meritocracy – Contemporary Racism

The Complications of Hard Work and Privilege

05/12/2016 by Jennieleeb649

Something that has been on my mind recently is the idea of the myth of meritocracy. The myth of meritocracy is the popular American notion that if you work hard you will succeed. This myth, however, does not take into account the fact that it is easier for some people to succeed over others because of privileges they have in terms of their social identities. I struggled making sense of this concept at first for personal reasons. My dad is …

Education: How We Learn to Not Question

04/12/2016 by Becky Goodman

Although I come from a privileged background and went to a “good school”, what I really learned by entering college is how to un-learn my past teachings. Even the myth of meritocracy that provides a foundation for our mandatory history classes in the primary and secondary curriculum is a form of mis-education. The mis-education of all people feeds into the existing system of white supremacy because it does not provide the skills or critical thinking lens that is needed for …