Running Head: The Unknown Truths of Higher Education for the Love of Power 1

The Unknown Truths of Higher Education for the Love of Power

Karina Castillo
Northern Illinois University
CAHA 590
Professor Cohen
06/29/2017
 The Unknown Truths of Higher Education for the Love of Power 2

The Unknown Truths of Higher Education for the Love of Power

The United States has had a long history of deception. Higher education is known to

assimilate the views of society in the United States. For example, women were not allowed to

educate themselves in early years, likewise women were not allowed to vote or had any power in

the U.S. Furthermore, African Americans were not given human rights until late ____, which

coincided with more rights given to them in higher education. Politics have been a prime cause

in the formation of higher education.

Politics also have a strong connection with economic growth which affected

postsecondary institutions since the beginning of their times. For instance, African Americans

were forced to slavery and thus were not given the opportunity to get education. Once African

Americans were able to be members of higher education, they were still not given full rights and

there were disparities in equality. Thus, in the following paper I will discuss how politics

regarding race and ethnicity, have affected the development in higher education. I will also talk

about economic growth through the rise of higher education and how postsecondary institutions

continue to be known as selective and elite.

Politics Play in Higher Education

Politics have been a vital piece to the formation of higher education. (In the following

paper I will use African American even when discussing previous history, although books may

refer to African Americans as blacks.) Previous history shows us how African Americans were

the first to be oppressed. Wilder (2013) and Anderson (1998) discussed the impact slavery had

in America. The use of African Americans was a fundamental necessity for economic growth.

Politics also focused on the empowerment of White people and the oppression of African

Americans.
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An example of how politics and government focused on giving power to White people

was through the use of language in documents. Anderson (1998) mentioned African Americans

were not considered human. However, once high tensions grew on whether or not African

Americans would be considered human for taxing purposes and the state’s total number in

legislative representation. Thus, the three fifths compromise was made between the Southern

and Northern States. The three fifths compromise was a law created to state that slaves would be

counted as three fifths human. Consequently, this law gave the Southern states more power

through representation and popular vote since they had the most slaves.

Politics also became an important part of higher education. For instance, African

Americans were not allowed to get any type of education (Anderson, 1998). The reason for why

eventually African Americans were allowed to get educated was for the use of wanting the

benefit to economically grow as a nation. White men only wanted African Americans to learn

just enough, so they would not become too smart that African Americans could rebel against

Whites and their position to “stay in their place”- as slaves (Anderson, 1998).

Wilder (2013) also discussed how American Indians were given the opportunity to

become educated but again, politics came into play when they knew American Indians would be

willing to teach their own and assimilate them into the American way. Anderson (1998) and

Wilder (2013) make a point that African Americans and Indians were both taught and only some

were considered to teach others within their race. Furthermore, both of these populations were

pushed to force their own cultural backgrounds to become more American (Wilder, 2013). On

the other hand, Wilder (2013) points out that even through the education provided to Indians it

provided a context for White men to look at Indians as more divine. Anderson pointed out the
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language that White American men used towards African Americans ways to demean them by

using words as “weak, irrational, and incapable” (Anderson, 1998, pp. 38).

Higher Education for Economic Growth

Higher Education was known to aid the economic growth of this country. For example,

Anderson (1998) discussed African Americans having to pay to get educated in higher education,

but they became highly indebted, to the point where they would have to work most of the day.

African Americans were on a strict schedule that did not allow for time to socialize. Since they

owed more money than what they got paid, they were forced to work more than the typical hours

(Anderson, 1998). Also, Anderson (1998) mentioned the use of African Americans in labor to

construct schools and maintain the institutions appearance. This was also a way for White men to

have full control of African Americans.

Just as African Americans were used as a tool for White people to benefit in higher

education there has been a new form of slavery in education. For example, there is a high

amount of students have to work full time and still have to use student loans in order to get

through a bachelors degree . Furthermore, Slaughter and Rhoades (2004) discussed that since

the 70’s new ideas in the education market arose. Like, the idea of making students consumers

(Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004). This idea is not all that new when we compare these ideas to how

African Americans were treated and used for the benefit of higher education institutions.

Slaughter and Rhoades (2004) also mention the idea of the importance of crafting a class

for higher education, pushing students who have a lower social economic status and keeping the

selected few in Higher Education in. There is a rise of postsecondary institutions to bring

international students into the country to increase the schools revenues (Slaughter & Rhoades,

2004). However, when we think about who higher education institutions are serving we see that
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although there is money being made within higher institutions and companies helping these

institutions, students continue to be indebted in higher education. These are common, current

,and relevant issues relating to the use of higher education to bring more money into their

schools. In turn, postsecondary institutions slogans one some way or another emphasize the

importance of going to these schools to give more jobs to students.

Selective Use of Higher Education

Like America which has been considered the land of the free the land of opportunity,

there have been many positive comments made in regards to higher education. For example,

higher education has been known as a place for opportunity. These types of statements can be

considered to many that fall in the groups of low socioeconomic status and races/ethnicities that

are of color and continue to be oppressed through society. As Patton (2016), described there is a

continuing use of the idea that those who work hard in school become successful in life and

those that don’t work as hard get stuck because of their own faults. However, Patton (2016)

brings up the idea that these types of forms have been false ways of thinking that have been

pushed on us to make us believe these thoughts. For example, because African Americans have

gone through years of slavery, they are still working on growing and being more economically

well off like White people.

Many statistics continue to be suppressed to oppress people of color in higher education

and voices of people of color continue to be ignored. For instance, even though someAfrican

Americans and Hispanics may have a higher GPA than their White counterparts with a GPA of a

3.5 or higher, they are still more likely to attend a community college than whites Carnevale &

Strohl, 2013).. Furthermore, access to education for people of color continues to be struggle

because of their lower SES and access to higher education itself.

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Conclusion

As shown politics were previously used to control different races and ethnicities that have

not been White throughout history, including today. The United States has been eager to grow

economically, without a care about who gets oppressed along the way and education has been the

best way to make more money. While the truths of higher education continue to be hidden for

most of society it is important for people in postsecondary institutions to be ready and willing to

speak about issues affecting them. As people of color, we must unite and continue to speak

about the inequalities. Lastly, as a student affairs professional, I hope to fight against inequality

by educating students that I may be working with and help them become activists in their

community.
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References

Anderson, J.D. (1998). The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935.Chapel Hill: The

University of North Carolina Press

Carnevale, A. P., & Strohl, J. (2013). Separate and unequal:How higher education reinforces the

intergenerational reproduction of white racial privilege. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown

Public Policy Institute.

Patton, L. D. (2016). Disrupting postsecondary prose: Toward a critical race theory of higher

education. Urban Education,51(3), 315-342.

Slaughter, S., & Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state,

and higher education. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Wilder, C. S. (2013). Ebony & ivy: Race, slavery, and the troubled history of America's

universities. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press.