Are all Americans Given Equal Opportunities?.
The American ideology is for all citizens to have equal opportunities for success, in school, work, and society as a whole. The basic definition for this is called equality of opportunity, which means that all members of society are given, equal chances to enter any occupation or social class. I will argue that this democratic point of view is not at all true, and that other factors such as race, social status, gender and location play an important role in determining student success.
From the time that the declaration of independences was signed in 1776 declaring, "all men are created equal" Americans have been in the pursuit of equality. From the initial signing of the declaration all men and women have not been created equal. At the time of the signing blacks were still enslaved, Native Americans were exploited, and women were not given rights. Although much has changed since 1776 that is a positive move towards equality, women still earn less than men, race is still an issue, and social status still plays a part in overall success in school and society. .
A female with the same educational attainments as male will earn on average much less in a lifetime. Table 2-2 in the book "American Education" shows the estimated lifetime earnings of full-time, year-round workers by sex and educational attainment. Although there is an increase in pay for both men and women for each educational attainment the increase in pay is higher for a male with the same education as a female. The differences in overall lifetime earnings for males vs. females proves that America is still a society that is bias towards females and does not provide equal opportunities in society for both males and females. .
People of different racial backgrounds also have less of an opportunity in America. After reading chapter two in the book "American Education" it is my belief that race in schools plays a very important role in the success of a student.
