As a Latino immigrant to this country, I was not only already aware of the issues covered in our discussion, but I had lived and am living them first-hand. While I agree with most of the conclusion provided in our readings (undocumented youths need to be granted access to higher education; a well executed administrative, political, and financial effort must be made to bridge the education disparity between Latinos and the rest of the population; the southern US serves as the epicenter of a huge influx of immigrants and thus the key area were education reform must take place), the take-home effect of our discussion, for me, was the voicelessness of those most affected by these disparities: children, especially the undocumented.
When I write voicelessness, I mean the lack of attention given to immigrants’ perspective in the political discourse that directly affects their well-being,; in this case, their education. Not only is this voicelessness present for immigrants, but it is even more so for the children of these immigrants, the ones who are directly affected by a lack of educational parity.
Coalition for College Access, a group on UNC’s campus, and other like them are making an effort to provide voices to these voiceless children through lobbying and education of the masses.
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