Issue Of The Week IV Fall 2011-2012: Politics And The Potential Influence Of The Changing Face Of America: What Are The Implications Of America Becoming A Nation Of Minorities By 2050?

It's great that we have minorities as leaders in Congress, but this is an example of the tokenistic fallacy. People think there doesn't need to be any more change because a few successful people who happen to be minorities have made it. But why do a few people represent an entire race, even the many who are not their constituents? There needs to be a representation of minorities locally and state-wide, as well as an increase on the federal level. While it is necessary to increase minority success in public education and colleges, there needs to be a solution now; for example, for people who have left grades K-12 and don't have time for classes. Let's face it, not only do white males dominate federal government, but across America local and state governments too.

I think it is great to see more women and minorities holding offices in the US government. Although we are seeing the American public better represented, we still have a long way to go before our government is a equal representation of our population. I think the biggest hindrance, to better representation in our government, is awareness. We need to better educate the public, especially children. To encourage more women and minorities to take these same paths, we need to start early. Encouraging minorities to choose careers in politics needs to start before high school and college. Elementary school would be the prime age to introduce children to the fact that women and minorities are underrepresented in the government, and that they will have to power to change this. We need to teach children that not only is there a problem, but help enable them to educate themselves so that they may fix the problem. School districts could start programs in their schools to prepare students for careers in law like we do with students that want to pursue careers in medicine or education. If we are not more informed, we run the risk of people that are under qualified being elected just because they are a woman or minority.

I think we need to not only fund the schools that minority children are attending but the communities these children live in. If the communities minority children live in are cleaned up, as well as, money and time are put into making the community better, minority children/teens will realize there is more in the world than what they have at hand Minority children will be more motivated to want to go to college and pursue better jobs.

I would venture to say that we need to increase the numbers of all races in college(yes even whites). With the hard economic times that have befallen our nation, the only way to stay ahead is to keep increasing the level of education that one has. I think that it goes beyond just the need for more viable candidates, but that there needs to be opportunities to get to into college across the board. I do not believe that public schools really prepare anyone for the tasks that they may need to complete to get into college, and I am sure inner city schools are much worse. The only way I know of to solve this problem is with money, and that is something that we do not have right now. However, if the economy picks back up I think that we will see more money being spent on this sector of our nation.

I agree with Dr. Brusoe when he states that, “We need to work on increasing the number of minorities who are viable candidates.” I have been surprised and disturbed by the recent studies that show inequity of educational opportunities between whites and minority students. As a future teacher I ask myself how we can solve this problem.
I believe that one way of providing more opportunities for minorities is by supporting school choice such as charter and magnet schools. One school of this type that I am aware of serves the inner-city of Minneapolis. Where the poverty rate is near 100%, these students score at least twice as high on average as their neighborhood public schools on the SAT standardized test, thus being better prepared for college. What makes the difference? One interesting aspect of the school is the role that the Parent/Guardian has with the school. Since admission is voluntary, parents/guardians are required to be more involved. Home visits are standard for all and many types of free workshops are available for families. The lower student/teacher ratio, a challenging and rigorous curriculum and quality teachers are also keys for student success. The sad reality is that these things do take money. Yes, they take more than money, but government financial support is necessary.
Because this school serves a greater number of minority students than does the public school in the same inner-city neighborhood, they are able to make an even bigger difference in the community and also in the future of our country. This is why I believe that school choice is part of the answer to the dream of seeing every person reach their full potential and thus evening out the distribution of race in our public offices.

I believe that when politics started having minority leaders in the house and senate etc. that it was a big step in racism in our society. By seeing these minorities that are this high up in the political parties that it showed many people that other cultures and diversity groups can do the same jobs just as good as the "dominate" white race can do. We have made giant leaps with these different types of people being in politics for our nation. The biggest of all is the first african american president, Obama. I do agree with Dr. Brusoe on the face that there needs to be more canidates of minorities though just because it is mainly whites that are in politics and it never hurts to have more diversity in a field such as politics that are so controversial. Although we have made giant steps by having such minorites in this field, there is still so much more we as a nation could do better and can always have more room to grow on subjects such as this.

