The idea of a redistribution of wealth needs to be discussed in order to confront one possible solution to the inequalities in the rural education system. In the article "Inequality in America: The Failure of the American System for People of Color" by Edna Bonacich this idea is examined.
According to the article, "...the whole magnificent edifice of wealth and privilege in this society has been built on the suffering of poor people, large numbers of whom are people of color" (Bonacich 504). This shows that not only do privileged people have more money and power than the underprivileged, but that they exploit the underprivileged to attain that and more. This difference between privileged and underprivileged tends to create not only a barrier between the rich and the poor but also a barrier between people of color and whites. It is said that "people of color tend to cluster at the bottom so that inequality in this society also becomes racial inequality" (Bonacich 504).
It is true that "the bottom 90 percent only own 17 percent of the wealth" so that means that the top 10 own 83 percent of the wealth; this is concrete evidence of an apparent inequality of the distribution of wealth (Bonacich 506). "Black and Latino families made about 70 percent of what White families made" which continues to support this idea of unequal wealth (Bonacich 507). If you recall from previous entries it is seen that the majority of those in poverty in rural area are those of color as well. This state of poverty for these people means worse jobs, worse pay, and overall a decline even further into poverty.
Bonacich says that "the racism of this society is linked to capitalism and that, so long as we retain a capitalist system, we will not be able to eliminate racial oppression" (508). In other words if the rich keep exploiting the poor to gain more money and create more poverty for the underprivileged the issue of racial inequality will also continue to be apparent. Is it possible for our society to discontinue the use of capitalism? Is it possible to end racism and poverty without the disintegration of capitalist ideas and approaches? No, I don't believe it is.
Further ideas surrounding this idea will be discussed in later entries.
Bonacich, Edna. "Inequality in America: The Failure of the American System for People of Color." Oppression, Privilege, & Resistance: Theoretical Perspectives on Racism, Sexism, and Heterosexism. Ed. Heldke, Lisa and Peg O' Connor. McGraw Hill Higher Education. 2004. 502-514.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Dominican Republic
I have been asked to talk about my trip to the Dominican Republic a little more. I think that it is important to tie this trip into the blog topic because of it being the inspiration.
My trip to the Dominican Republic took place as part of a mission trip with my old high school teacher's church. We went down there as a group bringing clothes, toys, medical supplies, food, and more. While in the DR our group teamed up with The Good Samaritan Hospital to conduct medical clinics at some bateys and barrios in rural areas far outside of the capital. As well as conducting medical clinics our group was able to interact with the people there and get a taste of life in extreme poverty. The people there worked in the sugar cane fields earning 33 pesos a day, that's a dollar a day. We worked with the people there and played with the kids while their parents were at the medical clinic.
Working in the medical clinic, writing prescriptions and directions in Spanish, I was able to see a wide variety of people. There was even a 100 year old lady who was in nearly perfect health! Anyways, although these people were very interesting and deserving of equal opportunities of those living in the rural areas, they were not receiving these opportunities. I encountered children asking me for shoes and food which I couldn't give them at that time. It was a hard thing to see and understand.
One of the main things that ties in with this blog is the education systems in these areas. The children that I had the opportunity to work with LOVED school and were very excited when asked to talk about it. This was exciting that they were receiving some sort of education but the education in these areas was beyond mediocre to the education in the urban areas near the capital. The buildings were tiny, out of date, and normally doubled as a church for the batey or barrio. Here is one example of this:
(This school/church was never even finished being built)
Besides this, the boys in these areas could normally only attend school to the age of 7 when they had to go work in the sugar cane fields to earn money for their family. The girls normally finished grade school but were less likely to further their education beyond that. The people in the urban areas talked about college and technical schools of all sorts that they had the privilege to attend. This is the inequality that drove me to examine the education systems in the US. There have proven to be many differences in regards to poverty level, race, and age that play a factor in the inequalities present in the rural education system. The thing that's left is to figure out how to solve this problem.
As for now, I would like to share some pictures of these people's way of life in comparison to their rural counterparts in the DR.
These previous pictures are examples how rural Dominican residents live in the bateys. In some cases their houses are only big enough to fit a queen size bed in and the whole family lives there. Following are some examples of houses in the rural areas. These are some of the nicer ones but they cannot be found in rural areas.
