Category: Race

Racial attitudes have always played a significant part in the way sports events are discussed and athletes are perceived in society. For the last decade, these perceptions have been gradually changing, and the concept of transracial ideal has emerged, which refers to people who are regarded as role models equally appealing to members of all races (Newman 72). As modern American society is moving towards equality, more media channels are striving to provide unbiased sports coverage, and athletes are perceived largely based on their personal qualities rather than race. The transracial ideal is attainable in 21^st-century American sports because unbiased sports coverage and the perception of athletes based on their personality are becoming more widespread, as shown by the analysis of the media.

There is a wide range of evidence from the real-life examples in modern sports practices which support the idea of the transracial ideal in the global arena and which generated a positive result in the sportsmens career in the global environment. Widener (15) outlines several examples of people who have succeeded in the international sports environment based on their traits and, at the same time, ignoring their demographic characteristics. This idea supports the globalization tendency where individuals are evaluated primarily based on their professional and personal characteristics rather than cultural or racial ones. For instance, the success of athletes like Bryant, Woods, and the Williams sisters is the result of the globalization approach which leads to promotion of transracial ideal (Widener, 15). Another example can be found among the European football and soccer teams which now have a mixed international membership.

The concept of transracial ideal was introduced by Roberta Newman in relation to marketing and advertising, with Derek Jeter being cited as the most prominent example of this trend. She defines the transracial ideal as an all-American marketing icon who does not represent any particular race and can relate to everyone (Newman 72). Derek Jeter was the first player of color to make a career in advertising, which emphasized his personal qualities and his image of a philanthropist, leader, and athlete. While focusing on marketing, Newman suggests that the concept of the transracial ideal can be expanded into politics and social life (77). In a broader sense, it can be defined as a public figure whose personal characteristics surpass the common racial prejudice and are equally appealing to people of all ethnic groups.

The road towards the transracial ideal in modern society has just begun, and the idea of race is still connected with a lot of prejudice. According to Alexander, although racial attitudes are no longer the norm in sports and are not tolerated, they still often influence how sportswriters discuss issues involving race and ethnicity (81). In the 2000s, the quarterbacks Michael Vick and Ben Roethlisberger were both implicated in violent criminal activity. In his analysis of the media portrayal of the two players, Coogan states that Michael Vick received greater scrutiny and more unfavorable content than Ben Roethlisberger because the former is black (129). However, this issue could also be explained by the personal characteristics of the two players, with Vick possessing the qualities that reinforced racial stereotypes (Coogan 138). Overall, the case illustrates that even in sports, the stories of race and crime are presented with a certain degree of bias, with greater emphasis placed on individuals who confirm stereotypes.

Referring to the case of Michael Vick, it is assumed that public reaction to the new record was predetermined by the publicly available information sources, primarily through the mass media such as television or radio. Coogan (129) state that public opinion is highly affected by social values and believes shared in the community. Wrongly accepted mutual association of race and criminal aspect was shared in the population during 1990s that has significantly harmed the professional career of sportsmen who were differentiated from the majority based on the demographic characteristics. The evidence proposed by Coogan in the case analysis supports the assumption that people are strongly influenced by the mass communication channels which shape their mind and integrate particular ideas including the racial stereotypes.

The past years studies identify a wide range of demonstrations of racial diversification actively used by the sports media, referring to the sports commentators, journalists, and other social media workers. The majority of comments were based on the stereotypes and criticism of black sportsmen in comparison to the white ones due to the existing judgments and associations shared within the community. Coogan (132) highlights that these social attitudes regarding the demographic differences resulted in the noticeable active discrimination of professional sportsmen despite their traits and characteristics. Society used to give biological superiority depending on skin color and nationality, which now sounds ridiculous due to the globalization and internationalization approaches as well as the movements for equality in modern American society.

According to some resources, people tend to believe that racially distributed genetic ability for sports and further personal achievements depends on the racial identification of that individual. This summary is considered as the part of the established sociological believes shared by people based on the social division referring to both cultural and national criteria. Widener (16) proposes the assumption based on the academic opinion of other scholars that racial differentiation in sports can be eliminated with the help of acceptance and treatment of the race as a social contrast that does not identify the personality of an individual. However, since the mind of the population still exists under the influence of the external environment, the racial barrier can be supported by the wrongful social media influence, which affects social perception in any sector, including sports.

Similarly, the public perception of athletes is partially shaped by the attitudes towards their race together with the evaluation of their personal qualities. When Barry Bonds broke the all-time home run record, sportswriters and fans did not embrace it, and the media response ranged from indifference to outright hostility (Alexander 80). As explained by Alexander, this was partially attributed to race prejudices and partially explained by his personality (87). Bonds was described by sports journalists as a genuinely unpleasant human being, who reserves special hostility for the reporters charged with covering his exploits (qtd. in Alexander 82). It can be concluded that for a person to become a transracial ideal, they need to both possess an appealing personality and overcome negative racial attitudes, which are still widespread in society.

In the analyzed video on the subject of racial bias, the Super Bowl matchup between quarterbacks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes is discussed and compared to Michael Jordan playing against LeBron in the NBA finals. Throughout the video, no racial framing devices are used, and, although players of different races are compared against each other, they are all presented in an equal manner. The reasons the commentators provide for comparison are not associated with race and refer exclusively to the facts, such as the age of players, number of awards won, career statistics, and the style of play (The Brady vs. Mahomes Super Bowl). Brady is compared to Michael Jordan, the all-time great, and Mahomes to LeBron James, the heir to Jordans throne (The Brady vs. Mahomes Super Bowl 00:00:18-00:00:21). Jordan and James are used as a transracial idea that younger players are compared to based on the similarities in their talent, popularity, and personal qualities rather than race. The video shows how equal coverage can be achieved on TV, with players being presented and judged equally and unbiasedly by commentators representing different racial groups.

