Poverty & Race- What Education Can’t Do
In staying with the theme of poverty and education that I addressed in myprevious post, I want to make readers aware of two different writings that have come out that explode the myth that education by itself is the tool of leverage that can alleviate poverty. Both works are important, and I urge you to read them in their entirety.
The first, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Case For Reparations, appeared on the cover of the Atlantic. This article deservedly went viral. Coates describes the history of how America has continuously used race as a means of marginalizing those of color while at the same time privileging whites. Though the article isn’t specific to education, it is necessary for understanding the history behind our equity gap.
The second can be found on the Colorlines web-site. Colorlines is a fantastic resource that has developed a continuing series on the impact of race in America called Life Cycles of Inequality. Why Young, Black Men Can’t Work is an article from this series. This piece does address the impact on poverty and race on education, and the reasons why education by itself offers little or no way out of poverty for the marginalized.
In following the attempts of the article’s main protagonist, Dorian Moody, to find work after graduating from high school in 21, author Kai Wright writes,Poverty & Race- What Education Can’t Do | educarenow: