Race and Ethnicity: Racial Stratification and Education & Beyond Black and White

While reading Racial Stratification and Education, I was shocked to learn some of things that were written in the passage. I use to think that if you have people in the same social class as you, that your education level would also be similar, but reading this proved me wrong. I read that during a correlational study that "black" children at every class level do less well on standardized test than the "white" children. And this is saying something about our educational system and its issues. This is going to the bigger issue of inequality for many black children because of the lack of resources, segregation and unequal access to education. Another interesting point in the reading was that many African Americans don't feel as they are treated fairly when it comes to employment in qualifying jobs. Although I've personally never seen this unfair treatment I definitely know that it still goes on today. Studies have shown that African Americans feel that in order to take education serious, that one must then give up being "black" (culture beliefs, values,styles of speech(slang), appearance and preference). And I feel that it's an important point because it goes back to what we have spoke about this semester on what is important to us as individuals and our culture, and I can't help but ask myself, if I have to give up all the things mentioned above to get a higher education, is it worth it?

The other reading that is called Beyond Black and White: Remaking a Race in America and what this article was talking about was how we as a nation is changing our view on race. While reading I learned that before the 2000 census there was only black and white for a choice when deciding what a child was based on race if the child had intermarried parents. And now with the rise of intermarriage in our country where as in the past dating back to the 60's where there was hardly any and some states (16 in total) had even banned it (and almost at all times  back then interracial couples where frowned upon) they now are adding different races to choose from on the census. Even though in present day interracial couples are sometimes still frowned upon with certain cultures,religions and families who are very traditional, it is much more accepted now than it was in the past for many. Probably one of the most important paragraphs in the reading talks about how the increase in intermarriage, and the growth of multiracial population reflect a blending of races and a shifting of color lines among people. And since multiracial identification indicate a reduction in social distance and racial prejudice, these phenomena provide evidence of loosening racial boundaries which demonstrates how a society adapts and changes over time.