Minorities are not at a disadvantage in American society.

1. Education: Before the major leaps and bounds of the civil rights movements that took place in the 1960's, it was true that minorities were indeed at a horrendous educational disadvantage. In those days segregated schools were a nationwide phenomenon and they suffered from far less funding than traditionally white schools. However,mandatory segregation is no longer allowed in society. Modern American schools (including every type after high school) are among the most diverse campuses in the world in terms of racial, gender and religious makeup. According to the Brookings Institute "Americans often forget that as late as the 1960s most African-American, Latino, and Native American students were educated in wholly segregated schools funded at rates many times lower than those serving whites and were excluded from many higher education institutions entirely. The end of legal segregation followed by efforts to equalize spending since 1970 has made a substantial difference for student achievement. On every major national test, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the gap in minority and white students" test scores narrowed substantially between 1970 and 1990, especially for elementary school students. On the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the scores of African-American students climbed 54 points between 1976 and 1994, while those of white students remained stable." As stated above, African-American students in particular saw an average SAT score increase of 54 points between 76 and 94 whereas the white students remained stable. There are no laws on the books today that put minorities at a disadvantage in terms of gaining access to education. There is however a law that actually ensures minorities not be denied access due to their race, gender or national origin and it is called Title Vl of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It states as follows: "EDUCATION AND TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 Title VI and Race, Color and National Origin Discrimination Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title VI states that: No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" https://www2.ed.gov...... There are severe legal ramifications for those found to be discriminating against anyone for these reasons. From having Federal Financial Assistance revoked, termination from their position and/or prosecution. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as Affirmative Action do not allow any institution receiving federal aid to be deny minorities access simply because of their race or gender. The following are prime examples of the educational achievements of minorities according to the U.S. census of 2016. - 33% of women had a bachelors degree whereas 32% of men had attained one. - 54% of Asians 25 years and older had at least a bachelors degree. - 22% of Blacks aged 25 and older had a bachelors degree. - 15% of Hispanics aged 25 and older had a bachelors degree. - 36% of Whites aged 25 and older had a bachelors degree. https://www.census.gov...... (Last paragraph of page 5) Asians only account for 5.7% of the U.S. population and yet their race is virtually the only one that has more than 50% of people attaining a bachelors degree. https://www.census.gov...... How is it that one of the smallest groups of people in the country attain the highest number of bachelor degrees per their population? It's because of their culture. Education and honor are paramount in the majority of Asian cultures from a very young age. Asians also have the highest number of 2 parent households which also contributes to household income and therefore the ability to pay for higher education. The two parent household and higher levels of education is another reason that Asians represent the smallest population in terms of crimes committed as well as prison population. Many people attribute what they believe to be a lack of educational opportunities to an alleged lack of funding for schools in cities such as Chicago, Jacksonville, Baltimore and other inner cities. But the amount of funding a school receives does not dictate the quality of the education a child will receive. For example: According to CNN.com "China still falls well behind the United States in overall spending -- at $2.2 trillion compared to around $3.5 trillion for Washington" Despite spending over a trillion dollars more on education than China, American students still earn lower test scores in virtually every category. The same can be said of most Asian countries. Simply put, more money doesn't necessarily mean better quality in regards to education. China has become one of the most prosperous countries in the world with a rapidly growing middle class that will quickly rival that of the United States if things do not change soon. American students ranked the following according to pewresearch.org -24th in science - 39th in math - 24th in reading Hong Kong scored as follows: - 2nd in math - 2nd in reading - 9th in science How is it that the country that spends far more on education produces such dismal test results? It is the quality of teaching, not the money thrown at it. Other Asian countries that scored higher in all 3 categories and that spend far less on education than America. - Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea http://www.pewresearch.org...... One of the only legitimate complaints minorities have regarding a lack of opportunities comes from those living in cities such as Chicago, Jacksonville, Baltimore and Oakland. These cities have some of the worst crime rates in the country and they also have some of the highest populations of minorities. Such severe crime rates act as a deterrent for teachers considering relocation to those cities. And when you have a drastically higher chance of being assaulted or even murdered in these cities it is perfectly reasonable for people to hesitate. The teachers often times fall victim to violent students that face little to no consequences for their actions which doesn't exactly encourage great teachers to move to these places. Many of these students become involved in gangs which spills over into the school system. Gangs in schools typically don't make for a good atmosphere for teaching. This is also a by-product of single parent households which tends to be drastically higher in minority families. According to the Huffingtonpost: "The birth rate among single mothers also varied along educational, socioeconomic and racial barriers. Sixty-eight percent of black women who had given birth in the past year were unmarried, compared to 11 percent of Asian women, 43 percent of Hispanics and 26 percent of non-Hispanic whites" https://www.huffingtonpost.com...... http://datacenter.kidscount.org...... (another source depicting very similar statistics) One thing to note in both these examples is that Asians account for only 17% or less of single mothers. The smallest minority group has a consistent pattern of coming out on top in every category. - Asians are one of the smallest minority groups in the United States - They score higher in every category - They commit fewer crimes per their population - Their culture values education and honor above all else - Over 54% of Asian Americans earn a bachelors degree All of these factors prove that minorities are not at a disadvantage in the United States. It's the choices that people make that determines their educational future. If you choose to dedicate yourself to your studies even the poorest student can rise from nothing to join the top 1%. This is true for every race and gender. There are far too many examples to logically claim otherwise. African-Americans in particular have been through so much in their history here in America. They have made such tremendous leaps and bounds when it comes to advancing their lives. Dr. Ben Carson - An accomplished neurosurgeon that ran for President but has become the Secretary of Housing and Development under the Trump administration. Condoleeza Rice - A political scientist that served as the 66th Secretary of State during the Bush administration. Eric Holder - Served as the 82nd Attorney General during the Obama administration. (Also the first African-American to ever hold the title) Elijah Cummings - Representative for Marylands 7th congressional district since 1996 for the Democratic Party. Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States. (First Black President) Obama is living proof that there are no more boundaries for minorities. There's no longer any barriers preventing people from reaching the pinnacle of American achievements. This man became President not once but twice. And he would never have been elected without the majority of white votes, because white Americans represent 76.9% of the population. He had to win their votes in order to win the election and he did so twice! The people named above have attended some of the most prestigious schools in the country and attained some of the highest ranking roles in modern American society. And they would never have made it so far if it weren't for the education they had access to. It's because of the reasons stated above that it can no longer be claimed that minorities do not have equal access to education