In the story “Graduation”, a young black girl feels anticipated and honored with her graduation day. However, on her graduation day, she feels frustrated and shadowy because Mr. Donleavy, a white man, delivers a speech to the graduating class of 1940. At first, Angelou is quite excited because she is proud of her academic achievements; besides that, she is also about to make a speech in front of many students. In addition, her mother also gives her a fancy dress with an abundance of embroideries and frills. Furthermore, many people also praise her of her wisdom. When Mr. Donleavy makes his speech, Angelou feels disappointed and bitter because his speech includes too much racism. In the uninspired speech, he says a little improvement will be done in black school, while a lot advanced equipment is offered in Central School (a white school). He also mentioned that all the black should pursue is those jobs at the bottom of the society such as maids and farmers.…
The essay “How My Illiterate Grandmother Raised and Educated Black man” was written by Terrell Jermaine Starr. Terrell is the Associate Editor for an online Journal called NewsOne. He has more than four years of journalism experience with public radio, television, magazines and online reporting. He has a bachelor’s degree in English and two masters’ in Editorial Journalism and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. He says that he owes his success to his grandmother, saying that without her he would never have achieved any of it without her encouragement.…
Education is in its general sense is a kind of learning in which various skills, knowledge and habits of a person or a group are transformed from one generation to another. However, this subject is of one of the main subjects of many scholar and writers of various periods. Mike Rose and Maya Angelou are two persons within the educational field whom are highly known for their work within the educational fields. This analytical article, however, demonstrates a comparative study of the works of Mike Rose and Maya Angelou. Primarily, the essays which are used in comparison to each other are “I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose” and “Graduation by Maya Angelou”. All in all; the subject involved in both of this work is related to each other in many regards. Thus, this essay intends to present an overhaul of each of works. However, from an analytical point of view, their impact, connection and complements support each other.…
As we understand the situation connected with education was hard and it seemed that there were no variants to improve it. But one day black man decided to change it for his daughter’s right protection.…
This essay I read called Graduation told a story about a young Middle School African American girl named Maya Angelou, who was graduating and was moving on to High School back in 1940. She was from a small town in Arkansas and was extremely excited to be graduating. She had high hopes for the future and right before the graduation ceremony, she felt like she was the birthday girl, the center of attention. She had done well for herself throughout the school year with very good academic grades and no tardiness and no absence. Her mom was proud and couldn't wait to see her daughter graduate, her mom even made her a nice dress. They had a guest speaker at the graduation ceremony his name was Mr. Donleavy. His introduction speech to the graduates had put the black race down while he praised the white kids and said they were going to be doing much better. that speech by Mr. Donleavy had really upset her. It made her feel really low about being black. Right after the speech one of her classmates went up to speak, his name was Henry Reed. He was the valedictorian. He read a poem that gave her hope and brought her back up in good spirits. She once again felt good about the color of her skin. The graduating class was happy and was encouraged by Henry Reed's speech, they felt like the black race was on top again.…
A three year old Angelou and a four year old Bailey Jr. are sent to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson by their father, Bailey Sr. after Angelou’s parents "[decide] to put an end to their calamitous marriage."(Angelou 5) Angelou lives in Stamps during a time of segregation and the Great Depression. Unlike much of the rest of the African American community of the time, Angelou’s grandmother prospers financially because her general store sells basic commodities and “She [has] made wise investments.” (Lupton 4) Even though she is better off than other black people in her community, Angelou still detests the idea of being black. Angelou would go so far as to wish that she would wake up from her “black ugly dream” (2). Her feelings are likely due to the fact that, even though she is better off than other African Americans, white people still have it better than she does, and she is not able to be one of them, which possibly causes feelings of exclusion. Being excluded is painful because it threatens fundamental human needs, such as belonging and self-esteem. However, later in life during a PBS interview for “African American Lives 2”, when she recalled her time in the segregated town of Stamps, she instead felt that "In so many ways, segregation shaped [her.]” Angelou’s first time in…
The column, “The Continued Miseducation of Black Americans” by Manuela Ekowo argues that African Americans all around the United States have not been given the appropriate education to escape their impoverished and historical backgrounds. Whilst most blacks do attend school and have academic programs to help them achieve their dreams Ekowo writes that blacks today still graduate at significantly lower rates than other races, and those attending reputable schools still have not budged the percentages much at all. In 1940, a measly two percent of colored men and women completed four years of college. By 2015 that number changed to about twenty-one percent of black women and seventeen percent of black men in America with a bachelor’s degree or higher.…
