Quiana Week 4 Reading Response

After reading Still Falling Through the Cracks: Revisiting the Latina/o Education Pipeline I learned and explored how the climate of education for the Latinx population connects  to the current efforts to increase Ethnic Studies in the U.S. education system and modify a system that creates educational barriers. It is evident that the disconnect with Latinx people having access to equitable education is due to an unwelcoming environment, systemic inequalities, and a lack of a diverse curriculum that makes it challenging for the Pan-ethnicity to feel supported in their education. The reading states: “Schools must create an ethos that encourages Latino Students to believe that their schools care about their academic needs and  their aspirations to be successful” (8). Many times there is a discriminatory analysis towards the diaspora when explaining why there is a significant educational gap, which fails to acknowledge how the educational system sets students of color to fail due to discriminatory policies and limited resources depending on the county. A solution discussed is the initiative to provide studies that educate students about their culture as it empowers students and through programs that personally guide students through their educational journey there can be an increase in achievement (8). An important analysis in the reading included “Research has found that students of color on college and university campuses continue to face incidents of racial/ethnic harassment, bias, and discrimination” (13). This connects to the formation of Latinx Studies at Emory University as students came together to advocate for programs that are inclusive of a diverse student body. In addition, these barriers in our education system continue to be seen today as universities including Emory continue to take actions that do not take into consideration all voices and at times create an environment where marginalized communities are targeted, an example being arrested students on campus. While this study was conducted in 2010, it is relevant to today’s climate in education. It is necessary to continue these conversations and have communities come together to advocate for one another. Changes in policies will only occur through the uplifting of voices of different perspectives and research that focuses on the gaps within Latinx education is an example of useful information that can shape implementation of programs/systems that can bridge the inequities.