Growing up, I had the privilege of educational opportunity and the support of excellent teachers. My high school Government teacher, Mr. Keyes, had a noticeable educational passion for me and my future, and pushed me to develop a greater commitment to excellence. Mr. Francis, one of my high school English teachers, planted in me a love of language and literature that eventually led to my undergraduate course of study.
Back then, a time that now seems quite distant, I remember it being entirely my decision whether I would graduate and go to college. No other factors came into play. Academic success was the direct result of my ambition, effort and ability. Tragically, many children in this country are not given a similar chance to succeed simply because other factors come into play.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech on the steps of the state capital building in Montgomery, Alabama 43 years ago today after marching about 50 miles from Selma. At one point in the speech, he says "We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man."
Growing up 30 and 40 years after Dr. King was killed, I remember always thinking that he was a good leader and that it is a good thing his dream has been realized. My college years have forced me to question just how much of that dream really has come to pass.
Data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2001, according to Learning Point Associates, "finds that blacks have lower math and reading scores than whites at every grade level, even among blacks who had the same test scores as whites just a year or two earlier. This leaves blacks at a disadvantage as they prepare for college or the job market."
Is this a statistic that we, as a society, can live with on our conscience? Can we be at peace with data that seems to show structural advantages and disadvantages to students of differing races?
Whether we can, we shouldn't.
Legislation and government, while they have their place, can only go so far in closing this American achievement gap. Every student should have passionate, bright-minded teachers like Mr. Keyes and Mr. Francis in front of him or her to push excellence and inspire educational passion.
It is the responsibility of educated adults in America to ensure that the possibility of academic success is structurally open to all of our young people. An education is not an entitlement deserved. It is a blessing to be shared.
Educated adults with the commitment, ambition and ability to take this problem on directly should not hesitate to do so. Others should become heavy supporters of education and equal opportunity, seeing that their own educational blessings carry with them a responsibility to each member of the next generation.
Such a mindset would help bring us closer to a society of "man as man" by pushing us to work man for man.
Daniel is an English-Literature senior. Email him at: daniel.d.wallace@asu.edu.
