An Interesting Rant: Latin@ Uprisings in Education

Latin@s and Education; The hateful speech and harmful headlines would suggest that the two have nothing in common.  Luckily, we have history to counter the misguided sections of our population.  For example, one hundred high school and college students looked on with eyes and ears directed at Martha Villegas Miranda, this year’s Latin@ Student Alliance Latin@ Student Empowerment Conference keynote speaker, who reminded the students that their ancestors had always been educated.  She asked students what the most prestigious college in the United States was in their opinion. All of the students agreed on Harvard.  To the student’s amazement, Martha shared that the first university in the Western Hemisphere was in the Dominican Republic in 1538, which opened nearly one hundred years before Harvard had its first classes in 1636.  Clearly there has been a disconnect with our past.  Too often we, as Latin@s, are unaware of our connection to education. 

                

            Homework: Go and read about the Calmecac in Tenochtitlan or the first university known to human kind in Timbuktu in Africa (if you are asking yourself why I include Africa when I speak about Latin@s then please see the influence and importance of Afro-Latinos to begin to scratch the surface).  At any rate, after your research; you will find that the Latin@, has always been prone to intellectual thought and inquiry.  This fact becomes overshadowed when one turns on the corporate news stations and hears the harmful misconceptions as well as stereotypes forced on Latin@s. Let’s explore a couple of issues:

Currently, roughly thirty-two percent of Latin@ students age 18-24 in the U.S. attends a 2-year, 4-year, or vocational institution of higher learning, according to the PewResearch Hispanic Center.  First, we should be vigilant of the idea of cultural deficiency – which basically means considering a group (i.e. Latin@s) on a lower status when viewing them and their actions – in other words buying into the stereotypes that Latin@s are uneducated low-skilled worker-types whose status keeps them lower in the hierarchy of the US.  As an example; In the HBO movie Walkout (2006) Alexa Vega portrays Paula Crisostomo, the young Chicana student leader of the walkouts, who brings her principal a list of student demands for necessary changes of the school’s policy towards Chican@ students in East Los Angeles schools. The principal takes the list to the Chicano teacher Sal Castro who the former accuses as the mastermind of the plot and the author of the student demands.  The principal committed a cultural deficiency offense.  He did not believe the students could have the intelligence and sense to write a concise letter with student concerns and demand change.  In other words, because they were Chican@s they could not have informed actors to change their situation.

¿Me cachan? Do you get what I’m saying? Can you feel me?  However you say it, the message is clear.  If we take this deficiency model into account, we see that the institution has had a history of looking at Latin@s differently from their white counterparts.  Think about your own personal experience in an Anglo dominated school, have you felt the same treatment as your white counterparts? Look at your school, what are the percentages of Latin@ students and Latin@ teachers/administrators?  If the school is thirty percent Latin@, why isn’t it mandatory to have Latin@ studies programs?  The programs would benefit not only the Latin@ students, but also the non-Latin@ students who share a community with Latin@s. Below I have thrown down with some stats from the Illinois Interactive Report Card, based out of NIU: 

Latin@s	STATE (IL)	CPS (299)	Mendota (280)
Teachers	5.4%	15.3%	2.6%
Students	25%	44.3%	27.6%
Total Population of Students	2.1 million	400,931	627

¿Que piensen? What can we do about this? Educáte.

Let’s backtrack…So great we have thirty-two percent of Latin@s ages 18-24 are enrolled in some kind of post-secondary education/training. We cannot take students accomplishments of enrolling in these institutions away from them, No One has the power do this.  However, we should not expect anything less than educational success from a culture with a history of educated people.  On the other hand, according to the PewResearch Hispanic Center, “in 2010, only 13% of [Latin@s] 25- to 29-year-olds had completed at least a bachelor’s degree.”  We can conclude that although it is an achievement to graduate high school and earn one’s GED, but it is another issue when obtaining one’s Bachelor’s Degree, vocational certificate, etc. As it was explained to me, ‘If by 2050, Latin@s will be the majority, then how can we expect to lead a country if we only have 13% of our people holding only BA’s?’ Interestingly enough, just because we will be the majority does not mean we will be in power nor will this mean that we will finally have justice, just ask the South African apartheid survivors – they were also the majority of the population, but a minority in the sectors of power and decision making process.