Based on the analysis of the readings and the sports commentary racial bias observations, it can be concluded that 21^st-century American sports are moving towards the transracial ideal. Although athletes are still often perceived based on racial stereotypes, and issues related to race and ethnicity are sometimes covered with a certain degree of bias, the situation is gradually changing towards equality. With TV channels striving towards unbiased coverage, athletes are more often perceived based on their personal qualities and professional achievements rather than race. Individual characteristics of a player become increasingly important, as only people who have an appealing personality and can overcome negative racial attitudes can be seen as a transracial ideal.

References

Alexander, Lisa Doris. Im the King of the World?: Barry Bonds and the Race for the Record. NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, vol. 17, no. 2, 2009, pp. 8089.

Coogan, Dan. Race and Crime in Sports Media: Content Analysis on the Michael Vick and Ben Roethlisberger Cases. Journal of Sports Media, vol. 7, no. 2, 2012, pp. 129151.

Newman, Roberta. Driven: Branding Derek Jeter, Redefining Race. NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, vol. 17, no. 2, 2009, pp. 7079.

The Brady vs. Mahomes Super Bowl is Like Jordan vs. Lebron in the NBA Finals  Greeny | Get Up. YouTube. 2021. Web.

Widener, Daniel. Race and Sport. The Oxford Handbook of Sports History. Edited by Robert Edelman and Wayne Wilson. Oxford University Press, 2017.

In modern humanistic society, discrimination on various grounds, including race, is unacceptable. However, even nowadays, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic face various difficulties due to their race. In particular, Blacks in America face systematic labor discrimination that affects women particularly hard (Weller, 2019). People of color also suffer the consequences of inherent disparities in the criminal justice system. The Sentencing Project (2018) reports that Blacks have a greater chance of being arrested, convicted, and sentenced to longer prison terms than white Americans. This aspect is associated with the presence in the United States of two separate criminal justice systems: one for wealthy people and another for poor people and people of color (The Sentencing Project, 2018, para. 3). This aspect also leads to racial profiling, which stems from the non-law-abiding bias of African Americans. Such a consequence strongly affects young people since they have a greater risk of going to prison compared to Whites, which would affect their entire future life and close most of their opportunities for them.

Although, at the present time, against the background of the growth of the fight against discrimination, more and more articles appear in various media about these problems, they are not discussed fairly. In particular, there are few materials related to these topics, and they are often prepared by interested groups. At the same time, media aimed at wider population groups often ignore these issues. This situation leads to the fact that discrimination remains exclusively a problem of members of racial minorities themselves, without raising unrest among the public.

The existence of discrimination against non-Whites in the United States is well illustrated by episodes of discrimination against Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this situation was widely publicized in the media, as it led to outbreaks of violence and hate-related crimes. At the same time, structural racism, which has a less visible but more profound impact on racial minorities, often goes unnoticed due to the lack of direct manifestations.

References

The Sentencing Project. (2018). Report to the United Nations on racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system. The Sentencing Project. Web.

Weller, C. E. (2019). African Americans face systematic obstacles to getting good jobs. CAP. Web.

The human race is a question that arises naturally due to the desire of man to divide society. Such methods have always existed, first of all, consisting of external signs, such as hair, skin or eye color, particular physical or mental abilities. Humanity has always been divided into specific groups according to visible factors and social characteristics, for example, religion. However, the race in this context usually stands out from other grouping modes due to its orientation. The race was an attempt by a person to categorize a persons differences, considering them to collect certain biological factors. According to this theory, there are several races, each of which has individual qualities, both external and internal, formed in a specific region. In this case, heredity is essential, because according to this concept, through inheritance, these similarities are transmitted.

The geographical location of certain populations is closely related in the racial concept to the prominent characteristic features. However, while geographic location affects a persons body composition and characteristics in a specific, specific way, race theory includes many other factors. It also considers human history, social aspects of interaction, and further details. However, such a relationship cannot affect human genetics since it is related to culture. The conditions of the natural environment, in turn, can form various details of the human body, like darker or lighter skin in residents of the southern or northern regions, respectively. Therefore, in the general picture, geographical location can serve as the best indicator of genetic variation. However, this method requires an analysis of the origin of a person.

To analyze and understand the concept of race, it is necessary to understand its essence, biological orientation, and the time of its appearance. The racial theory is relatively new since it emerged in the 18th century. Its development was facilitated by scientific progress, which allowed biological analysis. Scientists began to combine biological factors and the characteristics of a particular group of people. However, at the moment, such an understanding is outdated, and it is necessary to present this concept from modern science. At the moment, race is considered a social construct and unites a persons identity in terms of societys rules. People of the same race have general physical similarities, but these are not defining. Therefore, to separate biology and sociology for a better understanding of human society.

Within society, there is a debate around the interconnection between class and race and how these factors affect people. This debate contributes to our understanding of race and racism because it explains how race can impact the class of an individual. This paper will focus on the connection between class and race and how understanding these actors contribute to ones understanding of discrimination in society.

There are different approaches in sociology, some are based on the impact of race on class, and others imply that these elements have no impact on a persons life. For example, Marxist sociologists approach class and race as two inseparable factors that impact the economic status of a person (Bonacich, n.d.). However, not every social theory supporter agrees with this approach, and some argue that class has more impact on the welfare of a person as opposed to race.

The Black community in the United States is a prime example of discrimination due to ones race. According to Prison Policy Initiative (2018), Black men raised in the top 1 percent  by millionaires  were as likely to be incarcerated as white men raised in households earning about $36,000 (para. 1). Hence, the social status of these individuals, or their class, has no impact on how they are treated in society.

