Mind over Matter: Or Does the Matter Not Mind? Topic: Equity and Inclusion: Education by Destiny Davis Educational inequality has been a prevalent and recurring factor for many decades. Educational institutions and the importance of education have become essentials to the concept of individuals’ obtaining social success. However, multiple factors contribute to the success rate in connection to the education system. Although institutions provide individuals with the access to an education, not everyone has access to the same quality education. I encountered both inadequate and adequate educational experiences. As an African American woman, I believe in the importance of education. Historically, the existence of slavery and its systemic restrictions have prevented African Americans from obtaining an education that ensured their social success that is equitable to Caucasians. Unfortunately, restrictions and limitations are still placed upon African Americans today. According to Angela Davis, “Black people were forced to play the same old roles carved out for them by slavery” in the past and into the present (54). For decades, African Americans, especially African American women, have fallen victim to the dominant ideologies of society. Prior to selecting Delaware State University as my institution to continue my educational journey, I attended Western High School (WHS). WHS, located in my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, is the oldest public allgirls high school in the United States. Since Baltimore is predominately African American, I never thought of my educational experiences as being inadequate because of my race. Although I was granted the same access to education as students from neighboring schools, I did experience inadequacy due to other 24
factors. One of them regarded institutional funding. I remember wearing blankets in school because my high school could not afford heat. Nor did Baltimore City have the funding to fix it either. My high school also did not supply us with books. We were solely responsible for purchasing the books for some of our courses. In this regard, our educational experiences related to classism, with learning impacted by what we could not afford. However, my gender is the main reason I experienced inadequate educational experiences prior to college. Although individualism was a theme I took away from high school, traditionalism still overpowered it. Limitations and restrictions were applied to us. For example, because it was an all-girls institution, the microaggressive mandate to always “act” like a lady was heavily enforced. We wore white wedding gowns to graduation because the white wedding gown was a part of our tradition and represented the purity that women have always been traditionally pushed to maintain. We also were overly sexualized for simplistic things and that essentially impacted my level of comfort. However, being forced to wear a white wedding gown at graduation really helped me discover who I was as a person. Some students did not want to abide by tradition to wear the gown and instead some women wore white suits. Some of my former classmates either did not feel comfortable wearing dresses or identified themselves as less feminine and more gender neutral. As a result, I witnessed some of my peers experience discrimination because they chose individualism over traditionalism. They did not get to participate in graduation. When I was
