For some things in life, history has nothing to with the present. Things such as earthquakes, oil spills and even mass murder can be independent acts which have little to do with past events; but when it comes to education in Mississippi this is not the case. Reading Delta Autumn gave me further insight into the problems I'll face next year as a result of the past inconsistencies and inequities of the Mississippi education system. The reason why alternate route programs exist is because of failures in public education across the nation, but the reason that MTC is particularly important has everything to do with location. Mississippi's history, particularly that relating to education, has been truly detrimental to the overall progress and growth of the state, and after reading the first chapter of Delta Autumn it comes as no surprise to me that Mississippi remains 50th in the nation year after year. How can a state succeed when 50% of its population is continually denied a chance at an adequate education? Mississippi is home to a little over 2 million people, which is significantly less people than some major cities. From a population standpoint, providing adequate education to every child should be relatively easy since you don't have the same problems that comes with unmanageably large school districts and overcrowding. As someone whose attended small schools all my life, I know that Mississippi has a numerical advantage over many parts of the nation and part of me wants to believe that all Mississippi schools could be more successful if they just had more money. But after reading the history of the state, I'm sure that it will take more than a stimulus bill to set Mississippi on the right track.
It's not just the structure and funding that must change but also the people (both black and white) and their mindset when it comes to race, education and poverty in their own state. Mississippi cant change until the majority of its citizens want it to. Until people care more about their own children's opportunities than color and until social conditions change so that everyone is offered a chance at upward mobility, the state will remain 50th. Having said this, I now question my own ability to affect real change here. What difference will providing a good education to 130 students do when the state itself offers so little support for its own citizens? And why should I care when so many other people do not? Its hard for me to see my own participation in this program as true activism when my role as a teacher will most likely have the same overall effect of pouring a bucket of water out in the desert. I'm frustrated by Mississippi's willingness to let the past both determine and define the future, and as an outsider I feel paralyzed by the social atmosphere. But at the same time I did make the choice to come here, knowing that there were more problems than I can handle or even understand, so I'm left asking myself, once again: What change can I reasonably make? Knowing that I will not and cannot change Mississippi's structural inequalities in education, my goal is to help change the social conditions by at least letting kids have a glimpse at what they truly deserve. The history of Mississippi is one that has purposely made success virtually impossible for a majority of its citizens and it has continued to do so by masking widespread inequalities from the people who are most affected by them. Though I can't change the past's effects for everyone, hopefully I can help some of Mississippi's own realize their own potential so that over time some real change may be possible. One bucket of water cannot change a desert, but it can change the fate of one small area, animal, or plant in desperate need, and for that reason it is not in vain. I hope my time here isn't either.
Kelly, I enjoyed reading your post. It is interesting to see how your views have changed just in your first couple of weeks spent in MS as a teacher, and I look forward to hearing your perspective once you step into the full experience of the regular school year.
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