These are just some examples of the apparent unequal distribution of wealth within this country. It is also apparent within our country that an unequal distribution of wealth creates some of the same inequalities between rural and urban schools.
My trip to the Dominican Republic took place as part of a mission trip with my old high school teacher's church. We went down there as a group bringing clothes, toys, medical supplies, food, and more. While in the DR our group teamed up with The Good Samaritan Hospital to conduct medical clinics at some bateys and barrios in rural areas far outside of the capital. As well as conducting medical clinics our group was able to interact with the people there and get a taste of life in extreme poverty. The people there worked in the sugar cane fields earning 33 pesos a day, that's a dollar a day. We worked with the people there and played with the kids while their parents were at the medical clinic.
Working in the medical clinic, writing prescriptions and directions in Spanish, I was able to see a wide variety of people. There was even a 100 year old lady who was in nearly perfect health! Anyways, although these people were very interesting and deserving of equal opportunities of those living in the rural areas, they were not receiving these opportunities. I encountered children asking me for shoes and food which I couldn't give them at that time. It was a hard thing to see and understand.
One of the main things that ties in with this blog is the education systems in these areas. The children that I had the opportunity to work with LOVED school and were very excited when asked to talk about it. This was exciting that they were receiving some sort of education but the education in these areas was beyond mediocre to the education in the urban areas near the capital. The buildings were tiny, out of date, and normally doubled as a church for the batey or barrio. Here is one example of this:
(This school/church was never even finished being built)
Besides this, the boys in these areas could normally only attend school to the age of 7 when they had to go work in the sugar cane fields to earn money for their family. The girls normally finished grade school but were less likely to further their education beyond that. The people in the urban areas talked about college and technical schools of all sorts that they had the privilege to attend. This is the inequality that drove me to examine the education systems in the US. There have proven to be many differences in regards to poverty level, race, and age that play a factor in the inequalities present in the rural education system. The thing that's left is to figure out how to solve this problem.
As for now, I would like to share some pictures of these people's way of life in comparison to their rural counterparts in the DR.
These previous pictures are examples how rural Dominican residents live in the bateys. In some cases their houses are only big enough to fit a queen size bed in and the whole family lives there. Following are some examples of houses in the rural areas. These are some of the nicer ones but they cannot be found in rural areas.
These are just some examples of the apparent unequal distribution of wealth within this country. It is also apparent within our country that an unequal distribution of wealth creates some of the same inequalities between rural and urban schools.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Annotated Bibliography
* Broomhall, David E., and Thomas G. Johnson. "Economic Factors That Influence
Educational Performance in Rural Schools." American Journal of Agricultural
Economics 76 (1994): 557-67. JSTOR. WSU, Pullman. 27 Sept. 2008. Keyword:
Rural Education.
This source is a scholarly article. Thomas G. Johnson is a professor of agriculture economics and David E. Broomhall is an economist. The primary argument of the text is that the rural education system creates negative attitudes towards education and future employment opportunities. The information in this article is supported through survey and statistics.
* Carter, Carolyn S. "Education and Development in Poor Rural Communities: An
Interdisciplinary Research Agenda. ERIC Digest." ERIC Digests. Dec. 1999.
ERIC Clearinghouse. 27 Sept. 2008
This source is an article from ERIC Digest. Carolyn S. Carter is a writer who focuses on topics surrounding social work and women’s health. The main point of this text is that there are inequalities present in the rural education system that have been affected by culture and history surrounding these areas. Examples of solutions to this problem are identified. The author justifies her argument through statistics and examples of inequality.
* North Carolina State University. "Mayday 23: World Population Becomes More Urban
Than Rural." ScienceDaily 25 May 2007. 27 September 2008
.
This source is an article on the Science Daily website. The author is from North Carolina University. The primary argument of this article is that although urban areas are becoming more prevalent and successful than rural areas they still depend on the rural areas for many of their needs. The author supports the arguments presented through giving examples of urban dependence on rural areas and the inequalities present within.