I agree that there should be more minorities in government roles. We should have diversity in our government. We should provide more scholarships to help the minorities get through school. We should not only help them pay for school, we should help them study and get though school. Also, we should reach out to them and help them to improve their neighborhoods. Having a black president today is a huge step. I think that it is good for children to have a role model to look up to. Having a black president today shows minorities that they can do it too.

I believe it is critical for the success of our country and government to include minorities in government. They can speak for many minority groups as well as show the people of America that indeed the we are a diverse nation. With this I believe people should embrace their heritage and know that to be "ethnic" or different from doesn't mean you necessarily have to have dark skin. The US is becoming more and more diverse. I'm excited to see what is to come for minority groups leading us into a better future!

"What can we do to bring success to everyone?" Personally, I feel that if we want to encourage more diversity in our country's power positions, we need to make "opportunity" easier to reach for. This country is often called "the land of opportunity", but that opportunity comes with a price tag. You need a good education to climb ladders in this country, and a good education is expensive. That is where the problem lies, as the sad fact is that many minorities cannot afford to undertake that kind of education. The best way to increase our country's diversity is to make good education easier to obtain. I'm not referring to college education (though exorbitant college tuition fees are a major deterrent for those in poverty) but Elementary, Middle, and High school. If they had easier access to facilities that provided quality (or at least good) primary schooling, more people in poverty would be better prepared for the rigors imposed by college education, and not find it to be as much of a barrier. Then minorities would find that "opportunity" is much easier to grasp.

Not many children have the support they need to find resources to get better education. They think getting out of high school is good enough and working as a shift manager in a the fast food industry is good enough for them. I do agree that putting more money in the education system where its low and showing them that being a doctor, judge, senator, or in a high up position is in their reach. I am one of the lucky few in my family to be going to college and will be the first to get a Ph.D or Ed.S. Some people say that race, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors do not affect the individual but of course that is not true at all. The media plays a large role in the negativity that is showed on the African American society and its up to use to show them that incorrect. There is so much we can do the help our future but we have to come up with a solid plan and execute it.

Bringing different cultures, ethnicities, genders, and religions together will always cause friction, which may last a long time. But those who have accepted others who may look or act or worship differently have discovered a somewhat surprising truth: even though we look and act different, we are the same. We all have the same wants, the same needs, and the same aspirations as one another. Our drive for success, to be beautiful, or to be loved does not vary from culture to culture. As we look past the outer shell to the inner soul, it's like looking into a mirror. No one likes to be seen as the outcast, treated unfairly, or looked down upon. If you are not considered to be a minority it is difficult to realize the daily trials a "minority" goes through. After putting yourself in their shoes for a day, compassion and empathy should open the eyes in order to see that they need opportunities to grow and learn just as those of the "majority" race does. It is not impossible for opportunities to be made available to those who would like them, but it will cause difficulty with those already in power and who will feel threatened by competition. It may cause some opposition, but I do agree that we need to embrace more diversity in our legal systems and country.

I think that it is extremely possible for more minorities to be elected into office. I also believe that having more minorities in office will help American politics very much. The question is how do we bring success to everyone? First, I believe providing minorities with more resources and education possibilities will allow minorities to realize they can achieve success. Of course, this easier said then done because of policy issues. I think education is a main factor which will help minorities to become elected into office. Although, minorities who achieve as much education as possible still may have a hard time participating in politics because of the prevalent racism in the United States. I believe if we acknowledge this racism and continue to fight inequalities, discrimination, and racism, minorities have a better chance to achieve success.

When asked, "What can we do to bring success to everyone?" my first thought is equal opportunity. To be frank, if everyone is presented the same opportunities everyone should be successful. Instead of segregating social classes from each other in such scenes as private and public school we should merge the two, so that those who have dreams and goals have the same opportunity to do exactly what someone who's life has been handed to them on a silver platter has done. There's no reason something like money should stop a brilliant mind from going to a brilliant college. If we truly worked at issues like this I believe we would come much closer to bringing everyone success. Education is a major that could use some improvement in "bringing everyone success" but another is just society as a whole. Discrimination plays a huge part in the outcome of people's dreams and unfortunately it is still prevalent in society today. Once again, if equal opportunity was applied in society, I do believe there would not be near as much discrimination.

