Human Rights at Home and Abroad: Past, Present, and Future

Brandi Spencer- Phoenix, Bloomsburg University
Keep Minority Education Hope Alive
In some classrooms it is very easy to spot the students of a minority race. Often you can count the
minority students with one hand. A few people might explain that it was during college or during one of
their secondary education levels the first time they had a class with a minority student. Since many
students of the majority race did not encounter many minority students there are often assumptions and
stereotypes used as common knowledge. Common minority stereotypes are that they are lazy, dumb, and
unemployed. Are these stereotypes created in response to the high drop-out rates amongst minorities?
These high drop-out rates have to decrease considering that by 2023, the census bureau suggest, more
than half of all children will be minorities (CNN 2008). Minorities will soon be the majority. These drop-
out rates can hurt the United States‘ economy in the long run. Keeping minorities in school is not an easy
task. We must establish school pride. If minorities‘ schools had better teachers, increased parent
involvement, adequate schools, more after school programs, and more motivation they would be more
likely to stay in school and the minorities‘ drop-out rate will decrease. The time is now! Let‘s fix the
problem! Considering that by 2023, the census bureau states that more than half of all children will be
minorities (CNN 2008).
In the year 2042 minorities are expected to become the majority in the United States (CNN 2008).
Hispanics and African Americans are the two minorities expected to make the biggest increase in
population.
The Hispanic population is projected to nearly triple, from 46.7 million to 132.8 million, from
2008 through 2050, the bureau said. Its share of the total U.S. population is expected to double
from 15 to 30 percent. "Thus, one in three U.S. residents would be Hispanic," the Census Bureau
said in a news release (CNN 2008).
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