Most Latinas have goals to graduate and get professional jobs, but challenges including discrimination and gender stereotyping undermine their chances of success, a new survey shows.
The discrimination — sometimes from teachers and fellow students — affects the young women’s self-confidence and performance, leading to lower graduation rates, according to the report released last week by the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. To read the full story from CNN.com click here.
The problem with latinas and the colonial complex
THe problem with latinas goes back to the colonial times of the Spanish Empire. THey come from a long tradition of subnittion and slavery and this has been passed on from generation to generation. I don’t think this is an issue of descrimination as mush as a complex of inferiority. Latinas are not incouraged to do anything with thier lives by their parents becuase their own parents don’t even dream of being the boss at a company. I know this because I’m a latina myself and in most of the attemps I have made with my college education is my own parents who don’t support me, not the anglos. In any case, they are they only ones who have beleived in me at the university.
I have many, many Latina friends who tell me the REAL problem with their education starts at home with their fathers. Latinas still to this day can not leave home unless it is through marriage and in their fathers’ eyes education for a daughter is unnecessary. God forbid a smart daughter could leave home to attend a university. Their lot in life is to have babies and take care of the men who sit and drink beer every evening.
I am not seeing where Latino/Hispanics are taking responsiblility for their own circumstances. Statements like their parents are unfamiliar with the education system, therefore, no parental involvement in schools. No one was born knowing the education system. The thing to do is get off you butt and go there and find out about it. Don’t use the language barrier as an excuse. We have pumped billions into ESL, there are are several people on school campuses who are willing to interprete for any parent willing to show interets in their child’s learning. The statement about students attending schools with limited resources is due in part to the many school dollars being set aside for the ESL sacred cow. So, the limited resourse due to ESL no only effect Spanish speaking children, but others as well. Latino/Hispanics, where is your self-efficacy? You state your problems, and step aside and expect us to solve them. Other minority groups, Chinese, Japanese, and Somali, all have after school AND Saturday schools run by volunteers to assist their students with English, their native language and culture. There are a lot of Hispanics who speak English, when are you guys going to step up to the plate and take care of your own problems. One more thing, this article lightly glazed over a MAJOR problem with Latinas that should have been headline. The Latinas have an extremely high teen pregnancy rate, surpassing African Americans. Not only that, they are often inpregnated by older men. This is a cultural problem that needs to be addressed openly. When are you going to step up to the plate for yourselves instead of finding ways to secure funds just for your people. This doesn’t bode well for your efforts to CIR.