Scope: I want to examine the effects of racial prejudices on the African American population towards achieving quality primary and secondary education in the United States. As Patricia Hill Collins said, “knowledge is power”. Education is one of the most powerful tools in order to create profound social, economic, and political change within a society. After the Emancipation Proclamation blacks became “quasi slaves” that were socially and economically subordinate to white supremacy in the nineteenth century. During the mid-twentieth century the landmark court case of Brown v. Board of Education intergraded blacks into white schools systems. Although the court case overturned Plessey v. Ferguson, the initiative created major backlashes among the white community eventually leading to the privatization of schools where blacks were placed into low funded school districts with a minority of white students. A study was done in L’Heureux R. McCoy-Lewis’s book called Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban School that found the more racially diverse a school is the more likely black students will preform at a higher level. But because of the economic restrictions instilled from the Emancipation Proclamation juxtaposed with deeply rooted social prejudices African-American students are unable to receive a quality education further perpetuating poverty and homogenous thought which puts the United States at risk of failing to address crisis in the future.
Analytical Questions: From the book Transformation of African American Intelligentsia author Martin Kilson poses an overarching question about racism in America. Kilson inquires, “How do you challenge and eventually reverse the undemocratic and oppressive impact of America’s white-supremacist system on its Negro citizens?” Kilson later answers his own question and explains how through the education of black folk, African Americans will be able to rise socially and economically. My question in response is if blacks did get a quality education, to what extent would their knowledge be prohibited by the social and class structures currently in place? How would desegregation be different for inner-city schools considering it has failed multiple times? How does one quantify and qualify a “quality” education? I wonder to what extent does receiving an education depend on an individual’s socioeconomic status. In the Souls of Black Folk W.E.B Du Bois said, “The South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of men always has had, and always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of dissatisfaction and discontent”. Following up on Du Bois’s commentary, to what extent does the American society actively try to inhibit African American intellectual progress?
Originality: The American education system has failed a large portion of minority students and subjects them to the “inverse American dream” where they are disadvantaged and cannot compete in the marketplace creating a lack of perspectives, and perpetuating group thinking in the long term. In psychology group thinking is a term that describes adopting the opinion of the group without question, an effect of a lack diverse perspectives. The United States cannot begin to address pressing issues for the future like water insecurity, global warming, terrorism etc. if we continue to disenfranchise a large segment of the population intellectually, socially, economically, and politically. If blacks continue to lack a quality education from the grassroots level, then poverty will continue to rise, jails will continue to overcrowd, income inequality will continue to manifest and America will fail to progress as a society. Now more than ever in the United State’s history, class and race are becoming more interrelated, however through receiving a quality education blacks have a better chance of breaking the cyclical nature of poverty and oppression in America.
Practicality:
There are a plethora of both primary and secondary sources that I can use to research more about this topic. Especially through Dickinson’s library there are an assortment of helpful researching tools like the online database. So far I have found a multitude of useful ebooks and journals that will allow me to further my research. I will also be able to get information from current events happening in the New York and Los Angles Times about racisms’ effect on the education system.
Bibliography
Bloome, Deirdre, and Bruce Western. “Cohort Change and Racial Differences in Educational and Income Mobility.” Social Forces 90, no. 2, 375-95.
Du Bois W. E. B The Souls of Black FolkGreenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, 1961.
Kilson, Martin. Transformation of the African American Intelligentsia, 1880-2012.
McCoy-Lewis R. L’Heureux “Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban School” June 2014.
Sawhill, Isabel V. “Still the Land of Opportunity?” Spring 99, no. 135 (1990): 3-15.
Tonry, Michael H. “Punishing Race: A Continuing American Dilemma.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, 45-60.
My understanding of your topic is that you are going to research how inadequate education in some majority-black schools leads to group thinking that can’t address global issues. You also brought up the fact that integrated schools have more successful students, and there are other social barriers for black Americans besides education. These are all really interesting ideas, and you did a good job of taking a broad issue (racism) and making it specific and relevant. I picked up on your tentative thesis as you went along, but I think some of the description of your topic was scattered through the proposal, and it might help to move all of it into the scope. Also, I wasn’t entirely sure how all of the different topics you brought up fit together into one thesis, and you might have to select just a few of them. Other than that I think it’s a really interesting and well thought out proposal.
Sophie- Very interesting, as this topic definitely ignites a major problem. However, maybe you could specify why this topic is most important to the 21st century. The questions you pose will allow you to address your thesis, and it seems like you will be able to access multiple varieties of sources. Maybe you could throw into your paper a few statistics coming from the link between minorities and education systems to support your claims.
Sophie, relevant topic to the 21st century I think you have many good ideas. In a way this is where I think you may have an issue, you have too many ideas. I would suggest focusing more on a single more specific idea. Overall I get the gist of your topic, and I think it’s a great choice. Nonetheless maybe you could add statistics, I’m sure there are thousands of sources that will have those available, and then maybe analyze those sources and say why you think they are relevant or not.
This is a very important topic that you seem to have a great hold of. Your topic is consistent through your proposal, and is well defined in the scope. The utilization of primary and secondary sources is very good especially with your topic of choice. While your observations on the problems with the system are true, none of the information in the topic seems fresh. While this topic is no doubt important, the way you have presented the topic is not very unique in my opinion. You could possibly analyze the information through a certain lens or viewpoint to grant a unique perspective. Otherwise good job and great start to your research!