Unfortunately only a few will be selected

When you were a kid they asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up. Even at a young age, they expected us to have an idea as to what we wanted to be when we became adults. We were not told that some will have an easier journey and some would struggle their whole lives just to achieve half of what the next person has achieved.

I was constantly reminded to go to school, work hard and was told that everything and anything could be accomplished if one worked hard enough for it. When I was young, I truly believed every word that they had said. I believed that this statement could apply to not only me but those around me as well, but it wasn't until I got older that I saw the flaws in this statement. A public school education is free to anyone that enrolls, but they left out the part that one would encounter inequalities and obstacles due to either their skin color, religion or socioeconomic standing while being there. Every public school that I went to secretly “served” one group in particular and unfortunately sometime my friends and I fell into the category of those whom the institution did not serve.
This is my experience in a public school system, the inequalities, the struggles, and even the positive things that I've seen in the educational system.

Only two High schools are located in my neighborhood, one a college prep school that required students to wear uniform and go to school from 8am to 4pm, and the other school was a continuation school. Majority of the kids that lived in the neighborhood went to the continuation school . There were very few of the students that lived in the neighborhood that went to my old high school, Sacramento Charter High School. Then the few that did live in the neighborhood who went to the same school as me, eventually transferred out by their Sophomore year.

A college prep school that was located in the middle of a neighborhood that was in search for some hope. Within the community, 32% of the population has an education of some high school or lower. The current Mayor of Sacramento is from the neighborhood and is an Alumni of the high school, so the vision was to put a college prep school in the neighborhood in order to give hope to the youth. For a school that is located in this specific place, why most of the students from this neighborhood not go to this school?

The educators at the school were not properly prepared on diversity in which could be used to help students that come from low economic and troubled backgrounds. Most of the students that attend the school are from middle class families and the students that live within the neighborhood usually don't fall into that category. The actions of those students that lived outside the neighborhood actions were seen as a symbolic violence, while the actions of those students who lived within the neighborhood was always looked down upon.There was a lack of support from administration for those who were struggling.  Instead of recognizing the signs of home issues, the school often overlooked those signs. My best friend was homeless and instead of seeing that as a root of her absence and selling candy problem, they classified her as a bad student while not taking in consideration that she was an honor roll student prior. They told her that she wouldn't make it to a four year university, they refused to help her, know she is a full time student at California State University, Chico. The lack of acknowledgement and understanding from administration causes the student who live in the neighborhood to feel unwelcome. They classified us as bad kids,some administration would get into a yelling match with the students and since we did not posses the same social capital that the other students had,the way in which some were treated was justified. It was as if they were trying to only appeal to those who were  the model minority stereotype.  

Since my high school was predominantly African American, 58%, we encountered things that no high school should have to go through. It was as if the city wanted us to not succeed. The vision of the school was to have everyone graduate and go to a four year  university, but instead the City of Sacramento wanted to put limits to resources we could have.  There were three schools on our campus, a high school and two middle schools. We could only use some of the campus due to the city owning most of the campus. In 2012, the city proposed that our school swap campuses with another school. The other school, which was predominantly White, would have gotten a better campus, while we would have gotten a smaller outdated middle school campus. Even though the school was performing miraculously and having all of its students going off to college, it seemed as if we had to keep proving ourselves. How does a school perform well and graduates the most African Americans in the City of Sacramento, but is left with nothing? The structural racism that happened from the City such as how they were funding the school, to the buildings needing to be swapped.   

Even though the high school did have its flaws, one thing that they stressed during the time I was there was the achievement gap. The disparities in educational achievement between those of different races. Since most of the student at the school were minorities, the school was always trying to close that gap. Like seen in  Race & Racism: A Critical Approach by Tanya Maria Golash- Boza, their is a significant difference within the  average gpa by race and ethnicity. Asian/Pacific Islanders on average have a 3.26 versus Blacks who have a 2.69 gpa. At Sacramento Charter High African Americans are performing at a higher rate than other African Americans within the county,and city while also performing close to the average student in both the city and state.

With the story I gave, we can see the inequalities present within the education system. Inequalities towards minorities not only happens at predominantly White schools, but at minority serving institutions as well.