IN summary, some social theorists argue that efficiency is the main factor impacting the ability of a person to succeed and, therefore, earn money and that race does not impact this. However, the reality is different as there are many researchers who presented data showing that the majority of wealth is controlled by white Americans and the inequalities in pay for different races. Therefore, the factor of race has an impact on a persons social class and, therefore, on their ability to succeed.

References

Bonacich, E. (n.d.). Class and race. 

Prison Policy Initiative. (2018). New research ends the Is it race or class? debate about mass incarceration.

Understand

West City School has many tensions due to the racial composition of its students and staff (Lewis, 2003). Students and teachers of color are put at a disadvantage by a white majority, who do not recognize racial issues. The school discourages discussions of racism, subsequently perpetuating the cycle of white dominance to the detriment of racial minorities.

Apply

The idea that students of color underperform due to inadequate learning conditions is the one I was able to personally observe in my school. Those students that were not white were treated as incapable of handling the program. The reality is that their living conditions did not allow for concentration on studies, thus hinging their performance.

Connect

The chapter showcases white parents who are ignorant of racial tension. In contrast, black parents immediately pointed out how the question of race influences their lives. Rattansi (2007) points out that the decreasing number of Westerners acknowledge being racist. This also happens because of them not seeing the differences in living compared to people of color.

Analyze

The problem of ignoring racial tensions also stems from the geography of races in cities. As mentioned above, Rattansi (2007) observed the deficit of confessions to having a racist attitude. Partially it can be explained by the way parts of cities and towns are populated. West City also has students of color that live in the suburbs, while white students reside in proximity to the school with its white stuff. This is why white parents claim that their lives are not influenced by racism  their immediate surroundings do not have non-white people accentuating the issue. As a result, the problem perseveres and exacerbates because white people do not talk about it.

Evaluate

The correlation between racial geography and willingness to discuss racial issues compels me to question the rationality of segregating people based on race. It makes the problem worse because it means that only white people can enjoy adequate living conditions. Maybe separation would not be such a burning issue if areas, where people of color live, were equally accommodated.

Create

1. I would like to see a discussion on how white people perceive themselves. Do they think that the discontent of minorities is unreasonable?
2. I would like to explore what compels the citys authorities to populate their towns based on the racial attribute. Do they believe it would prevent conflict because they do not see each other in proximity?

References

Lewis, A.E. (2003). Race in the schoolyard: Negotiating the color line in classrooms and communities [eBook edition]. Rutgers University Press.

Rattansi, A. (2007). Racism: A Very Short Introduction [eBook edition]. Oxford University Press.

When assimilation and multiculturalism, two contradicting styles, are used together, they provide a very well-anchored discourse of a text. Rosa uses these two elements in her book Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race to show how language and race impact Latinos in Chicago and the general US. The Latinxs cultural, phenotypic, and linguistic diversity is abolished by racializing ideologies which combine them with others. The abolishment of the Latinxs diversity can be attributed to white supremacy and the anti-blackness because the brown color is between the White and Black (Rosa 35-36). Latinos are predicted to Sound Like a Race in the institutions and social interactions, whereby whites see their English as insufficient. This paper aims to show how specific linguistic practices are symbolic of particular racial categories and by what means the racial categories are established to represent stereotypical linguistic practices.

The books main idea is based on a sociolinguistic perspective that is made up of five elements. In the first place, the whites rank languages to force European objectives. In the second element, the whites perceive themselves as superior species and other people as inferior despite their origin or color (Rosa 62). The next element discussed the hypothesized nature of language and race, determining how they relate. The fourth view explains how language and race are put together and co-constructed. The final element explains how white supremacy can be overcome and achieve social equality. Therefore, for the author to be able to challenge white supremacy, she has to explore the issue from a multi-sited view to get both parties perspectives. Therefore, this justifies why Rosa used both assimilation and multiculturism when evaluating the race and language of Latinos. Thus, the author has used good ethnographic styles to present her books main points.

The book is separated into two distinct parts, whereby the first part is based on Looking Like a Language, which comprises chapters one, two, and three, and the second part Sounding Like a Race, in chapters four, five, and six. The first chapter discusses how Latinos should be transformed from gangbangers and Hoes to Young Latino Professionals (Rosa 34). The book demonstrates the stereotype by the Whites that Latinos are mostly involved in gang activities and prostitution and therefore come up with solutions to transform them. However, they base the problem on the Latinos themselves instead of taking the blame for the activities Latinos engage in. The whites do not want to take responsibility for providing unfair learning and social environment, which forces most Latinos to go back to crime. The author gives an example of various incidents where Latino children mess up due to gang-related activities and prostitution but, in this case, does not evaluate the White supremacy contribution to this problem.

Different systemic barriers have been put in place by the US government against minority racial groups such as Latinos. For instance, young Latino girls were not allowed to get back to school after getting pregnant. Whereas white girls received support from the government through universal healthcare insurance when they were pregnant, young Latino girls were left on their own. The whites had a popular slogan for Latino girls If you got popped, you got dropped, implying that if Latino girls get pregnant, they are dropped by the system (Rosa, 36). This is a clear indication that systemic barriers hindered the development of Latinos into professionals and instead pushed them into prostitution and gang life.

Rosa writes about Sounding Like a Race in the books second part. In this section, the author tries to show how bilingual Latinos are incapable of speaking either good English or Spanish. In their socialization or places of employment, the children are not exposed to sufficient language practices, which contributes to their weak language practices (Rosa 127). The US system has marginalized bilingual students, referred to as English learners. Therefore, bilingual skills are made to look like the problem affecting Latinos from having good English proficiency. Hence, the students must learn the good English language as quickly as possible to avoid being profiled or being referred to as language-less. The ideology of language-less-ness is used to strongly racialize students who speak more than one language as linguistically weak. However, to overcome this challenge, the students adopted inverted Spanglish, whereby they could integrate the Spanish language into English and stop the stigmatization.

