America Is Sociologically Ignorant and It Shows

Sociology, the discipline that studies society, is not mainstream. It is rarely taught in the K-12 curriculum. And many youths are forgoing higher education, a space where people learn how to evaluate evidence for themselves. Sixty-two percent of Americans, hundreds of millions of adults, lack a college degree. Less than half of 18- to 24-year-olds are enrolled in college. Further, as enrollment has diversified and expanded, the college wealth premium has decreased. Student debt burdens are particularly stark for low-income and Black and Latino borrowers. The steep financial barriers to postsecondary education need to be eliminated. We need broad access to and support for public higher education to support an informed electorate.

President Donald Trump's regime has been on a consolidated rampage against education and "wokeism." It issued an executive order to end "Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling" last year, is wreaking havoc on higher education and has gutted the Department of Education. Those in power are hostile to sociological knowledge in particular. Florida recently disemboweled college-level sociology textbooks. These actions are part of a sweeping anti-public strategy to undermine knowledge, suppress dissent and shift our culture toward a dangerous paradigm.