The Power of Race
November 3, 2009 - 3:00am
In Thomas J. Espenshade’s new
book: No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal:
Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life, he
has raised several searches and interviews, trying to find out whether scores
would be swayed according to the races, class ranks, castes and ethnicity
groups. Besides, his findings also include the exploration on cross-culture
interactions between students. The findings have come up with some ideas. Such
as “More than half of black students and nearly one-third of Latino students
who graduated from the colleges studied, for example, finished in the bottom
quintile of their classes.” However, the author has preserved an attitude of
neutrality by announcing that there is no clear conclusion for his findings.
As I recall when Alexander
stated an opinion about mass incarceration, he argued against “racial caste
system” since “we may have classed in the United States, but we do not, many
will insist, have anything in this country that resembles a
‘caste’”(Introduction, p12, Alexander). However, in Espenshade’s findings, He
said “the table uses ACT scores for public institutions and SAT scores for
privates. The "norm" score was considered white for the race section,
and middle class for the class section.” In my opinion, Making one race or one
class as a norm, and then fitting other races and colors into this norm is a kind
of caste. Whichever that being considered below the norm will inevitably be put
into a sub-rank.
Moreover, Espenshade’s has talked about the “advantages” and
“disadvantages” of some groups of people. “The ‘advantage’ referred to…is what
it would take to have equivalent odds of admission, after controlling for other
factors. So the table's figure of a 3.8 black ACT "advantage" means
that a black student with an ACT score of 27 would have the same chances of
admission at the institutions in the study as a white student with a score of
30.8.” And when it comes to Asians, Espenshade said: “…such factors explain
some of the apparent SAT and ACT disadvantage facing Asian applicants.”
On one
hand, it reminds me of the “stereotype”. I still remember the picture of an
Asian boy who wears thick glasses, holding a bunch of books. The score system,
which treats diverse races differently, is subconsciously emphasizing and transmitting
the information and the image that black students are less competitive than
other students and Asians are book nerds. On the other, it also shows discrimination.
Even Asian students did better in exams, they still have no superiority because
of the equivalent odds of admission.
What do you think after reading
the article? Do you think racism exists in the scores? Do you agree with the “advantages”
and “disadvantages” shown in the equivalent odds of admission have reinforced
the stereotype to some extent? If you are able to make some differences of this
system, you will keep it or modify it？
As a counterargument I would use the findings by researchers where, eg in the English tests on GED, the language applied and scored upon is a language predominately of white elites, and seldom to never being found, narrated/verbalized in communities of color -or poor white communities-; thus the predicament: discrimination not against people of color ALONE, but also against ALL the poor. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteTo the question of scoring and standardized testing, I think standardized testing does not give a true indication of anyone's knowledge or ability to complete school work. It does not take into consideration one's professional or personal experiences, the knowledge gained through those experiences, or the application of that knowledge in real-life situations.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting piece of this article to me was the data presented about graduation rates and class rank by race and economic status. The author states that, "The average six-year graduation rates for these institutions is 89 percent, with Asian students most likely to graduate (92 percent) and black students the least likely (78 percent). Similarly, those from the upper classes are more likely (90 percent) to graduate than those from working class families (79 percent)." The author lays out the class ranking by race and economic class separately showing that races rank as follows: White (highest), Asian (second), Hispanic (third) and Black (lowest). And by class, as follows: Upper and upper middle class (highest), Middle class (second and not far behind upper class), and Lower and working class (lowest and by a large gap). My question is, how does race relate to class when considering class rank and graduation rates? Is anyone taking into consideration the fact that Whites and Asians may make up the majority of the Upper and upper middle class, thus the reason these two races rank higher than the other two races? Is the relationship between class and race together being considered a factor in graduation rates and class ranking?
This report is interesting because it shows that Asians and lower-class students are being penalized for performing well On ACT and SAT tests. I'm surprised that lower-class students are penalized while upper-middle-class white students are not. To me it is counterintuitive that students who are afforded the best schools and the most opportunities are not penalized. In reality minority students are frequently in school districts that do not have the best resources, the best teachers, or the best opportunities. Attempting to use ACT and SAT scores as an equalizer is a little too late and does not address the real cause of unequal education in the United States. Unfortunately, to address this issue would require all of society particularly the dominant white society to address core issues of white privilege. Recently, Colorado public radio has been discussing the phenomenon of segregated education in Denver even in the 21st-century. While many would like to believe that segregation ended during the civil rights era this is not so. According to the report, school district lines have consistently been moved so that school districts remain segregated. Furthermore, the interviewee noted that minority students and communities live in the poorest areas of the Denver school district and continue to attend the worst schools.
ReplyDeleteI used to be opposed to affirmative action until I understood that our education system is not fair and equal. I am appalled to learn that any student is penalized because of their race. In essence, based on race alone, those students are expected to perform better than all other students. As Thandie Newton mentioned in her Ted talks, race is not a biological phenomenon. Also, Asians are being unfairly penalized regardless of social class and economic class.
I did not realize that the Supreme Court had limited affirmative-action to 25 years. Perhaps, it was with great foresight that they intended to review affirmative action after sometime. It may be that our society is ready, after that 25 years, to consider the even greater changes that are truly needed to create an equal educational system for all.