A few days ago, I watched the widely circulated video, “UCLA Has More Championships than Black Male Freshmen.” I was proud to see a group of black men acting to expose and counter an important issue: the lack of minority representation in the post-secondary education system. Pride was then followed by disappointment, because the issue at hand would not exist in a just world. The lack of minority representation, particularly of minority males, is not limited to any one post-secondary institution.
Why are there still issues with diversity at post-secondary institutions? Definitely, discriminatory admission practices or lack of university outreach into areas with large concentrations of minority students could be factors. Maybe a school also has sub-par financial aid, high application fees and requirements of several relatively expensive standardized tests. Very few of the nation’s students who make it successfully to the “submit” button on their college applications are of minority or low-income backgrounds.
Within Brown’s class of 2017 is the largest group of students of color ever admitted to the University in any one application cycle. But of this group, many are from wealthy foreign or immigrated families and over-represented minority groups. Native minorities from low-income areas are underrepresented and are the individuals for whom the University should most seek to improve recruitment efforts.
The number of metaphorical hurdles a student must overcome to get into and through college increases if the student is poor or of color, and especially if the student is both — a common combination. Black, Hispanic and American Indian children, according to a Teach for America report, are “three times as likely to live in a low-income area.” Students from disadvantaged or minority backgrounds have a much higher risk of falling victim to the prison system, street violence, becoming dropouts, having children at a young age and, simply, the loss of motivation that arises from the hopeless feeling of being at a dead end.
A 2011 report from the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center found that, of males aged 15 to 24, 51 percent of Hispanics, 45 percent of black Americans, 42 percent of Americans Indians and 33 percent of Asian-Americans are in prison, out of work, homeless or dead. The same report found that young males of color are “overrepresented in special education.” Many of these students come from failing school districts and lack access to tutors, mentors and other vital resources. Many are expected to perform at lower levels and are rarely exposed to opportunities beyond high school.
Educational inequality involves disparities among people in regard to their access to quality education, disparities which usually correlate to one’s racial and socioeconomic background. Students who are victims of educational inequality are generally from low-income backgrounds and have often already been exposed to inadequate health care, nutrition and housing. How can one succeed in this state? A 2011 article entitled “If I Were A Poor Black Kid,” argues that all that it takes is intelligence, a strong work ethic, “a little luck,” some outside help and “the ability and the know-how to use the resources that are available” to lift oneself up from poverty and a failing educational system into a comfortable lifestyle.
This argument, penned by a self-described middle-class and middle-aged white man, is extremely flawed. Those who have successfully made their way out of nothing were definitely aided by resourcefulness, by help and by talent. A poor youth will not magically transform into a successful college student without work on his part and on the parts of many others. It takes a village to raise a child, especially when the child is of a disadvantaged background.
Public schools in low-income areas should receive more funding, more experienced and passionate teachers and administrators, more up-to-date facilities and resources and more opportunities to provide advanced placement courses. The government has the ability to increase funding, and Brown University has the ability to establish university-community partnership schools, much like Penn does. I would like to challenge the University to make a more active drive into low-income, minority areas than it currently does. Many students have their potentials limited because they are unaware of the opportunities available to them, something I have personally witnessed both as a public high school student and as a college access mentor for West Philadelphia public high school students.
It is my sincere hope that the equal and adequate education of all students will be a goal taken seriously by the U.S. government and colleges across the nation. When this dream becomes a reality, no school will have an excuse to provide sub-par education or limited opportunities to the minds it is charged with educating and guiding.
All universities and colleges across the nation need to increase outreach and visiting programs for low-income and minority students, emphasize the affordability of college through financial aid and scholarships, emphasize the possibility and the benefits of attending college and offer personalized guidance for students interested in college. Only when these efforts are undertaken can we begin to move, as a nation, towards satisfactory representation of all backgrounds in post-secondary educational institutions.
Armani Madison ’16 believes it is inexcusable that the government spends just 2 percent of its annual budget on educating young minds. He can be reached at armani_madison@brown.edu.
ADVERTISEMENT