The author has used interviews and case studies to prove his facts. She uses the interrelated contexts of Northwest Highschool in the City of Chicago. The school has 90% Mexican and Puerto Rican, which makes the data collected valid because, in this case, they can express themselves freely (Rosa 8). Additionally, the school has a diverse pool of students from Mexican, and Puerto Rico improves the validity of the data because they are the ones who experience linguistic challenges. In most cases, the author has used stories such as students confessions to describe the experiences of Latino students. However, the author should have used studies from other places with Latino students to ascertain if they still have similar experiences. Using a school in Chicago and generalizing the results may have biased results. Therefore, there is a need for the study to be done in other areas in the US and determine if Latino students undergo the same linguistic problems.

This masterpiece is well organized, whereby the author has divided it into two parts; the first part comprises three chapters that discuss Looking Like a Language, and the second part has three chapters that discuss the ideologies of Sounding Like a Race. This shows that the two main ideas have been equally covered and well distributed in the book. The book is well-written and outlines everything clearly. The author has avoided repetition in the context of the book and provided her content understandably and consistently. This book can appeal to educators and researchers who want to help come up with ways of solving problems of racialized structures within the learning system and other systems. It was written in 2019, and it is relevant today in showing how Latinos and other marginalized racial groups can overcome the problem of raciolinguistic in society. It also aids the government and system in understanding the challenges faced by minority groups regarding language.

This study is for people who want to understand language challenges for racial minorities. The author proves that although raciolingustic is made to make Latinos feel helpless and victims of oppression, it instead creates a pathway for racial minorities to resist and oblige with the common expectations of Look Like a Language and Sound Like a Race. Therefore, bilingualism is a symbolic racial category associated with weak English proficiency in educational institutions and the community. There is a need for more research to explore the raciolinguistic perspective in other dimensions such as literacy and culture and their intersectionality with language, power, and race.

Works Cited

Rosa, Jonathan. Looking like a Language, Sounding like a Race Raciolinguistic Ideologies and the Learning of Latinidad. Oxford University Press, 2019.

People experience a range of emotions that can have both positive and negative effects. Hence, some of them can become a drive to make a serious decision or start acting. These emotions are the strongest and have an exceptional value. Thus, this work will explore how inner experiences and feelings became the impetus for the action of such famous people as Benedict Arnold and Michael Jordan. Benedict Arnold, the famous military general of the American Revolutionary War, once a supporter and defender of his country, suddenly became associated with such a word as betrayal (White 1). The primary emotion that led to changes in the worldview of the military may have been pride and ambition. The result of these feelings was the fact that Arnold saw an advantage in the British Army that he could get since, in the American Army, his merits were often not evaluated as a man wanted. Thus, the change of attitude towards the army of his native country made him a hermit and significantly reduced all his achievements. The example of the famous basketball player Michael Jordan also perfectly shows how emotions can prompt action. Despite multiple failures and lost games, he became one of the most successful basketball players. By his example, Jordan showed that you need to strive for your goal and how a negative experience can become a drive to achieve great results. It is also worth noting that not only pride, ambition, and despair can cause a desire to act. Therefore, falling in love also can become a strong emotion, which awakens the desire to do everything for another person. In addition, it may be fear that makes people decide on sometimes strange things.

Work Cited

White, David. Benedict Arnold: Two Sides of a Bitter Coin. Social Studies for Kids, 2014, Web.

Jonathan Marks documentary Understanding Race examines the development and function of the notion of race in society. According to Marks (2014), the concept of race was invented to legitimize the enslavement and abuse of Black people and to perpetuate White dominance. The Damer family, for example, endured ongoing prejudice and discrimination, as did many other Black families in Mississippi during the twentieth century (Marks, 2014). This was due to the states deeply rooted segregation and racial supremacy. In Mississippi, Black people experienced extensive economic, political, and social inequities and violent acts of racism such as lynchings, physical abuse, and other types of racial terror. He also explains how the concept of race has been utilized to build social, political, and economic hierarchies and to split people into distinct and unequal groupings. Conversely, scientists contend that human distinctions are only surface-level since they do not represent all humans innate physiological commonalities (Marks, 2014). The human species, Homo sapiens, has great genetic diversity, yet this diversity is minor compared to the overall quantity of genetic information found in each individual. Race is useful because it allows humans to classify and comprehend others and the environment around them straightforwardly and conveniently. It develops a classification scheme that can describe variations in people, such as anatomical traits, cultural behaviors, and social rank (Marks, 2014). This enables people to rapidly and quickly identify people depending on their observed race without obtaining more specific or nuanced facts. However, the expediency of race is frequently sacrificed for accuracy and fairness. Scientific evidence does not support the concept of race as a valid and physiologically based classification system. Alternatively, it is a socially constructed category that has influenced historical, political, and cultural elements. As a result, considerable mistakes and assumptions about persons and groups due to their supposed race might occur. Understanding Race presents a historical and critical perspective on race and its societal role. Mark contends that the concept of race is a social construct that has been used to legitimize slavery and the mistreatment of Black people and preserve White dominance. He also emphasizes the importance of race in perpetuating racial disparities and the societal divide. Individuals can act to challenge and change the systems and institutions that maintain racial inequities and prejudice by studying the history and function of race.

The concept of race is used in society to divide and control people. It establishes a hierarchy in which White people are at the top and persons of color are at the bottom. This classification is used to legitimize uneven treatment toward individuals because of their ascribed racial group and to perpetuate White supremacy and control. This distinction has also been utilized to construct laws, regulations, and organizations that perpetuate racial disparities, such as institutional racism, vote suppression, and the justice system.

Delores Newtons ideology of race is that the concept of race is a social construct created to justify the enslavement and oppression of Black people and to maintain White superiority. She believes that the idea of race has been used to divide people into separate and unequal groups and to create a hierarchical system that perpetuates racial inequalities and discrimination.

