 The reason why I am interested in this research topic is because it has a lot to do with my major, elementary education. The topic of race and how it affects one's ability to achieve the American Dream is a heavily debated topic in today's society. This research topic affects my personal values because I have always believed that equality is a right of every person regardless of race, gender or ethnicity. It is extremely important that every person is offered equality in every sense of the word, including equal opportunities and equal access to resources. I went to private school for most of my life and was given every opportunity to achieve success and to better my life. However, when I got to college I realized that many students are not given these resources which forces them to fall behind. It also made me realize that it is simply not fair that all students are not given these resources or even the ability to access them. What makes me qualified to write about this topic is that I have seen the way race effects students in both private and public schools and how teachers adapt in order to teach the students the necessary information. When I was a junior in high school, I started volunteering at an underprivileged school in Greenville, South Carolina called Saint Anthony's of Padua. The school had very limited resources, but the teachers still attempted to teach the students as much information as possible in order for them to transition into the next grade. The amount of information the students had to absorb was very overwhelming to many students and they progressively fell behind. My knowledge of schools with an abundance of resources as well as schools with scarce resources has made me well-informed about race and its effect on the ability to achieve the American Dream. 

 The first article that I decided to use for my argument was by Mara Cohen-Marks and Christopher Stout and it focuses primarily on the effect race has on the ability to achieve the American Dream. The authors discuss how African Americans have a lot of skepticism surrounding the American Dream and do not believe that they will necessarily be able to achieve it. However, Caucasians are very optimistic about the American Dream and most believe that they will be able to achieve it. Therefore, the main point proposed in this article is that race profoundly affects one's belief in the American Dream as well as the prospect of achieving the American Dream in the future. Mara-Cohen Marks and Christopher Stout are credible authors because they both have written many articles as well as books and journals. The authors also use a variety of sources in order to support their claims and use evidence from these sources to support their ideas. The authors also use various tables and graphs to support their claims and to prove that race does affect one's ability to achieve the American Dream. They are slightly bias in favor of the argument that race does affect one's ability to achieve the American Dream and use evidence to support that claim throughout the article. Overall, the article is well supported and uses charts as well as reliable evidence to prove that race has an effect on the ability to achieve the American Dream.

The second article, written by Christine Sleeter, focuses heavily on education and the effect race has on one achieving a quality education. It is clear that an integral part of the American Dream is achieving a quality education that can offer someone opportunities in the future. However, race affects a student's ability to achieve an education due to lack of resources, lack of opportunities, as well as a lack of access. Thus, the central point of the article is that the education students receive is highly influenced by race and that inequality is something that still exists in the education system today. Christine Sleeter is a worthy author because she also has written various books, journals, and articles and uses various credible sources in her article. She discusses both sides of the argument, but leans more towards the side that race does affect one's ability to achieve a quality education. The article mainly focuses on the effect race has on education and how the education system needs to be corrected in order to accommodate these discrepancies. 

 The article by George H. Henry is discussing the Coleman report and the effect it has on all students, regardless of race. The Coleman report states how race, as well as socioeconomic class, have more of an effect on one's ability to achieve the American Dream than the availability of resources does. Instead of addressing these issues, teachers have stopped paying attention to race which has led to a widening gap between white and black students. Therefore, the central point of the article is that white students are excelling above white students creating more inequality. Henry is a credible author because he has written many books and articles and uses a variety of sources to prove his points. Henry is more in favor of the Coleman report and believes that race is the central problem with the education system today. George Henry's article mainly discusses the discrepancies in the education system today and how these discrepancies are creating an education gap between students.

 This research question is arguable because many people either agree or disagree with the fact that race effects the education system as well as one achieving the American Dream. Some argue that it is the job of the student to be motivated and to learn and develop their mind. Some consistencies I found between the articles are that they all argue that race has a profound effect on one's ability to achieve the American Dream, they just differ on what exactly achieving the American Dream is. The articles also disagree on how race affects students and how to adapt to these changes within a classroom. Different perspectives of the sources affect my own because it makes me question what other factors affect student's abilities to learn. I may need to revise my research question to also include other factors that may affect one's ability to achieve an education. Overall, I think it is important to include all factors that can affect one's ability to achieve an education and to achieve success in the future. 

