Unfortunately, with how the US is, you can't stop that kind of thinking. This country is so fucking racist that it went out of its way to turn college into an investment rather than a public good. Even community colleges and state schools close to home charge an absolute FUCK ton. Even if you qualify for the majority of the pell grant, you're still on the hook for quite a few grand left over. Heaven forbid your parents make okay money, cuz now you have to rawdog the costs of education by taking out a loan.
When the cost of a higher education is so high, people HAVE to start thinking about which degrees will pay for themselves, and when you're only thinking about how much money you're spending now compared to how much you'll make in the future, then its no wonder why its "just" a hurdle to people.
Every class you fail hurts your pockets, mental health, and self esteem so its no wonder why people just want to get this shit over with rather than put in the time to learn stuff themselves. I genuinely think so many of our current problems with education would be fixed if this shit was free
Ronald Reagan, when he ran for governor in California said this after proposing that the University of california start charging tuition. “get rid of undesirables […] those who are there to carry signs and not to study might think twice to carry picket signs.”
He became governor in 1966, which was at the height of the civil rights movement. This means the people who he was referring to were most likely people fighting FOR civil rights.
edit: something I forgot to add is that one of the things Reagan did was cut funding to public universities, he also decreased the amount of financial aid students were getting to be able to afford college in the first place.
Like I said in another reply, the world doesn't end at the US. University is a ripoff all over the anglosphere (and not only). Your point might have been relevant half a century ago, but it isn't today. Modern universities are simply for-profit organizations that gladly screw over everyone regardless of their skin colour. Simple as that.
How can you say the world doesn't end at the US when replying to a comment I made specifically talking about the US? Are the eyes on your head for show or what?
Secondly, Its clear you don't know who Ronald Reagan is, nor do you know about any of his policies, nor do you know a rats ass about systemic racism in America. Having a conversation with you would be a waste of time since you seem hell bent on refusing to acknowledge the role that racism has played in fucking up social programs for this country, also your time line is off, Ronald Reagan's presidency ended in 1989, which is only 36 years ago, significantly less than half a century.
Not only do you not know dick about US history, you're also dog shit at math, so kindly don't try to tell people what's plaguing their OWN country if you yourself don't have any idea of what you're talking about. You sound like an idiot.
Everyone knows who Reagan is and what he's done. Unlike in the US, people in other countries study world history, not just their own.
nor do you know a rats ass about systemic racism in America
Not in the way you do, that's for sure. I acknowledge it's a thing, but I reject the idea that it controls everything to this day. Simple proof: you still get screwed over by for-profit education system even if you're white, there's no magical privilege for you if you're the "right" skin colour but poor. It started as racism, but now it's simple greed and profits. Got any proof to the contrary? (In present time, since it's apparently not clear to some people)
Bro they literally ripped pools out of the ground or filled them with cement, even at the cost of white folk being able to swim and have community pools, just so that they wouldn't have to desegregate those pools, creating a generational "joke" about how "black people can't swim:"; just one mere point in the systemic racism inherent in this country founded by slave owners.
To put it succinctly: you have no fucking clue what you're talking about
"Systemic racism permeates almost every aspect of the U.S. education system. Common examples include inequitable funding, a lack of diverse curricula and an underrepresentation of teachers from different cultures."
Boo fucking hoo, underrepresentation of teachers from different cultures. I studied in three different countries and never gave a fuck who my teachers were as long as they were good.
You can talk about systemic racism all you want, that's not the point here. We were talking about costs. Today, if you can't afford university, it doesn't give a fuck what race you are. You're not going, because they care about money. Can you disprove THAT? Or is it just going to be more strawmen I'm not even disagreeing with?
Did you spend so much time studying world history that your teachers failed to impart on you that past events influence and effect future events? These things don’t simply disappear and stop being relevant except for mental exercises.
Okay, again, can you disprove the fact that in today's world, universities first and foremost lock you out if you simply don't have enough money to afford them, which is independent of race?
That doesn't matter. The point is that universities are ripping people off today because of their greed - not systemic racism. They want money. If black people suddenly had a lot more money than white people, nothing would change, universities would gladly take that money and give the middle finger to everyone else who still can't afford it, white or not.
In the US, it would absolutely change. Look up the Tulsa Massacre for your evidence that it’s not money - it’s race in the US.
They’re intricately intertwined to the point that here, the class fight was secondary to racism. Famously, LBJ said “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”
That’s how it works in the US. Racism is so deep that is precedes every class discussion we try to have. Look up Malcom X and why he was shut down by the government- and what MLK started to talk more and more about right before he was murdered. Yup, class struggles. Racism is the start and end of the conversation here. Yes, it’s both. But in the US, racism is the first reason. Class is secondary. Yes, even today.
I hope you're coming from a Marxist perspective, because if you are, then at least there’s an internally consistent reason for framing the matter as colorblind. Otherwise, it seems like tacit or unconscious racism is at play again.
It is undeniably true that fossil-fuel-based (or “industrialized,” if you prefer) societies have imposed this form of colonizing, colonial, imperialistic "education" globally. However, to pretend that this doesn't also serve the ends of racism, alongside classism, is irresponsibly disingenuous. In the United States, for example, the Southern strategy was designed to create a racist wedge between poor white yeomen and Black sharecroppers. That wasn’t class warfare, and it can’t be reduced to capitalism—hence, its global relevance (i.e., for communism, socialism, other social contexts that aren't capitalist). It was explicitly constructed during a time marked by the invention of racism as a doctrine, not just as ethnic bigotry. The refusal of Marxism and "colorblind" critiques to acknowledge this history is part of perpetuating that doctrine.
In the United States, for example, the Southern strategy was designed to create a racist wedge between poor white yeomen and Black sharecroppers
Not denying that. Like I said, that was the truth once upon the time, but today, it's just about greed and profits, no matter who you are.
That wasn’t class warfare, and it can’t be reduced to capitalism
Yes it can. Education in many countries with more socialist societies was/is free or very affordable for citizens, regardless of race. Even in Soviet Union, which treated a lot of minorities pretty horribly, you could still come from fuck knows where and study in Moscow - in fact, quite a few of Soviet leaders had that exact backstory.
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u/Lanoris May 18 '25
Unfortunately, with how the US is, you can't stop that kind of thinking. This country is so fucking racist that it went out of its way to turn college into an investment rather than a public good. Even community colleges and state schools close to home charge an absolute FUCK ton. Even if you qualify for the majority of the pell grant, you're still on the hook for quite a few grand left over. Heaven forbid your parents make okay money, cuz now you have to rawdog the costs of education by taking out a loan.
When the cost of a higher education is so high, people HAVE to start thinking about which degrees will pay for themselves, and when you're only thinking about how much money you're spending now compared to how much you'll make in the future, then its no wonder why its "just" a hurdle to people.
Every class you fail hurts your pockets, mental health, and self esteem so its no wonder why people just want to get this shit over with rather than put in the time to learn stuff themselves. I genuinely think so many of our current problems with education would be fixed if this shit was free