I do not like the question, "What can we do to bring success to everyone?" because it seems to imply that we have not already done so. While troubles obviously exist in the fields of education and employment, the simple fact is that we as a nation have provided outlets that all have some form of access to. As it pertains specifically to minority groups or members of a race other than white, there are many success stories, the most apparent of which would be our current president. I do not wish to seek out a right wing versus left wing argument but i do not believe that there is a concerted effort to keep minorities down and whites advancing. Yes, reform is definitely needed, starting at the elementary school level and continuing up through college but as I have said before, success is out there for anyone willing to take it. This will no doubt become easier as we continue to progress as a society but to say that we have not provided or are not currently providing opportunity for all, in my opinion, diminishes the achievements of any one who has reach their goals in life regardless of whether they are black or white. I believe that the question should be, how can we continue and increase what is already happening? I believe that if we view providing success for all in this light, more motivation and effort will be put in to making education more effective for minorities which will in turn continue and increase a good trend that already exists.

It’s inspiring to find out how many minorities throughout history were able to overcome the obstacles and barriers they faced and were able to be elected to office. To continue the trend of having minorities getting elected into office in the future, we must increase the number of minorities in colleges. First of all, we need teachers, especially all the parents to encourage their children from a young age to attend college. If the child see’s that his parents have high expectations for him, it’s more likely for the child to go to college, because he would not like to let his parents down. Family plays an important role in whether a child attends college or not. Second of all, a lot of minorities don’t attend college because they know college is expensive, and they ignore that fact that there are scholarships, grants, loans, etc. that can help them pay for college. High schools should offer more information to students about the options they have to pay for college. I believe there are a lot of minority students out there who have potential to become the next governor of California, mayor, president, etc, but they have to take the first step, which is to attend college. Education is the key for change and minorities need change for a better tomorrow.

It’s inspiring to find out how many minorities throughout history were able to overcome the obstacles and barriers they faced and were able to be elected to office. To continue the trend of having minorities getting elected into office in the future, we must increase the number of minorities in colleges. First of all, we need teachers, especially all the parents to encourage their children from a young age to attend college. If the child see’s that his parents have high expectations for him, it’s more likely for the child to go to college, because he would not like to let his parents down. Family plays an important role in whether a child attends college or not. Second of all, a lot of minorities don’t attend college because they know college is expensive, and they ignore that fact that there are scholarships, grants, loans, etc. that can help them pay for college. High schools should offer more information to students about the options they have to pay for college. I believe there are a lot of minority students out there who have potential to become the next governor of California, mayor, president, etc. but they have to take the first step, which is to attend college. Education is the key for change and minorities need change for a better tomorrow.

We need to continue to educated young kids about politics and encourage them to go out and vote. Now that more schools are starting to accept more minority students, the better educated they will be. Today the way politics are going. We will start darker skinned and women making important decision in this country. With Obama being the first black President in the history of this country, we will see women playing a bigger role. I don't think we need to change anything at the moment. As long as we are seeing improvements in the government it should stay the way its been going.

I was a bit disappointed that this article did not talk about what it meant by "America being a country of minorities by 2050" ... because the truth of the matter is that the only way America will be a country of minorities in 2050 is if you count any one who is not white as being part of one group. The predictions that were made state that whites will still make up almost half of the united states population, with the second largest racial group being hispanics which won't even come close at about 21%.

This article was very hopeful in other ways. It reminds us that America has made lots of progress in terms of lifting some of the legal restrictions it has placed minorities. It is important however to remember that these positions mentioned in the article were not opened to minorities due to "colorblindness" or the progressive attitudes of the white men in power but because the law required them to. The Civil Right Movement directly precedes these leaps and bounds we have made in the past 30-40 years. It is also crucial to remember that there are still lots of laws and policies that are in place that continue to hold non-whites back even as America becomes "a nation of minorities". Hopefully the continuing diversification of the American population will force white Americans to let go of the thought that American history and culture is white and embrace its true multicultural/multiracial identity.