Solutions? Thanks for asking…Many of our hermanitas/os need some help with their homework.  They could also use some positive educated Latin@ role models, mentors, or genuine listeners…Do any of you Latin@ college students or high school students know of where we can find some educated Latin@s who are attempting to better themselves, their families, and their communities? If you do...we got some work to be done in the community.  But who will listen to me? If we are still talking cultural deficient, than I’m just a ranting Chicano.  Although I am a Chicano with a couple good ideas, a lot of energy, y un gran compañera...  Oralé pues.

The Political Minority: The Most Effective Way for Change

     Change, a subject which is preached, wanted, but often never followed through. Many people agree that regime change is needed for several aspects in today's government. Hot topics especially include foreign policies as well as immigration laws and reforms. An example would be the continous debates about Mexican immigration to the United States. Several of the factors that are discussed when this issue is address is the policy the government has towards illegal immigrants, visas, deportations and many more. However, it appears that less people are going about the reformation the wrong way, do not have a compelling argument, or even have a true voice which could recognize their claim and work to get it fixed.
     An example would be from the movie Walkout in which several students organized a walkout of the school in order to send a message to the School Board and others that the conditions and rules of the school are an injustice. These students, first radical, became organized by several different groups, teachers, and other students in order to make the injustice known and done so legally. It is important for issues such as these to not be handled radically because just like the movie did it, the facts and intentions may become twisted and untrue, to the point where the credibility of the argument is lost. There have been several instances where issues are addressed and either major protests or events occur that changes the way people think and even the issues themselves. There are several other media outputs that address issues like these such as Stand and Deliver or Freedom Writers. Even during my lifetime there have been major protests such as the major marches that occurred after the H.R. 4437 law was passed which incremented penalties towards illegal immigrants.
     However as much social media outlets say, as much people heavily influenced by their culture, or even educated people there are, change is not done by simply complaining nor rebellion. It is understandable for the want for change to come quickly and easily but it is not done so due to lack of understanding. One way that does work though is politically. Politicians are the people who are suppose to be the voice of the people and the carriers of any aspirations the people want or deserve and should push for them to other Politicians to make it legal or illegal. It is through Politics that people see the most change and it is the way I believe change should be conducted and needs to be conducted in order to solidify the change, make it legal, make it known, make it right, and make it for everyone.
     I live in a country which is a melting pot of different cultures and with a government that's suppose to be by the people, for the people. That is why I agree with Rodolfo O. de La Garza when he states that, "Latinos become more settled into American society, they develop more realistic views of the polity and society," (2004, 94). However no matter how realistic or fantasize the wants or views are, they will not be legitimize nor recognized. However the unjust laws and other beliefs can unless they are reformed. An example would be how U.S. policies such as N.A.F.T.A. (Northern American Free Trade Agreement), force Mexican migration such as that of Smithfield taking the jobs of pig handlers that were once massive in Veracruz Mexico. There are also several other laws and groups such as Dream Act, the Bracero Program, and even quotas from I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) that need to deport a certain amount of immigrants by years end. These are all issues which do reflect Social issues and some Economic, but the way to dissolve or aid them is through the Political standpoint.
     It is through the political system in which change will come not through rebellion. Though protest are effective too, they are more towards getting the attention of politicians or significant figures which could change what is needed legally. As a Mexican-American, I understand and love my culture and acknowledge the faults that come with policies created. However, it does myself nor any others who can relate any good complaining and moping about the situation. Instead what needs to be done is like in Walkout  or Stand and Deliver or any movies with the same message, the first step is becoming aware, then organized, then educated enough to be able to become the leader of the group with a causal argument that is compelling, credible, and rationalize. Complaining doesn't help anything, nor does attempting to be an activist on a small scale. Sure you may gain some supporters but from there an escalation is needed to back up the claims and prove to all not just others of the same situation that these issues must addressed and dealt with fairly. I agree that much like others did in the de La Garza reading that the situation is dire in Mexico but just like how reformation needs to be done here the same goes for the issues in Mexico. Mexican can not always rely on the United States or other means of escape forever, nor should they. Though I agree they are very beneficial to the United States, they are not being all they could be for Mexico. Which is why the first step to changing an injustice is getting mad, getting aware, educated, and involved!

The Racial Gap in Higher Education

Over the years there has been a gap between different races when it comes to high school completion and higher education. In the last few decades, most races have seen a jump in high school completion. High school completion rates are shown by race in the table below.