Americans were taught that there are three biological races: White, Black, and Asian. This classification was developed during European imperialist expansion and was employed to legitimize the exploitation and abuse of Black people, as well as the forcible expulsion from their homelands of Native Americans, who are closely related to the Asian race. This categorization scheme was also utilized to establish a racial hierarchy, with White people on top and people of color on the bottom.

Reference

Marks, Jonathan. (2014). Understanding Race. [Video]. YouTube. Web.

Research proposal

Over the last years an increased attention has been paid to the race problem in the USA. In spite of the fact that the racial equality is enshrined in the law, the problem still exists. Apart from differences in standards of living, there is an inequality in obtaining education for the representatives of different races. The hypothesis of the given investigation is based on the assumption that representatives of different racial minorities have the reduced access to education.

The main function of education is acquainting children to the prevailing values of society. Simultaneously education performs a function of the social control in the state. In the USA, education is compulsory. Alongside with religion, family, and legislative system education is one of the institutions that promotes the maintaining stability in society. In the USA, as well as in other countries, the level of education has an impact on every sphere of human activity. Some students of secondary schools continue their education in colleges, institutes, and universities obtaining in such a way education in the fields of right, medicine, commerce and other spheres that imply intellectual labor. In such a way, schools and colleges perform the function of some sort of a filter defining the future occupation of a person. There is no need to say that the difference in the level of education means the difference in social standards. In the USA, the educational level depends upon the race.

Theoretical foundation

The most educated groups of the American population are white representatives, followed by Asians, and Black people. The representatives of Latin America close this chain. The methodological foundation of our research project aiming the validation of this statement that is based on the analysis and on the investigation of various sources related to the given topic.

Literature Review

Darling-Hammond, L. (1998). Unequal.Opportunity: Race and Education. Web.

The author of the article emphasizes the difference in the educational achievements between white representatives and minorities students. Rejecting the widely spread opinion that there are equal opportunities in the U.S. system of education, Darling-Hammond argues that the difference in the level of education is stipulated by the fact that since the 1960 most Latinos and African-Americans have received their education in completely segregated schools. The educational possibilities of these schools were rather poor in comparison with that of whites. In such a way, even by the end of the segregation there was a significant difference in students school performance. Even in present days, the two-thirds of the minority students attend those schools. The authors states that despite the efforts of the government, the lack of qualified teachers and deficiencies in curriculum make this disproportion rather significant. There is also a significant difference between the schools for color students in urban and suburban districts.

The author distinguishes between four major factors that have an impact on the educational attainment of students. They are the size of schools, the number of students in classes, the curriculum, and the level of teachers proficiency. The author states that the best education achievement are shown by the students who study in small schools and in small classes. The problem is that minority students are less likely to be educated under such conditions. Darling-Hammond also emphasizes the dependence between the financial and educational levels of students. According to the authors opinion, the possible way out is an implementation of the national program aiming the reducing of teacher shortage and the elaboration of one equal standardized curriculum with equal educational opportunities.

Luo, T. (2009). Education and Wage Differential by Race: Convergence of Divergence? Web.

The author of the given research has made an investigation of the dependence between the incomes of the representatives of various racial groups and the level of their education. Based on the data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Luo states that there is a difference in money investment in education between different race groups. Thus, comparatively with Whites, the representatives of the Asian minority spend more funds for education while Blacks invest less. The author points out the existing difference in wages between various racial groups. Luo states that the Asians are more successful in the labor market while the representatives of Latin America and Blacks are largely involved in badly paid situations.

The author explains this tendency by the higher level of investment of Japanese and Chinese in education. At the same time, the representatives of Latin America have reduced capabilities due to the low levels of schooling. The authors points out the tendency for lightening this situation comparatively with recent years. Now there exists the relational socioeconomic equality between Asians and Whites, while the gap between the representatives of these two groups compared with Hispanic and Blacks is still significant. The majority of Blacks occupational disadvantages are explained by their low level of education. At the same time, the author comes to conclusion that Black college graduates have higher incomes comparatively with Whites due to more working hours.

Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education: Psychologys Contributions to Understanding and Reducing Disparities. (2012). Web.

In the given research enlarges on various psychological aspects of racial disparities in education. Such minorities as African American, Latina and American Indian are less educated in comparison with Whites and Asians Americans. In the given report it is pointed out that there is a similarity in the educational inequalities that are adherent for minority groups. At the same time, some significant divergences are typical for each minority. For instance, the representatives of Latin America are characterized by the large amount of immigrants who have problems with English. The difficulties in education for these concrete group are emphasized by the language gap and by the absence of relevant bilingual programs. The African Americans have problems with discipline that cause various behavioral sanctions.

The authors also points out the problem of the existing stereotypes in education existing in American society. Thus, teachers do not expect good progress from children of color, especially from boys. The similar prejudices exist in relation to girls implying that they have troubles in studying exact sciences. At the same time, the report identifies that many representatives of racial minorities are eager to obtain a qualified education but they do not have relevant opportunities in comparison with Whites.

The report also enlarges on the interdependence between the social status and the access to qualified educational programs. Thus, in several states only families with high incomes can provide their children with good education.

The report points out that the educational level of Asian Americans is similar or in certain cases, it is even higher in comparison with that of Whites. At the same time, the difference between the academic performance of Whites and Latinos is significant. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that immigrants from Asia enter the USA on preferable terms. As a rule, they are educated specialists who are in-demand in their sphere of activity. At the end of the report there are several practical recommendations aiming to expand access to educational programs and reduce ethic and race gap.

