The above quote, comes from the inestimable, James Baldwin. This sentiment is timeless, and if we would desire to improve our lot now as well as into the future, this is therefore that wisdom that we truly need to take to heart. After all, all those that have come long before us, are no longer amongst the living, so then, in effect, the baton is indeed passed from one generation to the next, for better or for worse. It therefore certainly makes sense, that we should desire to see more children, become good citizens and therefore beneficial for society, as opposed to instead only having a small subsection being of merit. This thus signifies, that at the very minimum, government auspices should make it a high priority to see that each and every child has the fair opportunity to attend an educational facility of substance, without being penalized because of race, creed, or class; in addition to the vital need that the families that these children are a member of, have at their foundation, the type of accouterments that are necessary for the good development of a child.
Regrettably, the United States has clearly devolved into a system in which it has deliberately determined that some children, that are born or raised in unfortunate or trying circumstances, should, for all intents and purposes, be left behind. As bad as that is, America, has furthered determined that it seemingly doesn’t matter how weak and non-performing so many of its children are in school, of which, test scores and general literacy rates seem to fairly reflect that despite lots of money so spent, that this, in and of itself, does not guarantee the good education of children, in aggregate.
Rather, it would appear that America, only likes to back a winner, so that the elite of the best students, are feted at levels that clearly reflect their high value; but that does little or nothing, for all those others that are lacking in the appropriate skill set to do their best on the world stage. Those then, that somehow believe that having a minority of superior students, will permit America to remain the preeminent nation in the world, now and into the future, have clearly got it all wrong, for the race will not be won, by just having exclusively the best so running, as if the balance, so of, doesn’t matter, because, in fact, they do.
The children that we presently have are seemingly blessed with a very large prosperity pie, but the problem that America needs to face is that too much of that pie is in ever fewer mouths, and those that have been left behind, have been left with just the crumbs, if that. So then, there will indeed be a price to pay, when all those that have been doing the profiting, face a disenfranchised domestic monster of their own making; though it need not necessarily be that way, if only America would live up to its creed, of fair opportunity and equal access to all, for it is in the hands of the living, as to what we will or will not become.