Race	High School Completion Rate
Asians	91%
Whites	88%
African Americans	78%
American Indians	72%
Hispanics	71%

Although Hispanics have the lowest high school completion rate, they have seen the largest increase among other races while African Americans have seen the lowest. On the other hand, all races have seen a rise in college enrolment rates. So what is the problem? The problem is that there is still a large gap in higher education enrollment at colleges and universities between races. In addition to racial gaps, studies have shown even larger gaps between genders. More women have been enrolling in higher education than men over the last two decades.

There are many reasons for the higher education enrollment gaps between races. Dr. JoAnn Canales, the Dean of Graduate Studies at Texas A&M University states the problem primarily lies in the “increasing cost of higher education and the lack of sufficient financial aid targeted to low-income students.” Canales also believes “the lack of people to mentor these young students” is a major reason for the racial gap in enrollment. Inner city schools with high Latino populations tend to lack experienced teachers and are not well equipped with school supplies such as schools found in wealthier communities and suburbs. Parents want to provide a better education for their children, but improvements need to be made in lower education levels in order for students to continue to grow as they get older.

With the recent jump in Hispanic enrollment rates at colleges and universities, we are finally seeing improvements in education between races. After watching the film “Walk Out,” I was able to get a better idea of how serious the problem was between race and education. I learned that it is important for students to have mentors who guide them towards a better education and success. Every student should receive an equal education and opportunity for higher education. At the recent Latino Institute’s annual conference, Yvette Donado, Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Educational Testing Service, explained it best. She said, "People are coming together, sacrificing, demonstrating that Latinos have proven to be self-sufficient and contributing members of the American society. They are law-abiding, hard-working, entrepreneurial and devoted to family. The only thing they want is an equal chance to live the American dream."

http://diversity.ucsc.edu/resources/images/ace_report.pdf

http://www.voxxi.com/latinos-higher-education-attainment

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/4/11/the_future_of_hispanics_in_higher.htm

Success in Education for Latinos

In relation to being expected to fail in the workforce, the same goes for education in regards to Latinos. There is an assumption that Latinos will not succeed in higher education. “Young Latinos are satisfied with their lives, optimistic about their futures and place a high value on education…yet they are much more likely than other American youths to drop out of school …These are attitudes and behaviors that, through history, have often been associated with the immigrant experience. But most Latino youths are not immigrants. Two-thirds were born in the United States, many of them descendants of the big, ongoing wave of Latin American immigrants who began coming to this country around 1965.” (Pew Hispanic Center)   Latinos are expected, by society, to fail and to be inferior due to what is seen in statistics. Unfortunately, most of the time the issue remains a problem within society; not the Latino race. Due to the expectation of failure – Latinos, and poverty based minority schools lack the proper resources, and information needed to succeed in higher education.  

. It is imperative that society begins to support rather than discourage. With the proper information and help, Latinos are succeeding and the negative statistics are decreasing; “The college enrollment of Latinos is projected to increase faster than other groups.”(Santiago, A Deborah.) Not only will higher education help Latinos succeed, but it will help close equity gaps throughout the United States. “Latino educational attainment is crucial for the U.S. to meet its future societal and workforce needs for three main reasons: 1) the Latino population is growing rapidly and will make up a greater percent of the U.S. population by 2020; 2) Latino educational attainment is currently lower than that of other groups; and 3)many economically competitive jobs in the U.S. will soon require education beyond a high school degree…Latinos will have to earn 5.5 million degrees to close equity gaps…”(Santiago, A Deborah.)

Now there is an increase in organizations that support and encourage success for Latinos specifically in higher education. An example of this would be conferences held by ILACHE, or Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education. This conference consists of keynote speakers, and presentations that inform both students and administrators what can be done to ensure success. The presentations offer a variety of information such as, how to advance student retention, how to define and realize personal dreams, how to manage money properly throughout an educational career, and knowledge that should be known when entering higher education that is not usually taught in high school. It is a very inspirational experience that encourages Latinos to fight against the negative statistics and prove that success can be reached. ILACHE also offers scholarships to students who display a great amount of community service, hard work, and ambition. My own experience at the ILACHE conference gave me inspiration to continue with my education regardless of the doubts that people have of me, and obstacles that I may encounter along the way.

