7.10: Conclusion

National studies of adults point to lower levels of trust in government among ethnic minorities when compared to the majority (Flanagan, et al., 2009). Similarly, in national studies of high school students, Latino and African American adolescents, compared to their European peers, express less trust in government and are more skeptical about the amount of attention the government pays to the average person. Attitudes towards other institutions do not fare much better (Niemi and Junn, 1998, cited by Flanagan, et al., 2009, p. 503).

Not unlike York’s history, ethnic awareness also was positively related to commitments for improving race relations and especially to the civic goal of advocating for one’s ethnic group. Notably, in contrast to the role of prejudice in family discussions of the personal barriers it poses and to the role of prejudice in undermining youth’s beliefs in the American promise, reports of prejudice were unrelated to any of the three civic commitments. The fact that ethnically aware youth were more motivated to improve race relations and to advocate for their group is consistent with research on immigrant youth which shows that civic engagement often takes the form of assistance and advocacy for one’s ethnic group (Lopez and Marcelo 2008; Stepick et al. 2008, as cited by Flanagan, et al., 2009, p. 515).

Lee (2010) contends

The ethical awareness should be included in curriculum development in schools today. The study recognizes the generational differences between herself and the children in her school. It is time that we're really open and aware that the America of my childhood is not the America of today." She considers that contemporary diversity is so common and natural. Today's children are accepting, and this little Caucasian boy's best friend is the little Vietnamese boy that's sitting beside him. It's natural to them (p.28).

According to Grant and Ladson-Billings (1997), the "curriculum change "approach is considered best for multicultural education, where the focus is more on transforming the curricular components including basic values, beliefs, and sociocultural assumptions. Using this "curriculum change" approach, teachers should examine their practice to consider whether their curriculum takes into account diversity by comprehending and valuing cultural pluralism and challenging or changing biases and prejudices toward other cultures (as cited by Lee, 2010, p. 26). Albeit York City has witnessed improvements if not more significant awareness within recent years Lee points to limitations of not only this review but that which is required to improve future generations in York.

In asking, ‘‘what does it mean to be an American?’’ Walzer (1990) notes that, although we have appropriated the adjective, there is no country called America. Our sense of ourselves is not captured by the fact of our union. Rather, we are bound by the commitment to tolerance codified in our Constitution. What makes us Americans is a commitment to respect others who are different from us and with whom we may ardently disagree. With each new generation we renegotiate the principles that established our nation and that define our collective identity (Flanagan, 2009, p. 516).

This evaluation has demonstrated the significant evolution realized by the City of York, primarily in the last ten years to build trust, the economy through job creation and job training, the police building bridges, but the school district remains in the greatest peril. York has improved at glacier speeds and probably as human attrition occurs changes will follow. The thrust of this discussion was to demonstrate that COP is a multi-facet attitude modification philosophy that entails each segment of the area. The POP is a management philosophy based on hard, live and real time data critical to the mission. The police although important are a small portion of the puzzle and it takes an entire community to make a difference. In York’s situation the missing component for growing a community is a successful educational system. A community such as York City that is reinventing itself must provide a healthy and vibrant educational system in order to support family life, vital to the COP/POP philosophy and is conspicuously absent from the equation to date. A journey is defined as the distance between two points: York has many miles traveled with many miles to go, with no end point defined!