Unequal Distribution of Wealth Continued

It has been discussed that unequal distributions of wealth are a main aspect of the inequalities within the US educational system. The underprivileged positions of people of color, of certain ages, and of certain genders have also been examined in terms of poverty rates. In this entry it is the goal to put these ideas together to show that race, age, sex, and class are all directly correlated with the value of education that these people receive.

Although we have discussed the inferiority of certain groups of people there are exceptions to this. For example, "people of color are, too often, treated as tokens. Their presence in higher level positions is used to 'prove' that the American system is open to anyone with talent and ambition" (Bonacich 512). However, this seems to be the way that this system of inequality is supported. It is proven that people of color are more likely to have lower incomes or be in a state of poverty, percent wise, but when there is an exception to this it is played up to look like these people in inferior states are there because they choose to be or because of something they did. It is not mentioned that it is a minuscule number of people from this group that are at the top of the wealth ladder; and this is an important component. Without looking at percent rates the inferiority of these people due to systems within America is not proven. This is how the ideology surrounding this makes it seem like there is no problem with the oppression of certain groups.

Due to the fact that people of the same race and class are likely to live next to each other, and that education is funded from property taxes, there is an inequality in the funding of educational systems in the US. That's all there is too it. So how do we fix it? Well, there are a few ideas that have been suggested. The one that I would like to focus on is the idea of redistributing the wealth at least between certain areas' educational systems. For example, the money can be collected and pooled and redistributed equally among all areas. This will create an equality between rural and urban educational systems that does not exist at this point in time. Although there are other inequalities present within the education system due to the way people of certain races, genders, and classes are treated this will create more of an equal opportunity for success across all of these groups.

At this point other ideas to the fixing of educational equality will not be focused on, although they are important. This is going to be the end of this blog at this point. If I come across anything that I find relates to this topic then I will write an entry about that at the time. Thanks for reading!

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.