Lexington, KY 40511
859.667.4573
info@perspectiveseducation.com

Is Education REALLY the Great Equalizer?

Is Education REALLY the Great Equalizer?

For years we have preached to our youth that education is the key to a great future. “Go to school, listen to your teacher, get your learning, and always do your best,” as my mother used to say. These words of encouragement are staples in the Black community -and is probably similar for other communities across the globe.

Nevertheless, a quick informal examination may prove otherwise -especially in the Black community. How many people of color do you know with a bachelor’s or master’s degree who have struggled to get so much as an interview in the field of their college major? And, as a result, have had to resort to working blue-collar jobs such as a waiter or waitress, as a grocery store or department store clerk, or on the production line in factories? How many people of color do you know who serve as an admin assistant to someone with the exact same level (or less) of educational attainment as them? How many people of color do you know who are smart, talented, and dedicated to learning, and still find themselves living in a state of poverty? Here is my answer – MANY!

Nevertheless, education is boasted as the magic pill that creates a different pathway, one that changes a person’s trajectory from generational poverty to something resembling the infamous “American Dream.” But how accurate is that phenomenon?

Given what I have come to know about the real world, I would argue that money and the constant access to it, is actually the great equalizer.

Let’s take what’s happening in the world today, for example, to substantiate my claim.

In the midst of a great pandemic, students and teachers were forced to deliver public education, teaching and learning, onto the air waves and through cyberspace. Some students flourished and others fell further behind. But if you are a family without the financial means to pay for internet, and in many cases a receiving device such as computers, cell phones, and television, your student has no access to even the most basic right to a free and appropriate education. So even while teachers have done everything in their power to reach all students, our most vulnerable students are left with limited access to the equitable education they deserve. And the barrier to this access …is money.

We are also facing a national crisis, spearheaded by the multiple, senseless death plaguing the black community from the system that is “supposed to be” designed to protect us.  As news spread about the killing of yet another Black male in Minneapolis, a Black female in Louisville, and fake call for help that sounded a lot like calling for a modern-day lynch-mob in New York, unrest hit an all-time high. As a result, people took to the streets. Most are associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, consisting of non-violent protest, unwavering calls for change, and actions such as “black-outs” and only supporting black-owned businesses. However, some took a different route, choosing to loot, burn, and destroy public and private property. Watching as everything unfolded, there seemed to be some correlation with finally receiving a real response for change as a result of the actions from these different groups combined. While I would never condone violence or the destruction of property, there is a reason that these tactics work… and it all boils down to money.

There is no doubt that money holds power and dominion over societal constructs such as the educational system, the social and justice systems, and, of course, the economic system. The only question that remains is whether (or not) education equates to money. For some, the answer may be a resounding YES! On the contrary, for far too many others, that equation does not hold true. Because there is always an invisible, yet very tangible “gatekeeper” between the two. And that is opportunity.

For many of us, the equation looks more like Education x Opportunity = a means to money. Then, money creates pathways to access additional resources. These resources are the keys to the different societal systems,which open doors to the “American Dream.”

Thus, the great equalizer is, in fact, money; but the other side of the equation is both education and opportunities.

So, maybe it is high time we evolve from the famous 19th-century quote from Horace Mann to a more applicable quote to fit today’s society of “Education multiplied by Opportunities is the great equalizer, for every man and woman.”

-Dr. Soraya C. Matthews

June 7, 2020

Keys to the American Dream – Dr. Soraya Matthews
Docmatthews@equityaviator.com

2 Responses

  1. Hi, please add your comments to this blog.

    Note to the Blogger…To get started with moderating, editing, and deleting comments, please visit the Comments screen in the dashboard.
    Commenter avatars come from Gravatar.

  2. Jennifer Firrow says:

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts . It was in-fact a very enlightening and thought provoking read. I welcome your thoughts on the shift from vocational based education to academic based education and how that has impacted our communities perspective on education as a whole. I am empowered by the great works and words of my peers and I am glad to see you walk in your purpose. Please continue to write, share and invoke us to have conversations that we as a community need to have.

Comments are closed.