A race war between whites and blacks has blighted American history since colonial times. In her essay “Graduation,” Maya Angelou recollects the experience of her eighth grade graduation in the 1930s to examine the personal growth of humans caught in the adversity of racial discrimination. Through narrative structure, selection of detail, and use of imagery, Angelou encourages young blacks to follow their ambitions with pride, despite what the “white man” thinks of them.…
They had to overcome institutional structures like economics education and social before they could attain reach their dreams. As mentioned previously, education was played a major role in the African American community; without education, African Americans would never have a chance at success. Because education opportunities were available predominately for White American, it wasn’t uncommon for African American got live their lives uneducated. Seldom, African Americans who worked exceedingly hard were able to access higher education (Bryan). Since a large number of African Americans lacked a formal education, they were limited to service position such as maid services or factory worker. Because they were limited to certain position, many were unable to surpass a particular socioeconomic class. However, there were rare occasions where African Americans had careers as professionals (Bryan). Aside from education and economic structures, African American dealt with socials structures that created obstacles within their daily lives. It goes without saying that discrimination shaped the experiences of African Americans. Because of the socio-historical foundation of slavery, African Americans were always viewed as inferior to White Americans. Although African Americans dreamed of living the American Dream, they were unable of achieve success because of the establishment of inferiority by…
For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that structure and direct it” (Desmond and Emirbayer 43) has really had an impact on me.…
Education is considered to be an important sign in any success story that we heard of in the world. many people suffered a tough childhood and poor life in their youth and become successful later on their careers because of a good education. In this paper, I will be discussing how gender, race, and class can change the educational experience depending on people's race, class, and gender. I had three interviews with three individuals, the first one is Anthony a nineteen years old African American male, born and raised in California state. On the other side is Jennifer, a twenty-one-year-old Hispanic female, born and raised in Washington state. And finally Steven, Twenty-one years old Asian American homosexual. I did change the names in order to preserve privacy for them.…
Studies show that minorities, especially African Americans, are largely under-represented in post-secondary education. The majority of African American society has not taken full advantage of Historically Black Colleges and Universities that were built on the emphasis of black improvement. The basis for this might be personal, financial, or even geographical reasons. It might even simply be that all other races had a 400 year head start while we were busy being people’s personal property and kept in ignorance for fear of uprisings and other racial worries of no longer considered being superior above our race.…
In today’s society, it is essential to have an education. To be educated helps us as individuals to gain knowledge and be able to understand and interpret information as it is presented to us. Education not only teaches us how to live our life as good citizens but education also sets the foundation and equips us for the generation to follow in the future. We as people must be able to build confidence in ourselves and have the courage to succeed. Never should you feel downgraded, intimated or unworthy of an education because of someone else’s success. Many people have the desire in wanting to finish their goals and ambitions but because of fear in other individual’s achievements, they don’t have the determination to push forward. Suffice to say; to be successful education is a necessity. However, while education is integral to everyone’s success there are some roadblocks, chief among these roadblocks for African Americans is institutional racism.…
As Senator Barack Obama verbalized that the late fifties and early sixties were [….] “a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted” (Obama, 2008). Racial inequality within school facilities has always been a major problem; Plessy v. Ferguson was the case to establish this type of inequality within the school system, resulting the separation of facilities for education. Blacks and whites attended at different schools, hoping to get the same education, which in most cases was unlikely to transpire (Greenberg 2003, 532-533). As Senator Barack Obama stated, “ Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students”(Obama, 2008). As a result, there is now a big gap between black and white students in the board of education, affecting a community of people economically; the Brown’s case was a very unforgettable part of black history (Greenberg 2003, 535). “A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families -…
The goal of public schools in the US is to give American citizens a chance at an equal education. However somewhere over time this system has failed to provide all children with this said education. More specifically it has failed at giving African American children an adequate education. When looking at mandatory state test scores of African Americans they are significantly lower than those of white Americans. The achievement gap in education between whites and blacks is a big problem the American education system has and needs to solve. In this essay I will discuss why there is an achievement gap in education between white and black students and what teachers can do to help close this gap.…