•According to Time magazine, the U.S. Federal Government contributes only 9 cents of every dollar spent on schools in the U.S. (2). The lack of funding in urban areas produces an inferior education. What happens to parents who pay a great amount in property taxes in the cities, yet hesitate to send their children to the city’s public schools because they know the expectations and quality of education are substandard? What happens to the students who have no choice but to attend the local city public school, which is saturated in a culture of failure?
•The following, most troubling facet of our educational system in the U.S. is one that is widely known and commonly ignored: “This results in better quality schools in primarily white suburban communities, while primarily African American and Hispanic communities in the inner-cities do not receive adequate funding or government attention” (3). Why is this incredible fact ignored? It is because students in low-income schools are hardly ever depicted in a positive manner. Urban youth are dehumanized as criminals and undeserving of a quality education, not to mention the cruel stereotypes with which Hispanic and African-American children are branded. According to Media Awareness Network, “Stereotypes…can perpetuate social prejudice and social inequality. More often than not, the groups being stereotyped have little to say how they are represented (4).”
•“Stereotypes often result from a lack of personal familiarity or interaction with people from other racial and ethnic groups. The media also tends to reinforce negative stereotypes of African-Americans and non-whites (5).” We believe that assimilation is what we must do to negate the heavily reinforced stereotypes in existence. We are tired of how teenagers, certain races, and urban youth are perceived in our society, and we want to show that these perceptions are wrong. To make any kind of change in the educational system and the way it is funded, we want to show what I saw in my five years of teaching: that these students are just like everyone else and that they truly want to learn and succeed in life. We must show the U.S. that these students deserve an equal education. we want to do this by introducing these students just as they are and to give the voiceless a voice.
