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Culture and Equity Essay #2

By: Hernan Ramirez

November 12, 2011

SBS 300

Dr. Gutierrez
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Discrimination, injustice, and inequity are issues that had been active from ages until

nowadays. Based on education, Nelson Mandela came from being no one to being who he is

now; and now he is a historic figure in the South African community. In this paper I will talk

about the issues that over the years had impacted in the United States and in South Africa. I

personally had experienced issues of discrimination, inequity, and injustice during my first year

of education here in the United States.

From being in the fields looking after sheep and hunting wild honey; during his

childhood Nelson Mandela was a young man who had many dreams to follow. As a kid he

would knock births out of the sky with his slingshot, and he would swim and catch fishes in the

clear, cold streams. As an adolescent, Mandela continued with school because he wanted to

improve his education so he could help his community. Later on, he was able to joined African

National Congress. As son of a Chief of the Tembu Tribe in South Africa he obtained power and

respect in his community. Mandela obtained respect because he became a well-educated South

African man. Mandela believed that education was an important concept in order to succeed so

he continued with his education a now he has become a historic figure for the South African

Community.

Mandela had always believed that there are people that could go further with education

but without resources it was impossible. In the book Long Walk to Freedom, he explains a

situation of a South African girl named Mathona. She was one of many South Africans who

could not go further with education because she did not have the opportunity to continue.

“…was a day scholar and her parents did not have the means to send her for further education.
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She was an extraordinarily clever and gifted person, whose potential was limited because of her

family’s meager resources.” (Mandela 1994). By this statement, Mandela says that people in his

community did not continued with further education because of lack of ability to learn, but it

was because they did not have the opportunity. Lack of opportunities was a typical story for

individuals in South Africa.

According to my experience in my education I can easily strongly agree with Nelson

Mandela. I came from a small village from Mexico where for generations people had struggled

to continue with further education. There are many individuals with the same situation as

Mathona the African American girl. In the community where I came from, only a few individuals

had continued with a college education. Although individuals face lack of opportunities in

education, only few of them pursue their goal to finish with their education. Somehow I

consider myself a privilege person because my parents gave me the opportunity to come to the

United States legally to have a better education, otherwise it would have been harder for me to

be where I am now. Even though I faced ways of discrimination during my first year of

education here in the United States I feel it has been really helpful for me to understand other

people who have to deal with discrimination issues in their education.

Some ways of justice I experienced in my education were based in my communication

skills. It was in sixth grade when I realized I was facing discrimination by my classmates. When

the teacher gave us the chance to choose our groups to work together; most of the time I was

one of the last students to be chosen by the group members. They did not want me to be in

their group because I did not speak English and obviously they thought they were going to be
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short on people if I was part of their group. At first this situation made me uncomfortable, but

the teacher and the teacher assistant worked with me individually so it could be easier for me

to understand the assignments. I felt I was in my own little school when the teacher worked

individually with me but I was in the same school as my classmates.

During the 1960s people did have their own schools. Segregation was an issue of

discrimination that affected people in the United States. Everyone was forced to attend to the

school where they belong to. African American had to go to a school just for African Americans,

and brown people had their own schools, same case was for the White Americans. Socio-

economic status did not matter everyone had their school assigned. In the other hand South

African individuals did not have the same opportunities to go to school. According to Servaas

van der Berg, in South Africa only those who had a well economic position had the possibility to

go to school and continue with further education if they wanted to (Van der Berg 2002). This

idea from the author states that in South Africa if you have money you study if not, you work to

survive.

Although in South Africa not everyone had the opportunity to go to school those who

had the opportunity, only few of them took advantage of it. For teachers it was impossible to

teach if students did not pay attention. Themba was proud to be a teacher for 16 years in South

Africa but a wave of violence at her school made her leave the profession. According to

Sarah McGregor, teacher Themba felt like a security guard not a teacher. “Some mornings I

don’t bother getting out of bed. Students are out of control and parents do not care.”

(McGregor 2007). Based on the statement, teacher Thamba could not control the students
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because she did not have the support of the parents so she decided to leave. Education in the

United States is more advance in the United States. There have been similar cases to the one

with teacher Themba but if teachers cannot control students in the United States there are

alternative schools where students can finish their basic education. In the US If parents and

teacher cannot control students; there are other people from the government to take over

those who are out of control.

The way education would be improve in the United States and South Africa is if students

had more opportunities to continue with further education. In the United States there are more

possibilities for individuals to continue with their education because the government and other

institutions like Ronald McDonald provide grants and scholarships for students to continue with

their college education. Unfortunately not all students receive financial aid for their college

education. If I had the money I would provide scholarships for all students from South Africa

and the United States who cannot continue with further education because they don’t have the

money for it.

Discrimination, injustice, and inequity are issues that are easily reflected in education.

Many people had faced inequity, injustice, and discrimination issues at some point of their

education. Based on a good education individuals had transformed themselves from being no

one to being important figures like in the case of Mandela. I personally experienced issues of

discrimination, inequity, and injustice during my first year of education here in the United

States but after some struggles I’m continuing improving my education.

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Reference:

Mandela, N. (1994). Long walk to freedom: the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston:

Little, Brown.

McGregor, Sara. (2007). Schooling That Hampers Development. JOHANNESBURG.

Van der Berg, Servaas. (2002). Education, poverty and inequality in South Africa. University of

Stellenbosch, 1-26.

Finchilescu, G. , & Tredoux, C. (2010). The changing landscape of intergroup relations in

south africa.Journal of Social Issues, 66(2), 223.
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