Race, Higher Education, and American Society
After thoroughly reading Race, Higher Education, and American Society I felt genuinely enlightened. As cliché as that sounds the article left me with a better understanding of what causes our society to function like it does. But on a deeper level I felt somewhat ashamed of the extreme close-mindedness that seems to run rampant throughout our nation. The argument that stood out the most, and was the most interesting to me was "The conclusion of most of us is that "race" does not exist as a biological phenomenon. but rather that it is socially and culturally constructed" (pg, 216). I wholeheartedly agree and support this argument, it's not that society finds the different pigment of one's skin taboo, but more the various stereotypes one is in a sense "branded" with by society. . . .
In conclusion, it is evident from the information within this article that stereotypes and racism are still found in America, and those who perpetuate them by encouraging homogeniousness are merely trying to keep the rich. The author also explains how certain elements perpetuate the homogenization of elite universities, such as "grades and test scores constitute merit" (pg. What this is saying essentially is certain minorities have inferior brain capacity and therefore can't be taught. Its that sad cliché of "the rich get richer while the poor remain poor". that for the most part this form of discrimination is somewhat subliminal, in that no one would deliberately admit to it. I've noticed a pattern in history that makes up our country, it is riddled with persecution, but despite this it seems we've learned nothing. I find it embarrassing that we could once be so ignorant to think that fellow human beings could be inferior based solely on the color of their skin and the location in which they reside. This in addition to the endless cycle that makes up inner-city education: the schools lack resources and the desire to prepare these children, giving them a disadvantage when taking standardized tests and more specifically when trying to be admitted into a institution of higher learning. Although this was not mentioned in the article nor have I read it anywhere else, my hypothesis would be that darker skin pigments are a dominant evolutionary trait. Moses goes into deeper analysis by saying that stereotypes are based upon people associating certain "innate characteristics" to specific groups of people.
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