A number of protests have taken place around the country this month.
Marches simultaneously took place in California, New York as well as Asian and European countries.
This universal demonstration is referred to as the “May Day Protests.”
These protests are in commemoration of May 1, 1904 when the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate for the legal establishment of the eight-hour work day.
The efforts largely succeeded, but we still face economic inequality and political corruption today.
As tough economic times impact most Americans, we are seeing more and more people getting kicked out of their homes and forced to choose between groceries and rent. People are working long hours for insufficient pay and no rights.
That’s if you’re fortunate enough to even have a job.
This has become a common story amongst many people in this country. These people make up the“99 percent.” They believe that a majority of people are getting nothing while the other one percent is getting everything.
These socioeconomic injustices are impacting our education system as well.
Theoretically, the purpose of standardized tests is to have a way to categorize, sort and rank students. These tests “prove” some students of color and working-class children belong at the bottom, while at the same time demonstrating the intellectual “superiority” of the wealthy and white students who score better on the tests.
This was not a display of white students being smarter or more superior than other races.
This was a display of the advantages rich people had over others such as having books in the home, being able to have a private tutor, and with parents not having to work long hours to provide for their family, they had more time to read to there kids and help them with homework.
These tests indicated the values of rich white people were the standard.
Many people want a quality education for all students.
Here in California, the state has been cutting funding to higher education; schools are eliminating teaching positions and cutting programs.
Constant fee hikes have induced the suffering of American college students.
Student loan debt is over $1 trillion.
These problems are making education beyond the reach of a majority of the youth.
There are pre-existing inequalities such as social inequality, gender inequality, and wealth inequality in more than 80 countries. This discrimination affects the opportunities for people to acquire wealth for themselves.
The May 1 demonstrations called for citizens worldwide to stand up and speak out against the oppression.
Despite the race and geographical location, we all share the same concern: if this imbalance continues, it will widen the gap between the have and have-nots.
