The lines “they did not present it as a place of high learning, but as a means of escape from death and penal warehousing” from Coates’ essay and “Asian-American success is typically taken to ratify the American Dream and to prove that minorities can make it in this country without handouts” from Yang’s essay resonate with me the most. Both of these lines are straight-forward in pointing out the flaws in the system. They resonate with me because it’s sort of a reality check — these things are really happening whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.
Between both of these essays, I think I related to Coates’ a bit more. Although I will never be able to truly understand what it is like to be in his shoes, I think that his experience with education happens almost everywhere. Based on the line I chose that resonated with me, I think it’s true that schools do whatever they can to prevent the events of the real world from entering. For example, as my high school, which was located in a small town that wasn’t very accepting of the current events going on in the last couple of years, sort of used education as a way of distraction. The discussion of real world problems were looked down on in most classes. It seemed that if you weren’t allowed to apply what you’ve learned to today’s time, what was the point of learning it? It all seems similar to how Coates’ states that education was a “means of escape”.
3 Things that I’m Grateful For:
- My family and friends
- Being here
- The support I’ve been given