During the past couple classes, we , our class, have been talking a lot about South Africa. Mainly our discussions has been about Apartheid and how it affected that region. Recently we have took a glance at a 1982 survey that was taken in South Africa. The survey showed the enrollment rates between blacks and whites from the lowest level grade to the highest. Not to our amazement, it showed how the numbers were drastically different between the two races. This set of information had lead our class to the group discussion on how the whites outnumbered the blacks in the number of enrolled students in all grades.
When I first read the survey, I wasn't startled by the information that i read just as everyone else wasn't either. We all know that in South Africa theres still a major gap between the whites and blacks that still exist today, so theres no reason to act like its not happening. It just amazes me how the United States have come a long way since the end of slavery in the 1800's, and how far the U.S. has come since the end of segregation in the 1900's but in South Africa, they still haven't made the huge step into equality yet. It just seems to me that if this part of the world is changing, how come other parts of the world is not.
The 1982 Enrollment in South Africa between blacks and whites clearly shows that more white people were enrolled in school in every single grade than blacks. First of all, whites and blacks didn't even attend the same school, so it wasn't like one group didn't enroll in school because they were intimidated by the other group, so this wasn't the case at all for the difference in numbers. Whites and blacks went to two separate schools in two separate areas. Thats another thing, whites and blacks don't even live in the same neighborhood! This background information is what lead me to be confused about how the number of students enrolled in school could be so different when the two racial groups never interacted with one another. This made me pay attention even more in class to get to the bottom of this dispute.
In South Africa, the majority of the good jobs were obtained by the white people. This meant that the better your parents job was, the less concern for the students to get a job to help support the family. Vise versa, the worst your parent job was, the more concern there was for the student to get a job to help support their family. Well in South Africa most blacks had bad jobs, so this was one of the leading factors for blacks dropping out of school or not enrolling at all. Another major contributor to the drop in enrollments for blacks, were the number of disease and STD's that blacks were unfortunately acquiring. Since whites had money, the could afford medicine and STD preventing products, unlike the blacks who were too poor to afford those kinds of things. These two causes were the main factors that made the drop in enrollment so drastic between blacks and whites in South Africa in 1982.
Its very hard for me to relate to not only the schools but the overall environment in South Africa in 1982 to the United States today in 2008 but I just can't imagine the numbers of dropouts being that big. I'm not saying that theres no dropouts that exist today in Christiana because there is, but the reason for students dropping out here is different from student dropping out in South Africa. If you asked a recent drop out of Christiana, I bet there answer will never be, "I'm dropping out of school because I'm about to die soon because I have AIDS not because I chose to get it but because I was too poor from preventing it". That answer alone just makes me think how lucky I am for the situation I'm in now. A junior in high school and a year from graduating not a year from dying.
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9 comments:
This is a very good blog as it talks about exactly what we learned last class! The fact that blacks were under the whites’ foot in education is pretty shameful. And at the time, whites thought that blacks just didn’t care, but it wasn’t true. Blacks were practically going through hell, from diseases to extreme poverty. I bet even the very few that actually graduate fully from school were in still life threatening situations trying to get a decent job. It just goes to show that if blacks were on the same level as whites in all factors, they would relatively be equal. Great blog
I agree with you on the fact that the schools had it out for black people. And the fact that some students had to leave school to help out their families. One thing i didnt agree with you on is the "preventing product", thing saying that white people can afford it and prevent STD's where blacks cant. To fix that whole problem really quick is you dont have sex, so you will not catch anything. Now dont get me wrong if a girl gets raped and gets an STD, that is different, but to stop the spreading of STD's YOU DONT HAVE SEX. Besides that i liked your comment.
This is a nice blog. It really covers the basics and showed the main point of what we learned in class. Your blog explained, as a class, our analysis and interpretation of visual datas relevant to Apartheid and Reconstruction in US. I liked when you added some interferences such as possible factors of the drop-outs in South Africa. The need to help families by getting a job or illness were factors of drop outs. But I didn't agree with your comment about the spread of STD due to poverty. I agree with jumpinjack that blacks do not get STD because they can't afford proper medication or because they are poor. People can only completely prevent STD by not having sex, period. I also liked your sentence structure and the way you brought the information together in your blog. Nice job!
I enjoyed your blog, it was pretty good. It's ashame how blacks could not recieve education like the whites. It was very unfair, but thats the way it was. These issues were due to poverty and diseases, though like you mentioned.I agree with the comment that STD was spread through poverty. If blacks couldn't afford the proper uses of condoms, or any type of healthcare, the diseases were just being spread. People back then had big families,so everyone could work to make more money and support each other, so sex was something big.
Wow this was really good. Im glad that you chose something different then what other people were doing. Your blog told alot about the enrollment of students in south africa, and how the whites were doing better in school than the blacks. It also gave many supporting details of why they weren't doing as well as whites. Keep doing a good job. :]
leron i enjoted reading your blog. It's ashame how blacks could not receive the same education as the whites. all of this was because of poverty and diseases. your blog explained things very well. i liked all the details that you included in your blog also.
Wow! You made me rethink my opinion on how so mnay more blacks dropped out of school than whites. I noticed that the higher the grade, the more black people dropped out. And it is because of the jobs that they had to take when they were older. I agreed with you that its the parent's job that keeps you stay in school. Because if your parent can't afford to keep you in school because he/she can only afford to keep his/her house then your only choice might be dropping out of school and finding a job yourself or be homeschooled. You are also right about the other reason. AIDS! It is uncurable in South Africa. Alot of the blacks can't afford to get treatment or receive enough education to prevent AIDS. It is really a shame that the blacks had to suffer alot of hard times during the Apartheid just because their skins are different.
I truly agree with you when you say how lucky you feel to not be in that situation because I feel the same. I liked reading this blog as well because it also keyed into some of the things that I missed in class and allowed me to comprehend everything a bit more. From the information from your blog you could tell that you really payed attention in this particluar class lesson. I also agree with Jack about how you can prevent STD's by not having sex but hey we don't know the whole story of how its being spread. But great blog it was enjoyed.
i liked your blog and i feel sorry that the black people couldnt get ahold of an education because the were either too poor or that they had to support families. black people are still going through a tough time especially in south africa. the crime rates are high and poverty rates are still going and there alot of people suffering from not getting medical attention
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