The dependence between race and education level

Higher education has always been associated with a high social status, high wages and prestige. At the same time, in American society there is a public concern connected with the educational gap between the representatives of various minority groups. The reasons, which have caused the disparities in educational system, are partially connected with individual characteristics of the representatives of these minorities and partially wiyh the fact of discrimination.

According the data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the investments of the USA into education are higher than that of other OECD countries. At the same time, the vast sums of money spent for education have not resolved the existing problems in this sphere. Now there number of students from racial minorities is constantly increasing and there is a tendency for their future growth. The problem is emphasized by the fact of the significant educational gap between Whites and the representatives of other ethnic communities.

Apart from many racial disparities in health care and legal system, many inequalities have been found in the sphere of education, which can be explained by the social, racial and even psychological factors. The existing prejudices in society in the field of education in a great degree influence the lower educational level of the representatives of Latina and Black communities. Research indicates that teachers and even some parents promote gender stereotypes with lower academic expectations for boys, especially boys of color (Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education: Psychologys Contributions to Understanding and Reducing Disparities, 2012, para.5). These low expectations form parents and teachers lead to the lack of motivation, cause the negative attitude towards the school and the teaching process.

The difference in the educational levels can be observed since early childhood. Thus only small number of children of color aged from three to five of demonstrate good skills in counting, or reading activities. Moreover, comparatively with whites, they have reduced vocabulary. The educational problems continue in schools. As a rule, the staff of the schools serving minority population consists from the less experienced teachers many of whom are even not certified.

Apart from school, the impact of the family to the process of education can hardly be overestimated. Various researches suggest that there is a mutual dependence between the educational level of parents and that of their children.

The problem is that the end of legal segregation has not resolved the educational problem. Every major national test shows a big difference between educational levels of American population. It is quite natural that White and Asian students show significantly better results in comparison with the representatives of Black and Hispanic minorities.

In spite of the various programs, aiming reducing of the educational gap, the fact is that segregation in education still exists. Those school attended by students of color have significantly fewer possibilities in compared with the schools serving whites. This is the case for various aspects, beginning from the poor lecturing staff and up to the lack of the necessary equipment. This problem is especially vital for the Southern states the financial possibilities of which are not very high. The tendency in the difference of educational level may be observed all over the country. However, the strongest disparities are typical for industrial urban regions and they are usually associated with the economically disadvantaged students.

The dependence of the quality of education on the financial well-being has been researched in the works of many investigators. It is supposed that the representatives of minorities with low incomes have the reduced access to educational resources and various programs. The same correlation, which describes the educational diversities, may be found in standards of wages between racial minorities. Asians have higher and Blacks have lower family income than Whites (Luo, 2009, p.53). The difference between the general wage rates of the representatives of various races is illustrated below.

The phenomenon that Asians have higher wages many researchers explaine by socio-cultural factors, rather than by discrimination. In the USA Asians are represented mainly by the descendants from China and Japan. These nations are known by their diligence and ambitiousness. For Asians education has been always associated with high public profile and financial soundness. Luo (2009) states that Asian singles have especially spent much more on higher education than any other groups (p.54).

Moreover, it should be noted that Asians have some privileges in comparison with the representatives of Black or Hispanic communities. As a rule, they are highly skilled professionals involved in top-paying jobs. In such a way, they have better level of the access to educational resources that predetermines the Hispanics relatively high socioeconomic status. On the other hand, the educational difficulties of many representatives of Hispanic community are emphasized by the language gap. English is not the native language for many of them, while the access to bilingual educational programs are reduced because of the low incomes. Conclusion made by several studies suggests that children who receive instruction in their native language have higher rates of academic achievement (Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education: Psychologys Contributions to Understanding and Reducing Disparities, 2012, p.8). Moreover, researches in this sphere have shown several factors that make an influence on the process of education. It has been found out that students perform better if they are educated in smaller schools where they are well known (Darling-Hammond, 1996, par.8). Apart from this, the size of the class is of importance. The most significant factors of successful learning are challenging curriculum and qualified teachers.

Unfortunately, the majority of schools serving minorities are large, reaching approximately 3000 students and even more; classes are big, as well as the quality of teaching materials and curriculum wish to be desired. Nevertheless, in spite of the existing racial disparities in education, in recent times various organizations such as National Commission on Teaching, implement various programs aiming to ensure a qualified teacher for every child.

Introduction

The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) is a competition that aims to promote smooth early learning for all children. The main agenda of this campaign is to address the gap that exists between children with high needs and their peers concerning their readiness for schooling. The Obama Administration has been in the forefront in spearheading efforts to promote proper learning for children with this form of disability.

The targeted children include those from low-income families and kids with disabilities ranging from birth to the age of five years. Scientists term this period as the formative age in a childs life (Spiller, Spyker, & Casavant 2013). Therefore, it is important for children to acquire the necessary capacity that will ensure they are not only ready for school but also that they will have a successful future.

RTT-ELC is concerned about availing information and support to families with the view of preparing them to promote childrens growth and learning. The comprehensive approach employed aims to ensure that each family selects a programme that is best suited for the affected child as a way of further promoting the success of RTT-ELC. High-quality early education and programmes that are designed for children can boost a childs health and social and emotional growth while at the same time improving their readiness for school (Camilli et al. 2010). The Obama Administration focuses on the following key areas: improving the quality of early education and development programmes and increasing access to proper early education for all children, especially those with high or special needs (Miller & Hanna, 2014).

The commitment by the federal government to addressing these early childhood problems is mirrored by the RTT-ELC campaign. This paper will discuss and evaluate the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge with the aim of establishing the success of this policy. It will also present the views of key stakeholders in the education sector regarding the effectiveness of RTT-ELC. Further, the paper will present key recommendations that may be employed to improve the policy.

Background of the RTT-ELC Campaign

On 25th May 2011, the federal government announced a $500million competition dubbed Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) that would bring together states under one common goal of promoting quality early education. This competition was sanctioned under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Departments of Education and Defence would supervise it jointly.

