How am I suppose to value education?

Sun, 01/05/2014 - 20:46 -- dkaur

I was always taught to value education,
But how can I value something that generalizes students of color with biased limitations
And failure as the only expectation.
What I gained from institutions were the skills of memorization,
Or how to compete against others for A+ redemptions.
Funny how classism doesn't just exist in third world nations.
From day one, we aren't a name, but a number - calculated by our own ambition.
Don't worry if the numbers are low, especially if you're a minority,
They've already begun building your new home for eternity- a prison.
A whole system set up for incarcerations
Of brilliant minds that don't meet The Man's Plan of systematic oppression.
So tell me how I'm supposed to value education,
When there is no individualization,  
When my reading level is compared to the kids with privilege.
But mama never read to me,
And English is a second langauge in my hood or village.
Tell me how I'm suppose to value education,
When kids are going home to help raise their families,
Because the men are MIA in their communities,
And teachers never take the time to truly understand why Juanito can't read,
'Cause they're too busy calculating numbers to see what the REAL struggle is.
Tell me how I'm suppose to value this education,
That refuses to recognize,
Much less educate others on the history of my people,
But expects me to learn
With acceptance of  their fairy tale version of history
And happily practice their so called traditions.
The education that gives a page or two for Gandhi,
But doesn't know about Bhagat Singh, and his revolutions.
Tell me how I'm suppose to accept this education,
Full of exclusions and the word itself has become an allusion.
Because it's seems all I'm learning is to conform to their ways,
And assimilation is acclimation,
Into their new environment,
So when is the United States going to embrace We the People of Color
Without racist views of expected compliance.
And until then, I cannot value this education
because this is not education
but a set full of instructions on generating repression.

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