Education - Is It Being Taken for Granted?

Education can be seen much differently for different cultures; in Norman Rockwell's paintings "A Problem We All Live With" and "The Spirit of Education" this is shown quite vividly. In "A Problem We All Live With" a black child is shown walking to school surrounded by U.S. Marshals with offensive graffiti saying "nigger" on a wall behind them and a tomato smashed against it. "The Spirit of Education" painting shows a white child being sent off to school by his mother and being given all opportunities to succeed and become successful and taking those opportunities for granted. Both of Norman Rockwell's paintings are symbolic of how different races and cultures see education, for white people it is seen as a god given right that is readily available and is taken for granted and for black people education is seen as something that had to be earned and fought for to be where American education is now where it is available to all races, religions, and genders.

These paintings are similar in that they show how important education is seen in American society for children to be the focal point of a huge movement for equality. In "A Problem We All Live With" the guards are symbolic of how important education is that adults are willing to defend a child's right to education with their lives. Similarly, in "The Spirit of Education" the mother is symbolic of being behind her child and supporting him by giving him all tools necessary for his quest for knowledge.

However, these paintings also show how the quest for children's education is much different for different races. In "A Problem We All Live With" a child's education is shown as being something that must be fought for in order for one to earn the right to education, on the other hand in "The Spirit of Education" a child's education is shown as being a "god given" right that one has always had available and has never had to fight to have. The guards are symbolic of the struggle of black society to gain equality and having to fight for the rights that are promised in the constitution and are not being given to them by American society. The torch is symbolic of white American culture passing down the rights to education that has always been given to their children and is readily available to them.

In addition, the two children have very different attitudes shown in their facial expressions that show how school is seen by the different races. For the black child school is wanted and seen as something very valuable and that is an important factor in life. The white child's expression shows that education is seen by him as not important and more of a chore for the child; him being in a bad mood because he has to go to school shows how white American culture does not appreciate the opportunities available for one to become successful and have a better