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2009/12/11/between-two-worlds-how-young-latinos-come-of-age-in-america/

http://ilache.com/

Differences in Education Among Whites and Latinos

Coming into college, there was always the talk of ACT scores and grades that some classmates and I got coming out of high school. There was a very interesting pattern that I noticed when talking to people from different areas, and more importantly, different races. I spoke to some of my Hispanic friends, some of my white friends, and a couple of Asian friends. Just in random conversation, we began talking about how well we did in school, and some of the better scores that people in their classes got. Of course, there were those who were extremely smart, and then there were those who were not so smart.

            To start, I came into college thinking I had a fairly good ACT score, with a composite of 24. As I spoke to my roommate, he began to tell me about how people in his class did. Let us keep in mind that my roommate has a German background. We began talking, and he mentioned that some of the “dumber” kids ended up getting something like a 26 or a 27 composite on the ACT. As I began to think about what this meant, I thought back to my graduating class, and what the highest ACT score was. There was this one girl, she was the smartest of the class, graduating with above a 4.0 GPA, this girl had gotten a 28 on her ACT. This did not make any sense to me, the smartest girl in our school got only one point higher than the lowest in my roommate’s class? I asked him what his ACT score was, and he replied with a 29. Once I asked my other friends (Asians and Hispanics), they replied with something similar to those test scores that people in my graduating class received.

            After this talk, I began to ask myself a couple of questions about how my school could be different in any way to his school, and what may have been some factors to his school doing better. The first and most obvious answer was that his school was predominantly white, while my school was over 90% Latino. Second, we talked about his school and the types of teachers he had. His school was a catholic school, and the teachers in his school got paid minimum, meaning that they were probably teaching out of passion, not for the money. Once we discussed these two points, I began to think about how exactly it can be possible for the majority of his graduating class to do so much better than most of my graduating class.

            My idea behind this is that perhaps since most catholic schools are considered private schools, the students attending catholic schools feel the need to do far better in school. Another interesting this that I found was that my roommate does things like read for fun. Back in my school, only the smart kids, which was only the top five students, would read for fun. I never found myself reading for fun, or even reading that much when I had to for that matter. I am sure that family motivation has something to do with it as well. My mother never told me to continue reading, and to do the best that I could. My roommate on the other hand, I am sure his parents were paying top dollar for his attendance at his school, so that probably led them to tell their son to do his best. Another possibility could be that since his family (white) has been around in the US for a longer time, he comes from a more educated background, while I come from a family where the highest grade reached was the third grade. Race is a key difference because I noticed things that he tells me about his family are things completely opposite to my family. For example, his grandmother at some point owned land in Germany, they later sold it and got a lot of money off of it. My family, on the other hand, had to leave school so that they can work in order to be able to survive in Mexico.

Make this dream a REALITY

Education

    

        I think that a major problem with education amongst Latino students is the fact that there aren’t as many opportunities for undocumented students. While I do understand that there are newly founded programs designed to help undocumented students get an education, but I feel that those programs have taken too long. Not many universities work with students who don’t have a visa. According to the “Choosing Hispanic-Serving Institutions” students typically choose colleges that are closer to home so they can commute from home. I feel that a reason students choose colleges that way could be because they’re undocumented and can’t afford to live on campus. Being undocumented could also be a reason that students choose to go to a community college over a four-year university. There should be more universities offering help to those undocumented students but are in good academic standing. Regardless of the citizenship of the student should be able to get the same opportunities as students born in the US. I don’t think its fair that undocumented students aren’t given as many privileges, they could not choose where they were born therefore they should not be penalized for it. The Dream Act is a very new and wonderful thing that has been recently offered to undocumented students. While this is an amazing move in the right direction I feel that this could've been done a lot sooner to help this generation make the change. I'm excited to see what other opportunities undocumented students will be offered in the future.

Latino Studies, Then and Now

In the US today, most schools offer foreign language classes. The most common language offered is Spanish, as it is the fastest growing language in the country. There are also clubs specifically for Latinos to celebrate their cultures for after school activities. This gives American students a chance to learn another language or learn about other cultures, and gives Latinos a chance to enhance their prior knowledge. If a Latino student grew up in the United States, he or she can learn the language of their heritage right in school, or improve on their grammar just as an English class does for people who already speak English. Clubs can put on shows to teach others about cultures from the Hispanic world. Hartford public schools are even creating a Latino Studies Academy to do all of the above with the heritage and more.

