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The "Diploma Divide" is Killing Education [1]
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Date: 2023-04-17
Danger! Handling these may cause you to think!
Doug Sosnik wrote a guest opinion for the New York Times this morning:
The ‘Diploma Divide’ Is the New Fault Line in American Politics
Americans have always viewed education as a key to opportunity, but few predicted the critical role it has come to play in our politics. What makes the “diploma divide,” as it is often called, so fundamental to our politics is how it has been sorting Americans into the Democratic and Republican Parties by educational attainment. College-educated voters are now more likely to identify as Democrats, while those without college degrees — especially white Americans, but increasingly others as well — are now more likely to support Republicans.
Sosnik’s argument is a purely political one: Democrats, who are largely college-educated, need to reach out to those without that diploma in order to win elections. But I think he missed a major point: These less-educated voters are putting Republicans in power who then use that power to kill higher education.
We are watching happen in Florida, in Tennessee, in other states. It’s not just a matter of hiding the truth about slavery and racism — though that’s a big part of it. It’s about making sure the majority of voters in this country have not been in trained in critical thinking. As Trump might say, the GOP “love[s] the poorly educated!”
Yes, I know this point has been made before. Repeatedly, and with good reason. But this morning’s opinion column made me think that this isn’t just a Republican power-play; it’s resentment by the “poorly educated” who are pushing to make the rest of the country be like them.
If that’s the case, then Sosnik is missing an opportunity here: The way to ensure a lasting Democratic majority is not just to focus on those with diplomas; it’s to help those without diplomas get them. We need to campaign on raising the education standards, we need to make this inclusive rather than let the Republicans charge us with being exclusive (“effete intellectual snobs”).
That will be a long campaign, and it will have to be careful one.
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