RTT-ELC focused on demonstrating to the states the federal governments commitments to ensuring that children were set on the path of success from an early age. The RTT-ELC was also tailored to help in cutting back at the challenges that children with high needs faced while undergoing or preparing for early childhood education. The desired result would be the creation of a level playground for challenged children to match their peers. Of special interest to RTT-ELC was the need to promote access to quality early learning. States were encouraged to take part in the competition, with the incentive awards in the form of funds being floated (The US Department of Education 2011).

The selection criteria for states to participate was tailored in a manner that only those that were truly dedicated to upholding capacity building and the core mission of RTT-ELC were allowed. These criteria revolved around five key requirements. The first requirement emphasised successful state systems. Second, a state needed to display a high quality and equally accountable programmes. States would also be required to demonstrate their efforts in promoting early education and childrens development outcomes. Fourth, they needed to show the presence of a progressive childhood education workforce, and lastly, have the proper mechanism for measuring outcomes and progress.

Early learning is crucial in the development of children. Kids from low-income families and those requiring special assistance often face challenges regarding access to quality early learning as compared to their peers. Poor early education may result in less-than-average academic achievement for a child in later years, eventually resulting in low accomplishment in life. One way of promoting equality in early learning is through the affirmative action.

This strategy has been observed to be an effective mechanism that if properly employed may promote equality regarding access to education opportunities (Daniel 2012). Different education policies have been designed to promote equality in education through affirmative action. One such policy is the Social Economic Status (SES) plan that was conceived and implemented in the Wake County, North Carolina (Brown 2010). The SES was enacted to eliminate racial inequality by promoting diversity in schools within the county (Brown 2010).

Policymakers on both levels of the government understand that inequality, especially by financial and racial factors, is a major cause of the disparity in early learning. A childs social background has been shown to have a major impact on his or her intellectual capabilities. In his article, Weeden (2004) points out that certain factors such as birth weight and the amount of time kids spent watching television pose a great danger on a childs academic achievement.

Weeden (2004) has also identified poverty as a major cause of low academic achievement among black youths. This trend of low education achievement begins at the early stages of brain development in a child, although it usually manifests itself in the latter stages of a young persons academic life. Lipina and Colombo (2009) have also linked poverty with brain underdevelopment in children. Poverty means that parents spend most of the day working to raise income for the family, a situation that allows them little time to raise their children.

This knowledge puts on weight on both the federal and state governments to establish mechanisms for countering the impact that these challenges pose on the development of the affected childrens capacity. The RTT-ELC was conceived in full appreciation of the need to promote quality early learning. This competition challenges states to establish and implement proper early childhood programs that will confront the hindrances to full childhood development. Because of the nexus between poverty and poor early learning, the efforts of this campaign are centred on reaching low-income families. Policies aimed at reducing poverty concentration in schools have been shown to serve a great role in eradicating inequality in the education sector.

Implementing RTT-ELC

This section will discuss the approaches that have been effectively adopted in addressing the challenge of early learning in line with the RTT-ELC. The first proposal advanced by the Department of Education focuses on the improvement of teachers and the school heads quality of services. States applying for the RTT-ELC were required to demonstrate in their grant applications their approach toward improving the quality of their early education trainers (Miller & Hanna 2014).

In doing so, they would describe the measures they had put in place to improve the manner in which their educators were trained, supported, and evaluated. Educators are an integral part of an education system. Hence, it is imperative to work toward ensuring that they attain quality preparation. Quality training for educators will be transmitted to their learners (Ollerenshaw 2012). The Department of Education places emphasis on evaluation systems, with student growth data being a core factor in this assessment. This data must be used to inform decisions adopted by trainers and school principals.

Another proposal targets the challenges encountered by children from low-income families. Evidence has shown that children from poorer backgrounds are less likely to attend high-quality preschools (Reid & Kagan 2015). States have maintained the goal of bridging this economic challenge through initiating programmes that promote access to quality early education. However, as the question of what constitutes quality education persists, the focus has been on structural components, which include class size, teacher credentials, and the teacher-to-child proportion (Camilli et al. 2010). Recent research points to procedure quality as forming part of quality early learning (Reid & Kagan 2015).

Process quality involves elements such as emotional support and effective teacher-child interaction, which have been linked to better social and cognitive outcomes for children (Reid & Kagan 2015). Further research concerning what constitutes quality education has pointed to the importance of class composition. Concentration of children in high-poverty and high-minority classrooms may result in lower cognitive skills compared to children who are exposed to diverse classrooms.

According to Reid and Kagan (2015, p. 9), The social composition of the student body is more highly related to achievement, independent of the students social background than is any school factor. The findings have been backed by recent research that links race and ethnicity to student achievement (Mickelson, Bottia, & Lambert 2013; Kucsera, Siegel-Hawley, & Orfield 2015). Racially diverse schools report higher student performance when compared to high-minority institutions (Kuscera et al. 2015).

Nevertheless, policies that focus on racial diversity as a means of bridging the achievement gap continue to receive criticism. The opponents of the SES plan adopted to promote racial diversity often argue that the plan poses the risk of compromising the quality of education (Brown 2010). The SES is important in this discussion as it bears a key resemblance to the RTT-ELC as far as attaining diversity in learning institutions is concerned.

The proponents of the SES believe that reducing the high minority composition in classrooms promotes academic achievement among students from poorer backgrounds. While statistical findings have shown this situation to be the case, some parents are opposed to the SES since they claim it sacrifices the quality of education at the expense of promoting racial diversity (Brown 2010). The reason behind the argument by parents is that students travel long distances to the racially diverse schools. Parents opine that this movement exposes children to unnecessary strain, hence interfering with their ability to focus on academic work (Brown 2010).

