Post 2 Group C: Inequality and socialism represented within the education system within Low income Area's: Drop Out Nation, By: Montaya Mccloud

We have a lot of Modern social issues in society that need to be overcome. Drugs, violence and peer pressure are extreme concepts that most young adults encounter throughout life. There are important issues that should be discussed, and several people that deserved to be educated on them.  Recently I watched a documentary on PBS, that was very informant. The film was called Dropout Nation in which they had several children they recorded from a school in Houston (PBS). The children didn’t live in stable homes or have a normal family life and were all minorities. The children had many obstacles to go through outside of school. One boy was in their streets, had anger issues, and smoked weed. Also, there was a girl name sparkle who had a kid, no home, and her mom passed away prior (pbs). The school was a low-income school in which I was able to see how unequal funding based on property taxes, violence, and dropping out affected the school’s education. The problems were described as problems associated with upbringing, family issues, and education. As Stated by Kenneth Langone, “You want to close the income inequality gap in part? Give us better educated kids out of high school. Give us kids that can challenge and succeed in the challenge with technology. You give us those kinds of kids and watch the needle move”. I believe the producer had good intentions while creating the documentary, but I believe the students were overly shown in a negative perspective. I believe the producer over exaggerated their problems and actions which is not ok. In the film Drop out Nation only lower-income Minority students were recorded, and there where not any scenes shown of them having acceptable behavior in the community or school.

The problem with this Film  based on African americans in poverty is that it leaves viewers especially people of color vulnerable to harmful biases and stereotypes. There are several theories behind why African americans are in the situations they reside within Society’s Lower Social Class. The famous theories reach back to the mid 1800’s. Dysaethesia Aethiopic was sought to be an illness that only African americans had. The disorder was a mental illness which was believed to be the reason why African Americans were lazy (Cartwright). In 1851, Carwright suggest that “There is a partial insensibility of the skin, and so great a hebetude of the intellectual faculties, as to be like a person half asleep, that is with difficulty aroused and kept awake. It is much more prevalent among free negroes living in clusters by themselves, than among slaves on our plantations, and attacks only such slaves as live like free negroes in regard to diet, drinks, exercise, etc. The disease is the natural offspring of negro liberty--the liberty to be idle, to wallow in filth, and to indulge in improper food and drinks”(Cartwright).  The American physician Cartwright believed that Dysaethesia Aethiopic was a disease that could biologically be passed through African Americans. The documentary shows the ideal that all minorities in a low income class have horrible homes and no supportive family members. The film portrays a sense of learned behavior passed down from unstable parents directly to children. Growing up i went to a 100% african american school in a low income area called Hogan Preparatory Academy, in which all students didn't have the same Homefront problems  shown in this documentary.As Stated by Victoria Osteen, "I think that we have a great opportunity to impart our wisdom and our knowledge and our experience to this younger generation. it may be different times, but experience transcends time, and wisdom transcends time". I believe it is very important that we encourage and help the youth in the community. The next generation are responsible for taking care of us as we grow old, the economy, and the condition the legacy we leave behind lives in.The Film Drop Out Nation should have been produced in a less stereotypical way, there are important issues that should be discussed about lower income areas, and several people that deserved to be educated on them. 

PBS. "Dropout nation." n.d. frontline .<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dropout-nation/>.

serva, Christene. "Study.com." n.d. Lactent function is sociology.<https://study.com/academy/lesson/latent-functions-in-sociology-lesson-quiz.html>.

Cartwright, Dr. Samuel A. Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race. Volume XI. Debow's Review . New York: AMS Press, Inc. , 1851.