"Clipping Their Own Wings" Holds Latino Culture Accountable for Lackluster Educational Performance.Book explores the real reason Latinos lag behind other groups in educational achievement LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. -- In his controversial new book, "Clipping (1) Cutting off the outer edges or boundaries of a word, signal or image. In rendering an image, clipping removes any objects or portions thereof that are not visible on screen. See scissoring. See also WCA. Their Own Wings," author Ernesto Caravantes tackles one of the nation's most troubling trends and toughest social problems: Latino underachievement, and focuses the root of the problem squarely on the shoulders of the Latino culture itself. Hispanics are now, officially, the largest minority population with 35 million living in the U.S., exceeding African Americans in number. Despite the sizeable numbers, this minority group is doing poorly in education. For the past 40 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time average number of Hispanic high-school dropouts has been more than twice what it has been for African Americans. These dismal numbers are encrusted en·crust also in·crust tr.v. en·crust·ed, en·crust·ing, en·crusts 1. To cover or coat with or as if with a crust: deep within the identity politics of educators, policymakers and other influencers, despite their compassionate attempts to empower Latinos with Chicano studies Chicano studies is an academic discipline. Like most branches of Ethnic studies, it incorporates aspects of various other disciplines, including history, sociology, psychology, and literary and textual analyses from the academic studies of the English and Spanish languages. and bilingual education bilingual education, the sanctioned use of more than one language in U.S. education. The Bilingual Education Act (1968), combined with a Supreme Court decision (1974) mandating help for students with limited English proficiency, requires instruction in the native . Caravantes defies conventional wisdom, shattering notions that Latino underachievement is due exclusively to underfunded un·der·fund tr.v. un·der·fund·ed, un·der·fund·ing, un·der·funds To provide insufficient funding for. underfunded adj → infradotado (económicamente) schools and overcrowded o·ver·crowd v. o·ver·crowd·ed, o·ver·crowd·ing, o·ver·crowds v.tr. To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. classrooms, coupled with socioeconomic disadvantages common to this group. Caravantes does not entirely dispute these causal factors, but instead argues that Latinos are contributing to their own oppression by stubbornly refusing to learn English and devaluing the importance of education. The book dares to say what no one else has dared to say about the Latino culture. Caravantes claims, "Hispanics are lagging behind as a result of ignorantly and stubbornly adhering to cultural aspects that do not place education at the top of its values hierarchy and instead, are clipping their own wings by refusing to assimilate into the American educational system." Unless Latinos rethink these values and consider change, no amount of money, books or happy talk will make a dent in the problem. This book, in the hands of the right people in both educational and legislative circles, can make a major contribution to calling attention to the real and ignored problem of educational complacency and apathy in a culture which clearly doesn't understand that education is the key to a brighter future. Ernesto Caravantes is a native Angeleno who grew up in Lakewood, CA, the only son of Mexican immigrants. Please contact Susan Baldwin to arrange an interview. The book is available online at: www.ernestocaravantes.com |
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