Views by Key Players Regarding RTT-ELC

This section addresses how key players such as the National Early Childhood Organisations have viewed the policies and proposals outlined under RTT-ELC. The implementation of policy is highly balanced on the attitude and responses expressed by these stakeholders. For this reason, statements by the said organisations are worth reviewing in this policy paper. RTT-ELC received massive support from the stakeholders. The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children wrote in support of the competition.

The organisation termed RTT-EL as an opportunity to raise the quality of education, as well as access to early learning for children (The US Department of Education 2011.). The organisation further pledged to work with the two Departments in ensuring that homeless children actively enrolled in early education programmes. ZERO TO THREE, a non-profit organisation involved in preparing policymakers, professionals, and parents on ways of improving the lives of children, also showed support for the ELC grants.

States have also shown support for RTT-ELC through active preparation for participation in the RR-ELC challenge. For instance, Massachusetts and Oregon have directed RTT-ELC grants in the fight against homelessness (Lieberman 2014). The Massachusetts Coordinated Family & Community Engagement Programme has been engaged in educating families about the importance of early childhood education.

On the other hand, Oregon has channelled the RTT-ELC funds toward establishing early learning facilities that are aimed at increasing school readiness in the state (Lieberman 2014). The move is keen on reaching homeless children in the state. North Carolina has created a system known as The North Carolina Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Transformation Zone (RTT-ELC TZ), which aims at integrating all components of the early learning system (Yazejian et al. 2015). RTT-ELC has been instrumental in implementing its goals within the state.

Discussion

RTT-ELC is a unique $4.35 billion programme that was created to boost early learning at the state level (Miller & Hanna 2014). It is designed to encourage states to adopt innovative approaches that will result in a robust early learning environment. Policymakers who designed the RTT-ELC were specifically keen on closing achievement gaps in early learning institutions by providing a level playground for all children. RTT-ELC is unique not only for the huge amount of funds involved but also because it challenges states to rethink the traditional approaches to early learning (Miller & Hanna 2014). One of the key components of the policy is longitudinal data systems. These data systems make it easy for policymakers to monitor the implementation progress of RTT (Miller & Hanna 2014).

Initially, a major requirement for states that intend to enrol for the competitive grant was the need to demonstrate efforts at improving their domestic early learning environment. This requirement was an important measure to ensuring the funds were only rolled out to states that were ready to fully utilise the grant in line with the goals of RTT. Applications for the grant by the states were made in three phases. In total, 45 states applied for the RTT grant.

The funds were rolled out in the three phases, with Delaware and Tennessee being the winners of Phase 1. Phase 2 winners included Florida, District of Colombia, Georgia, Maryland, Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Ohio. Phase 3 which was rolled out in December 2011 saw Arizona, Illinois, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania as the winners.

Research by Miller and Hanna (2014) indicates the notable improvements in early learning across the states, which actively participated in the RTT. Many low-performing schools in these states recorded impressive results within a short period. This notable success in RTT states may be attributed to the deliberate efforts in the said states to close the early learning achievement gap. Many of these states reported that RTT resulted in improved performance for both educators and learners (Miller & Hanna 2014). One of the proposals by the US Department of Education was that states focus on improving instructors skills. Because of improving teacher effectiveness, states have been able to attain high achievement in early learning institutions over a short period (The US Department of Education 2011).

Recommendations

States should work to ensure that diversity is achieved in preschool classrooms. An integrated preschool classroom should include children from both high-income and low-income families, as well as kids from different ethnic backgrounds. As noted earlier, the concentration of children in high-poverty classrooms has been attributed to low cognitive skills in these children. Importantly, the concept of socio-economic status may not be easily separable from racial disparity.

Most of the low-income institutions are almost invariably found within minority communities. Therefore, there is the need to promote racial diversity in early learning institutions as an additional effort to address income disparity. Racial diversity has been attained in learning institutions through deliberate efforts to desegregate the previously segregated schools. Segregation in institutions of learning resulted in an unfair distribution of learning resources, including instructors.

For instance, the previous white schools had the best facilities while the black schools lacked in the most basic learning equipment and their instructors were barely qualified (Brown 2010). This trend has extended to early learning institutions to the extent of resulting in poor early learning for children from minority communities, which also happened to come from poor backgrounds. Reversing this trend will require a reduction of the high concentration of high-minority classrooms by bringing together children from across the races.

Secondly, there is the need to ensure that early childhood educators possess the necessary skills to guarantee quality training to children. This goal will be achieved by offering competitive training to these educators, as well as school principals. Teacher-child interaction has been credited as an important learning opportunity for a child. Potential instructors should also be encouraged to evaluate themselves based on their interest in working with children.

States may offer voluntary pre-college seminars where applicants who wish to undertake early childhood courses are educated on the unique children needs. Potential instructors must appreciate that they may be the first adults that children will interact with outside their immediate families. Separation from family is often a challenging time for a child. An instructor must be willing and equipped to assist such a child to adapt to the new environment. Another approach is to improve facilities in pre-schools that are found in low-income areas.

Conclusion

The RTT-ELC was designed to address the various challenges that undermine equality in the education sector. The RTT-ELC policy focused on promoting access to early learning for children from low-income families, as well as those with disabilities. The programme was reported to have attained huge success in various states such as Massachusetts and North Carolina. This success resulted from deliberate efforts employed by states to bridge the achievement gap in early learning institutions. As observed, schools in the low-income areas have lagged behind in terms the quality of learning facilities.

Effectively, children from the low-income areas continue to receive early education in this academically hostile climate, a situation that limits their chances of attaining full academic development. Upgrading these institutions is an important measure in ensuring a level playground for all children, which is the drive behind RTT-ELC. Trainers in these preschools should also be highly qualified and trained to achieve the necessary teacher-child interaction.

References

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