Even though all citizens in the United States have equal rights, Latinx students as well as other students of color have been facing difficulties that were created before the civil rights bills were passed. Latinx students face a large array of problems when it comes to the United States education system as they don’t always have the resources that they need in order to succeed. Not only that, but Latinx students also face a challenge while they try to understand a difficult curriculum that was not created specifically for them. The United States education system has not changed its curriculum or had any reform in order to be able to meet the needs of students of color and their families. Through this issue of no reform or seeing of needs, Latinx students often face the difficulty of having to drop out of school due to a lack of environment that allows them to succeed in their schools. Recent scholarship focuses on how Latinx students have never had education equality as well as how school reform could help Latinx students out immensely. The sources I am analyzing should be taken into account as they are able to emphasize the struggles that the Latinx community and students of color face every day, as well as give their own suggestions and experiences on how reform will help.
This analysis starts off with historian Ray Rist’s “Color, Class, and the Realities of Inequality”. Rist viewed the Brown vs the Board of Education anti segregation laws that stopped the segregation of schools. However, Rist was able to notice that even though anti segregation laws were passed, there were still the issues of integration as well as a school curriculum that was not made for students of color. Another key area that Rist talked about is how the United States was continuing to keep its racist ways and not assist any student that wasn’t white. The education that Ray Rist received was an education at Washington University where he had graduated with a degree in Sociology and Anthropology. Rist ends his analysis with his suggestions for education reform as well as assistance for students of color to be integrated into schools. Rist’s work falls in line with my research questions as the concept of integration for students of color is an issue that has not been solved even today. This issue connects with Rist’s other point regarding how the education curriculum in the United States was not made for students of color. What these two points argue is that without reform, Latinx students as well as other students of color can not be fully integrated into schools unless there is a change in every school’s curriculum.
In support of Rists work, Ali Borjian wrote about how school reform really changed students’ views on their education curriculum as well as their teachers. Borjian argues that with the necessary changes to the school, then students who might have difficulty learning or being able to complete their work would often succeed and do much better. This supports Ray Rist’s work as Ali Borjian was taking the steps to the next level and analyzing how the changes in the school actually helped Latinx students. Borjian also emphasized the concept of communication with students who might not have English as their first language because there are so many different needs that each student has, and without communication then it is impossible for some of these students to succeed. This falls in line with my research question because it shows how one school had to change their entire school and make it smaller in order to be able to focus on students who are having difficulty. This school also started to build much stronger bonds with all of the students in order to create a more friendly and successful environment.
Another source that contributes to what Rist and Borjian were saying, is the work done by Katherine Reed. Reed was able to use a study from 2002 as well as form her own small studies to examine how immigration incorporation should fall closely in line with school incorporation. What Reed is trying to say here is that many students who might have not been born in the US and or are ethnic seem to always be treated as a non American. Reed wants to have the process of integration into schools that Rist was focusing on as well, as even though segregation is not allowed anymore, it doesn’t mean that everything is perfect for students of color. Latinx students are often at the tail end of this though as they are always treated as immigrants and never as a United States citizen. Reed is able to utilize her information to be able to explain that school incorporation is able to build a sense of community that many students with ethnic backgrounds can’t find in many majority white areas. A sense of community is always needed for students because without one, one feels alone and oftentimes refuses to ask for help.
In conclusion to my research, all three articles provided strong facts and evidence that allow for light to be shed on the fact that Latinx students do not have an environment that benefits them. Rist’s work was able to identify the fact that even though segregation was made illegal, many school curriculums did not change for the students of color that could enroll in schools. Borjian’s work pointed out the great effects of his experience changing a school system in order to benefit all of the students. Reed emphasized the fact that a sense of community and lack of ethnic courses in the United States both play a role in how Latinx students live. The experience that all of these scholars had was able to provide a better understanding of experiences as well as potential reform in the United States.
- Rist, Ray C. “Color, Class, and the Realities of Inequality.” Society 33, no. 3 (April 3, 1996): 32–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02716565.
- Reed, Katherine. “School Incorporation and High School Completion among Latino Youth.” American Journal of Education 121, no. 3 (May 2015): 347–79.
- Borjian, Ali. “A New Approach in Meeting the Needs of Latinos in American Schools: Students’ Views on Attending a Redesigned Small High School.” International Journal of Learning 15, no. 2 (June 2008): 277–85. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v15i02/45642.