Educational Equality

United States, Brazil, and South Africa are referred as a family resemblance in which each country was colonized by Europeans who sought to preserve themselves and those who looked like them rights and privileges and created a “hierarchy of power in which white skin color, race and other characteristics perceived to be European were valued”. [1] Additionally each of these countries exploited non-Europeans as slaves to meet their labors need. After the end of slavery, a racial caste system was re-invented. A key component of this maintenance of this racial hierarchy was educational deprivation of people of African descent, that would be characterized under the United States as “Black” was essential to the maintenance of the apartheid regimes. In the United States, the nation that has longest history of facilitating race conscious remediation programs to dismantle education apartheid and is at nation making point to rethink the its policies of race-conscious remediation, meanwhile the South Africa has just celebrated 10 years of race-conscious remediation, and Brazil embarking on race-coconscious remediation project.

Many activists and scholars argue that educational equity is essential to the development of oppressed people. In Brazil, the country has embarked on race conscious remediation measures to ensure educational equality. The country has developed quota systems to address education equality. The largest concern is the role of institutional change to ensure education equality. Currently the university seats are determined on the matric exam which benefits privileged group of students, which is linked to the resources deprivation of Afro-Brazilians. This as result limits the ability to make higher education for all.

Through this field study, I will explore how the implementation of Affirmative Action programs through the eyes of administrators and students. In particular, I will investigate the institutional programs that are designed to address students that are entered through the quota system. I will survey student experiences in the institution to explore campus climate. I will investigate the role of students in developing retention and matriculation projects.

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[1] Lynn Huntley, Preface of Beyond Racism : Race and Inequality in Brazil, South Africa, and the United States x in Beyond Racism ( Charles Hamilton et al. eds. 2001)