I am able to see the connections of black history that created such negative foundational structures, thus, red lining families of color out of the opportunity for economic advancement. The systems in place today keep blacks in poverty therefore reducing quality educational opportunity which then leads to higher incarceration rates.
It's sad. I have a friend who is a college counselor for high school students in New Haven CT in a primarily black and impoverished neighborhood. We just went out to dinner this week to check in on one another. And she told me that she has been feeling so incredibly angry with the lack of empathy and consideration for her students who are now supposed to do online learning with the tablets taken home from school...BUT some of her students don't have wifi at home and some are having a harder time completing there studies because they are now picking up jobs because parents are out of work or now at a job that pays less. There was no thought or consideration for these kids, that they might need more access and better care in this online learning environment. The threat of poverty and the stress that comes along with it was not thought about when sending these kids home with the expectation that they would do MORE work then what they were doing in school. And when they fall behind as they have begun to, there is nothing in place to catch and help them instead of punishing them. My friend is so tired, she's infuriated, she yells and cries and yet can't change the immediate future, she can not change the bleak future of the majority of her students. She is losing hope and it's just not right, since she has such a passion for these kids and our neighborhood.
