How The Income Gap Affects Education Levels
In this article, I discuss the increase in the income gap by race and its effects on education levels. This problem is relevant to me, for I have seen how lack of income hinders educational success. Many people are unable to pursue higher education, not due to merit but cost. In my article, I dive into how this creates a domino effect, specifically in the African American community, and how important it is to have two parents with college degrees or at least high school degrees. I also discuss how these problems are deeply rooted in American history and persist throughout today.
Separation is critical to maintaining the hindering access to education. During the Civil Rights Movement, we see overt attempts at separation in the form of segregation. American legislation excluded African Americans from restaurants, busses, nearly every public area, and, arguably most importantly, education. Even though, Schools have all moved away from segregation its remnants still exist. In 2014 a Michigan court ruled to ban Affirmative Action (Adam Liptak 1). With that, there has been a drop in enrollment from Black and Latino students at their most selective colleges (Adam Liptak 1). We can observe how this illustrates the evolution of Separation. At first, the law prohibited Blacks and Whites from going to school together on the basis that schools should be separate, but equal. In all practicality, this was a prime example of willful ignorance, for it would be impossible for the schools to be separate, but equal. Now, this idea was overturned, so instead of attacking the ability to go to a white school, they attack the opportunity. Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg articulated that the constitution does not, “give the majority free rein to erect selective barriers against racial minorities” (Adam Liptak 2). In Adam Liptak’s article, we see that a majority of the judges disagree with Affirmative Action on the premise that it is discriminatory itself and doesn’t fall under the equal protection clause. Now, this conclusion makes sense, for the court must interpret the constitution. However, some judges make a point that this interpretation fails to consider history. Justice Sotomayor wrote that the only way to combat discrimination, “Is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination” (Adam Liptak 2). This demonstrates an important lesson regarding the continual struggle regarding African Americans in that it lies in the disregard for history. Many like to claim that slavery and Jim Crow are abolished and no longer impact us today. The idea that any past does not affect the present is Ludacris. With that, we see how the continual rejection of history’s influence has allowed for separation to increase the educational differences in the African American Community.
Continuing, in the 1960s lower quality housing, jobs, and education plagued the African American community. Furthermore, we saw the narrative that African Americans were less intelligent constantly pushed across all mediums. Now it is illegal to discriminate based on race for housing and jobs. However, we still observe a significant disparity in certain areas for the general quality of life for many African Americans. One case study we can look at would be the Long Island School Segregation in 2002. A small town in Long Island named Roosevelt has a demographic in which 99.7% of children are either black or Latino (Michael Powell 1). The schools are a disaster in that a significant portion of teachers quit each year, the students consistently underperform in standardized tests, and 90% of students can’t read on level (Michael Powell 1). Lastly, homeowners pay the highest property tax rates on Long Island, for they have no commercial tax to support them unlike the white and wealthier towns (Micheal Powell 1). The previous form of degradation utilized legal forms of discrimination and landlords could actively deny African American’s homes solely based on their race. This would force African Americans to collect in lower quality communities. Furthermore, “During the 1970s, Nassau County social service agencies began steering families receiving welfare and housing subsidies toward Roosevelt” (Micheal Powell 3). This form of degradation evolved in that when African Americans move into white communities, the whites fled. This results in, “Ninety percent of the island’s black residents live in 20 percent of its towns” (Micheal Powell 2). This is especially harmful because tax money is not shared across town lines. Therefore, the poor African American community cannot produce enough tax money to fund their communities. This illustrates a stark lesson regarding how the effects of racism extend past laws and are embedded in the culture. With that, the underlying issue of cultural hatred towards African Americans has allowed for central systems to contribute to education inequality.
Lastly, research has shown that parental income is an important factor in determining the likelihood of educational success (Pfeffer 2018). Therefore, establishing a system that prevents economic prosperity also prevents educational property. The irony in this statement lies in the fact that many simply the plight of African Americans to simply not going to school. They fail to realize that the lack of schooling is a result of a greater system and not a product of culture. With the increasing cost of college, “family wealth may have become even more important to support direct investments in educational opportunity” (Pfeffer 2018). This holds importance for it relates to how African Americans have systematically been put under financial stress. This then directly translates to economic stress.
Unfortunately, racist laws from the 1960s have prevented African Americans from utilizing generational wealth, and this absents still affects them today. An alarming statistic states that “44 percent of black families owned their home, compared with 73.7 percent of white families, according to the Census Bureau” (Michele Lerner, 2020). A house serves as the foundation for generational wealth because it is often the most asset a person will ever own. Why does a smaller portion of African Americans own homes? Racist policies. For instance, the “University of Utah and Indiana University found that black families pay 13 percent more in property taxes than a white family in a similar home” (Michele Lerner, 2020). Additionally, during the 1960s, certain neighborhoods were redlined which made them qualify for a mortgage. Redlining was a practice of giving certain people, based on race, certain houses based on their credit risk. Given that many African Americans were forced into purchasing redlined homes, the value of their homes has appreciated 50% less than non-redlined homes (Michele Lerner, 2020). This then trickles down to the public school system which is funded by property tax. This results in underfunded public schools compounded with the inability to offer private schools and colleges. This then results in a cycle that traps African Americans and makes them ineligible to live the American Dream. With that, we can see how official policies rooted in systematic oppression still affect groups of people even if the systems have been shut down. White individuals have had the opportunity to pass down their wealth to their children while African Americans have not had the same luxury (Kaufman, 2020, pp. 18).
