduates between the whites and blacks has reduced over time.
Consequently, shifting our attention to the Hispanic ethnic society we see a differently worse situation. The population of Hispanic high school graduates in the 1970’s was way below that of blacks. For instance, in 1970 Hispanics of Mexican origin were 24.2 whereas those of Puerto Rican origin were 23.4 and Cubans at 43.9. However, the number of Hispanic high school graduates increases over time though not at a higher rate compared to the increase in number of blacks graduates. For instance, in 2010 Hispanics of Mexican origin had increased to 57.4 while those of Puerto Rican origin were 74.8 and the Cubans had reached 81.4. Moving up to the college level graduates the trend is maintained with white’s graduates leading the other ethnic groups. However, the number of graduates continues to increase gradually over time from 1970 to 2010. In 1970, the population of white’s college graduates is estimated to be 11.3 while that of blacks is 4.4. This indicates a sharp difference between the educational attainment levels of the two ethnic groups.
The Asian and Pacific Islander origin in college level are quite high even surpassing the dominant white ethnic group. The Asian and Pacific Islander ethnical group stands at 20.4 which are much higher than those of whites. This numbers continue to improve and in 2010 the population of white college graduates increases to 30.3 whereas that of blacks reaches 19.8. This is an improvement from the smaller populations of 1970. Conversely, the rate of increase is still low as compared to the sharp rise in graduates from high school. On the contrary, the levels of Asian and Pacific Islander group graduating from college in 2010 are much higher than all the other ethnic groups. Consequently, the population of Hispanic college graduates is the smallest of all the ethnic groups. In 1970, the population of Hispanics from Mexico College graduates is 2.5 whereas those of Puerto Rican origin are 2.2 and the Cubans are 11.1. However, these numbers have increased as time goes on from 1970 to 2010. In 2010, Hispanics of Mexican origin having a college attainment increases to 10.6 whereas those of Puerto Rican origin are 17.5 and the Cubans are 26.2.
The relationship between the various ethnic groups in the context of educational attainment is also represented with respect to gender of individuals. For the White’s graduates from high school the females are more than males a condition that has been maintained since the earlier days of 1970. In 2010, white female high school graduates are 88.2 and males are at 86.9. For the blacks community females also lead at 84.6 with males following closely at 83.6. The Asian and Pacific Islander group has males leading at 91.2 and females at 87.0. This shows that more Hispanic males are graduating from high school than the other groups. For the Hispanics, the females also lead in population of high school graduates with 64.4 and males at 61.4. However, in the college level the whites males graduate dominate here and we have 30.8 males in 2010 and 29.9 in the same year. Amongst the Blacks community, females continue to dominate at 21.4 and 17.7 for the males.
Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic group has more male college graduates at 55.6 and males following at 49.5. Lastly, for the Hispanic group, females graduating from college are more than the males. The females stand at 14.9 whereas the male fall at 12.9. Drawing inferences from these observations in the attainment of education amongst the different ethnic group’s gender is a vital issue. This portrays that these ethnic groups have different perspectives towards education of a certain gender. For instance, in the White community it is evident that females have more attainment than the males in the society. This circumstance also prevails amongst the blacks where we have more females than males attaining education. However, for people of Asian and Pacific Islander origin have more males attaining education than females. This would indicate that this ethnic group may support education for the males than it does to the females. Thus, the effect of gender on educational attainment is mainly propagated by the perception that these ethnic groups have towards education along gender lines.
- The differences in these educational attainments can be attributed to various forms of discrimination amongst these ethnic groups. For instance, there is discrimination against color where we see that whites discriminate the Blacks and hence the enrollment rate of Blacks students is much lower. This can be further explained by the fact that we have more Asians in all the educational levels meaning that discrimination against color plays a role in reducing the black population who have attained these educational levels (Ferguson, 2013). In the earlier days blacks being the minority were highly discriminated and hence the sharp differences in educational attainments between Blacks and Whites especially in the 1970s. Up to today there has been racial discrimination between the whites and Hispanics. Thus, we can assert that there are various types of discrimination that exists between these ethnic groups. These include; discrimination based on sex, color, race, religion, national origin and language. In almost all ethnic groups the females are more than the males in the same levels of academic attainment. This shows that there is discrimination of the males in school enrollments amongst these ethnic groups.
Thus, the males are not given equal opportunities with the females in terms of educational gain. There is also discrimination against races whereby all the different groups have some given levels of prejudice amongst them. For instance the White race despises the black race as is shown by their difference in educational attainment. There is also a high level of discrimination on the basis of national origin. For instance, the blacks who are from Africa are viewed as a backward ethnic group due to the remoteness of their place of origin. Also the whites discriminate the Hispanics because they believe that they did not originate from the USA. Thus the place of origin poses as a tough hurdle for these immigrants in America. There is also some levels of discrimination on the basis of language. This happens since the natives are fluent English speakers whereas other races such as Blacks and Hispanics do not use English as their first language. Hence, there is discrimination against the Non- English speakers.
- Whites believe that the United States of America belongs to them and the Hispanics who are their closer neighbors also believe that they have a share in it. However, whites discriminate the Hispanics and they view them as less superior race which does not have to be considered in the share of resources. Whites also discriminate Hispanics on the basis of their color. Whites believe that by being the majority ethnic group Hispanics who are a minority should always be below them in all areas of interest. Thus, the two ethnic groups have an inter group racism which is based on their origins. Both ethnic factions believe their origin is in the USA and hence they discriminate each other on that basis. Since the old days Whites have discriminated the Blacks in different lines with the core being their color.
This has led to a maintained level of alienation of the Blacks from important issues of national concern. As foreigners, blacks have been under estimated by the whites as a minority group which does not count much to the country’s well being. However, this discrimination was much worse when the whites treated blacks as slaves. However, with the rising number in the Black’s population has led to a shift in the discrimination patterns. Like many other Americans, Blacks can get access to their basic rights. Thus, discrimination has now shifted in the allocation of national resources and wealth amongst the two ethnical groups. The two ethnic groups are all fighting to achieve superiority in order to improve their positions in the share of the national cake. The highest inter group racism in the USA is between the Whites and the Blacks. It is believed that this racism is based on the line of color where whites take blacks as savages due to their color. This has led to both ethnic divides having a lot of rebellion in the quest for their justice and rights. However, the inter group racism was mostly experienced in the older days but recently this has been seen to reduce. This especially shaped up after the USA elected an African American president.
References
Ferguson, J. (2013), Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Social Class. Sage, Los Angeles, California.