* Mosley, Jane M., and Kathleen K. Miller. "Spatial Variations in Factors Affecting
Poverty." Rural Poverty Research Center 2004-1 (2004): 1
http://www.rprconline.org/WorkingPapers/RP0401.pdf
This source is an article from the Rural Poverty Research Center. The authors are researchers at the RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center. The primary argument in this piece concerns the main differences in poverty, education, and other factors between rural and urban areas. The points in this article are supported through graphs, statistics, and examples of inequality regarding race, age, income, and region.
* Jolliffe, Dean. "Rural Poverty at a Glance." ERS/USDA Publications. July 2004.
USDA. 6 Oct. 2008
This piece of work is an article. The author is a researcher at Economic Research Service. The main argument in this article is that trends in poverty tend to create a continuance of oppression on those in rural areas. The arguments are supported through demographics in both urban and rural areas and the comparison of them.
* Ryan, William. "Blaming the Victim." Oppression, Privilege, & Oppression: Theoretical Perspectives on Racism, Sexism, and Heterosexism. By Heldke
Lisa and O'Connor Peg. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2004.
275-85.
This source is an article from a book. William Ryan is the author of his book “Blaming the Victim” and this article is an excerpt from this. The main argument in this article is that the idea of culture of poverty and deprivation creates a blaming of the victim which in turn maintains a system of oppression on the victim. The arguments are supported through examples of how this concept occurs and through examples of societal beliefs that support an ideology that maintains this blaming.
Educational Performance in Rural Schools." American Journal of Agricultural
Economics 76 (1994): 557-67. JSTOR. WSU, Pullman. 27 Sept. 2008. Keyword:
Rural Education.
This source is a scholarly article. Thomas G. Johnson is a professor of agriculture economics and David E. Broomhall is an economist. The primary argument of the text is that the rural education system creates negative attitudes towards education and future employment opportunities. The information in this article is supported through survey and statistics.
* Carter, Carolyn S. "Education and Development in Poor Rural Communities: An
Interdisciplinary Research Agenda. ERIC Digest." ERIC Digests. Dec. 1999.
ERIC Clearinghouse. 27 Sept. 2008
This source is an article from ERIC Digest. Carolyn S. Carter is a writer who focuses on topics surrounding social work and women’s health. The main point of this text is that there are inequalities present in the rural education system that have been affected by culture and history surrounding these areas. Examples of solutions to this problem are identified. The author justifies her argument through statistics and examples of inequality.
* North Carolina State University. "Mayday 23: World Population Becomes More Urban
Than Rural." ScienceDaily 25 May 2007. 27 September 2008
This source is an article on the Science Daily website. The author is from North Carolina University. The primary argument of this article is that although urban areas are becoming more prevalent and successful than rural areas they still depend on the rural areas for many of their needs. The author supports the arguments presented through giving examples of urban dependence on rural areas and the inequalities present within.
* Mosley, Jane M., and Kathleen K. Miller. "Spatial Variations in Factors Affecting
Poverty." Rural Poverty Research Center 2004-1 (2004): 1
http://www.rprconline.org/WorkingPapers/RP0401.pdf
This source is an article from the Rural Poverty Research Center. The authors are researchers at the RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center. The primary argument in this piece concerns the main differences in poverty, education, and other factors between rural and urban areas. The points in this article are supported through graphs, statistics, and examples of inequality regarding race, age, income, and region.
* Jolliffe, Dean. "Rural Poverty at a Glance." ERS/USDA Publications. July 2004.
USDA. 6 Oct. 2008
This piece of work is an article. The author is a researcher at Economic Research Service. The main argument in this article is that trends in poverty tend to create a continuance of oppression on those in rural areas. The arguments are supported through demographics in both urban and rural areas and the comparison of them.
* Ryan, William. "Blaming the Victim." Oppression, Privilege, & Oppression: Theoretical Perspectives on Racism, Sexism, and Heterosexism. By Heldke
Lisa and O'Connor Peg. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2004.
275-85.
This source is an article from a book. William Ryan is the author of his book “Blaming the Victim” and this article is an excerpt from this. The main argument in this article is that the idea of culture of poverty and deprivation creates a blaming of the victim which in turn maintains a system of oppression on the victim. The arguments are supported through examples of how this concept occurs and through examples of societal beliefs that support an ideology that maintains this blaming.
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