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  • Essay / The Issue of the Achievement Gap as an Instrument of Racial Oppression

    The fight for racial equality has been a global struggle for centuries. Improvements have been made. However, the world still has a long way to go. I propose that this is because people are placing more emphasis on equality and not fairness. However, racial equity is more urgent than racial equality because it gives minorities the skills they specifically need to succeed, while racial equality provides everyone with the same tools. However, in reality, minorities are so far behind that we need additional resources to be on equal footing with our white counterparts. Racial equity, and the lack thereof, has personally affected my life by limiting my academic excellence and opportunities for success. However, it also helped me discover my passion, the achievement gap, something I plan to dedicate my life to and fight for. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Freedom is never given voluntarily by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.” The achievement gap is a tool of oppression created because of the lack of racial equity in America. This is a problem that I intend to do my part to resolve, so that my fellow inmates can be free. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the Original EssayEnvironmental Disadvantages and Socio-Economic Drivers of Racial InequalityThe achievement gap is a problem that has existed in our society for decades and which has not yet been resolved. . The gap refers to the disparity in academic achievement between different groups of students based on race or socioeconomic status. This is particularly significant when comparing the academic performance of white students and people of color, particularly Black students. The achievement gap became a nationally recognized problem when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated equal educational opportunity, also known as the Coleman Report. The report sparked much discussion about the need to close the achievement gap. However, there has been minimal improvement. It was written over 50 years ago and the gap has barely closed. Researcher Eric A. Hanushek estimates that if the achievement gap continues to narrow at such a slow rate, it will take about 250 years for the black-white math gap to close and 150 years for the he gap between blacks and whites in reading is closing. Hanushek calls this a “national embarrassment” and I agree. However, I intend to help close the college achievement gap by utilizing my university's resources and collaborating with my peers to determine an effective solution to closing the gap and making it a "national acclaim ". The achievement gap does not exist because white people are genetically smarter than people of color, but rather it exists because of the lack of racial equity, and this is evident in many different fields. For example, many black people suffer from environmental disadvantages. Infants born prematurely or with low birth weight are likely to have impaired development and therefore fail and repeat grades. In 2013, the preterm birth rate for black infants was 60% higher than that of white infants and 44% higher than that of Hispanic infants. Additionally, the rate of low birth weight among black infants was twice that of white and Hispanic infants. Additionally, federal data..