Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States founded primarily for the education of African Americans. Prior to the mid-1960s, HBCUs were virtually the only institutions open to African Americans due to the vast majority of predominantly white institutions prohibiting qualified African Americans from acceptance during the time of segregation. As such, they are institutional products of an era of discrimination and socially constructed racism against African Americans (Joseph, 2013). Successfully, millions of students have been educated in spite of limited resources, public contempt, accreditation violations, and legislative issues. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss
Coming from a Mexican background and first time generation College student, I have had to face the difficulties with being first. When I was younger, I noticed that most of my classmates were not in the same boat as I was. This led to me thinking less of myself and being embarrassed of where I came from. As I grew older, I found classmates who were in the same situation as I was and suddenly my background was not the burden I thought it was. I learned to accept who I am and feel apart of something once I discovered some of class mates come from the same origins.
The Hispanic Student Association, or HSA for short, was founded in 1999 by Nestor "Ito" Rodriguez the former president of HSA. Who is now currently the head of the Hispanic alumni council and married to Jaclyn Rodriguez. The organization is located on the main campus in the university center (UC) through the involvement zone in room 221. The purpose of HSA is to spread and demonstrate to other students the marvels of the Hispanic culture and to enrich their minds of the cultural diversity that is around them. To accomplish this HSA does many social events and gatherings, such as the St. Jude walk/run and Hispanic heritage month, which allows students of any background to come and enjoy the Hispanic culture in a safe and discrimination free
Growing up as a first-generation Mexican American was a huge advantage for me in that it allowed me to grow up in a culturally diverse community. I learned how to work well with people of all backgrounds and empathize with people from all walks of life. However, while being the first in my family to go to college was a momentous accomplishment, the lack of instruction and guidance lead me to commit many mistakes that could have been easily avoided during my first years at college. My timidity and downright arrogance lead me to believe that I did not need anyone’s assistance and thus I found myself denial that there was a problem in terms of my grades during my first semesters. I have since addressed this issue and have worked diligently to
In this book, author Tara J. Yosso demonstrates how institutional power and racism affect the Chicano/a educational pipeline by weaving together critical race theory and counterstories. Critical race theory is a framework used to discover the ways race as well as racism implicitly and explicitly shape social structures, practices, and discourses(Yosso, pg.4). Counterstories refer to any narrative that goes against majoritarian stories, in which only the experiences and views of those with racial and social privilege are told. The counterstory methodology humanizes the need to change our educational system and critical race theory provides a structure for Yosso to base her research. This results in a beautiful hybrid of empirical data, theory, and fascinating narratives that works to analyze how forms of subordination shape the Chicana/o pipeline, while also exposing how institutions, structures, and discourses of education maintain discrimination based on gender, race, class and their intersections.
On September 2015, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, marked its 25th anniversary. With the shift of the nation’s demographics, higher education is concerned with the academic success of Latinos. Not only is the federal government addressing issues of access and equity for underserved minorities’ populations, but higher education is playing a crucial role in reducing the academic achievement gaps for Latinos. Why is this important? Latinos constitute one of the fastest-growing populations in the United States.
Delgado and Stefancic (2011) stated that Critical Race Theory explores how “race, racism, and power intersect to create different circumstances for people of color within society [...] and in postsecondary institutions” (as cited in Quaye, 2013, p. 172). Within the field of higher education, it is important for student affairs professionals to recognize how race permeates all aspects of an individual’s life to fully understand their students’ experiences. Unlike other student development theories, such as Baxter-Magolda’s (2008) self-authorship and Abes, Jones, and McEwen’s (2007) Model of Multiple Identities, CRT places race at the “center of the analysis and assumes that race is omnipresent” in an individual’s life (Quaye, 2013, p. 167).
Throughout the piece “Campus Racism 101” by Nikki Giovanni, the concept of ignorance is evaluated and advice to minority students is given. Giovanni, a professor at Virginia Tech, describes the struggles that might, and most likely will, impact minority students and addresses the stereotypical mindset that those students, and Giovanni herself, will encounter while on campus and in the “real world”. Giovani uses imagery to set the stage of her piece “Campus Racism”, as well as logical and backed by real world experience advice to students to help minority students succeed in predominately white colleges. Giovanni first uses imagery to set the stage for stereotypes and the issue of racism on college campuses. At first this seems irrelevant as she describes a young man who is “Too cool for school.
They claim, “...students of color are showing that they feel disconnected from their respective schools, that implicit yet institutionalized racism creates emotional distance between them and their white peers and faculty. Being a black student on a predominantly white campus certainly, doesn’t guarantee that the student will develop mental-health issues. However, various studies suggest that perceived or actual discrimination can make it hard for students of color to engage with their campus in the way that their white peers do.” This explains how students sometimes feel like they don’t get enough support from their universities and this is dangerous because it can lead that student to drop out of school.
courses in college that have opened up my mind to the issue. The more information I learn about this issue, the more surprised I am that our society still exhibits bias, because as much as the United States preaches about equality, it appears as if society has segregation in minor ways. Although the debate between whether there are biased questions on the SATs or not seems to favor that there aren’t by popular opinions, there is still biased behavior occurring in school systems that prevent certain groups of students from getting the proper resources needed. Because I would like to work in an low-income area, which most likely would contain minorities, as a teacher I would make the effort to help those students get the sufficient help needed. This motivates me to become a part of the education field, because caring teachers are much needed in area like this.
Lucille Parkinson McCarthy, author of the article, “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing Across the Curriculum”, conducted an experiment that followed one student over a twenty-one month period, through three separate college classes to record his behavioral changes in response to each of the class’s differences in their writing expectations. The purpose was to provide both student and professor a better understanding of the difficulties a student faces while adjusting to the different social and academic settings of each class. McCarthy chose to enter her study without any sort of hypothesis, therefore allowing herself an opportunity to better understand how each writing assignment related to the class specifically and “what
Given that first issue starts out at home with language barriers when parents are not able to assist their child with the problems they may need help with. But, may continue when certain high schools are only interested with their top 10 graduates or in other words the students with the highest honors, or are just wanting you to get your degree and get out of there depending on the school and the area that it is in. A study done by the University of Georgia did an analysis on Hispanic high school seniors on track to graduate who were all invited to participate in a program to transition them from high school to college. The entire goal of this program was to increase the number of students who applied to college. Luckily this programmed increased
Tan noted that in general, Asian Americans perform better on math and science achievement exams than on English ones. The low representation could be the result of Asian American students who use broken or limited English being steered away from writing into math and science. Similarly, in “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María”, stereotypes and popular portrayals of Latina women as domestics or waitresses have partially led to the denial of opportunities for upward mobility among Latinas in the professions. Whether misrepresentations are brought on by the analysis of someone’s appearance or their linguistic abilities, those stereotypes and misjudgments can hinder the potential for growth and success of an individual within their
This essay, both intentionally and unintentionally gives us a glimpse of contemporary Latin American race relations,
They support this claim by using the matrix of domination in relation to gender, race and class, then advise the reader to look at an issue through a broad perspective- realizing both the oppressor and the oppressed, and finally distinguish between recognizing and understanding diversity and not just acknowledging it. Andersen and Collins’ purpose is to have students think about race, class and gender as systems of power, how the three categories matter in shaping everyone lived experiences, and to understand race, class, and gender are linked experiences. Furthermore, Anderson and Collins adopt an unbiased, and assertive yet friendly tone for his/her audience, the readers and others interested in the topic of race, class and gender. By doing this, the readers can relate to the struggles that the issues bring up, however the authors can still get their point or message across