This was not always the case, however. As one can see in the movie, Walkout, Latino studies were highly discouraged. Even speaking Spanish was not allowed. If one was caught speaking Spanish, the result was harsh, in the form of corporal punishment. The history of Latinos was never spoken of in school. It was nearly impossible for Latinos living in this country to learn about their heritage and culture by attending public school.

You would think these things would be just part of the past, part of ignorance left behind. Unfortunately, this is not the case. While many midwest schools offer Latino amazing programs as stated above, schools in Arizona are doing the opposite. Following the strict laws for deportation for illegal Hispanics, a law is now being passed which bans Latino study programs in Tuscon schools. The problems of ignorance in the past are coming back, and it is truly disheartening.





http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/12/nation/la-na-ethnic-studies-20100512

http://www.hartfordschools.org/index.php/our-schools/school-listing/schools/items/view/latino-studies-academy-at-burns-elementary-school

http://bghs.d214.org/activities/latino_connections_club.aspx

Academic Disidentification within minorities and higher education

"I propose the “modern nerd” or intellectual whose skin might suggest an immigrant history but is nonetheless equally American, dark skin, was raised in urban settings, whom might speak more than one language, and who might even sport tattoos if they so desire"

Disidentification is a term used in psychology which refers to a person’s conscious decision that something is not important to them, so as not to have high goals for themselves or as a mechanism to avoid failure and rejection. Academic Disidentification is common among Latin Americans and African American communities. Academic Disidentification is the failure to hold significance to academia and higher education, or to willingly dismiss academia and higher education as something that cannot be achieved, is not appealing, nor is required for a person of their background, social group, or ethnic group.

Growing up in a mostly Mexican immigrant and Mexican American community higher education was not expected or required. Of course immigrant parents esteemed higher education for their children but because of their lack of experience and knowledge of the process it was easily dismissed if their child did not pursue college. In the media it is often portrayed where in white families the child was expected and required to go to college and be a competitive student so that they may be accepted to the university their parents desired. I had never come across that pressure or expectancy within a Hispanic family, at least in my experience, much less in the media.

In my eyes college was only for the super smart people who got straight A’s, spent many hours doing their homework, and had super strict parents that did not let their children have a social life. When I would be introduced to Latinos with a college education I disidentified with them because I saw them as not having Latino pride and assimilating to more “white” American culture. That began my academic Disidentification process until I started working as a pharmacy tech and met many people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds that taught me that the average student or even below average student could also succeed in college. I also learned that education was not the only influence to ethnic identification because I later met other Latino professionals who embraced their Latino roots, their culture, and maintained their humility

Disidentification can be influenced by bad experience in schools which cause low self-esteem and convince students that they are not good enough when the problem can many times be many different factors whether it is home life or the school system. Academic disidentification can also be influenced by popular culture. How many hip hop songs talk about the successful black college graduate or the professional person of color? Not many. Because minorities can use the media and urban culture to create their self-image it is important that education is advocated and regarded as attractive and appealing accomplishment in life.

Stereotypes today can also help minorities reaffirm academic Disidentification. A very popular show named Big Bang Theory is a show of several scientists or “nerds” who are very intelligent portrayed by white characters. Of course they do stereotype the blond as the ditsy attractive woman but the characters ethnic origins and appearance I believe is creating ethnic roles in which it is not expected or usually portrayed in the media for people of color to have such high and scientific academic accomplishments or education.

I propose the “modern nerd” or intellectual whose skin might suggest an immigrant history but is nonetheless equally American, dark skin, was raised in urban settings, whom might speak more than one language, and who might even sport tattoos if they so desire. We already have a head start with the dark rimmed glasses that are a huge fad currently (refer to picture). There is much research on gender roles and how many people confirm to the gender roles that are expected of that gender, I hope that that may not be true of minorities and the roles that are expected of them intellectually or professionally. We need to teach students that college is not only for perfect students. In fact, in my case many of the top students whom I graduated with did not continue to pursue higher education, while I who have had average grade point average took the courage to do so. Let’s change the social view of a nerd to include people of descent from Mexico, South America, Central Americans, Blacks, African Americans (Americans whose parents are recent African immigrants is what I mean by this term), and any person of color.

 

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/edu/89/4/728/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzcMEwAxSP8&feature=share&list=PL052BC9244202E0C

http://coe.georgiasouthern.edu/foundations/bwgriffin/research/hsj_academic_disidentification.htm