Sitha Sun
April 15, 2015
Ethnic Studies 4040
Dr. Pao Lee
Reflection Paper #2 I would like to discuss chapter six, Education Attainment of Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Young Blacks by Xue Lan Rong and Frank Brown. According to the authors, children from families with low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience difficulties in school and attain lower levels of overall academic achievement than middle-class or upper-class families. I definitely agree, because families who are well off financially can afford to provide better materials, technology and pay for private tutoring for their children. Parents who can’t afford these things can only hope that teachers are doing their jobs well. I can relate personally because growing up as a minority and having parents who didn’t have a lot financially, I wasn’t able to get the help I needed with school. I can only depend on myself and older siblings for help. Another issue that young Blacks had with low academic achievement is discrimination. Being discriminated against because of the color of your skin or because you look different than the majority, is a hard hit to the child’s self-esteem. Many of us who are minorities, including Blacks, Hispanic and Asian, face the same dilemma. We encounter the self-prophecy issue, when told from a young age that we are inferior to the majority race, eventually we grow up believing this message. I can remember, having my confidence broken many times growing up because I was told that I am not good enough. Another issue is the impact of socialization in schools. Young Blacks are tempted by peer pressure and popular culture, which diverts their attention from understanding the important link between their academic issues and future. From my experience I noticed many young Blacks, Hispanics and Asians not passing their classes because they want to be cool. Hanging out with different types of gangs. Eventually, they drop out of school because they feel that they can’t keep up with their schoolwork. These are some of the issues that young Black children face. I also believe that Hispanic and Asian children face