Week 2 Reading

When I hear the phrase “education inequality,” I think about how lower-income students, mostly people of color, will have fewer resources, support, and proper education compared to white students. I remember a class I took on Ethnic and Minority Relations, and one thing that stood out to me was the stereotype threat, which states that people who receive negative stereotypes about their social group are at risk of conforming to those stereotypes. Not only do Black and Latinx students receive less help and resources that prevent them from succeeding, but they also deal with negative stereotypes that can affect them mentally. This week’s podcast helps put things in a different perspective. I really enjoyed listening to “The Economy that Slavery Built.” I found it interesting how slavery was the foundation of America’s capitalist economy that, still to this day, allows for inequality that mainly affects poor people and people of color.

In elementary school, I learned a whitewashed version of U.S history. I did learn that Lincon freed the slaves. However, I was not taught that Lincoln did not free the slaves because he believed inequality, but he abolished slavery as a war tactic and wanted to ship African Americans to other countries. Many history books mostly talk about white men and their accomplishments, ignoring other import figures who are not white or leaving out important information.