Our educational systems, which were designed to produce factory workers for the 20th century industrial era, are in great need of massive overhaul if we are to produce the skilled, educated work force needed for the 21st century. High intellectual problem-solving skills will be needed. Instead of improving a product, for example, we will need citizens who can envision a whole new product or way of doing something that has never existed.

Already, business leaders are starting to recognize the challenges facing companies that wish to flourish in the 21st century.  The landmark report, Workforce 2000, startled U.S. business by revealing how the labor pool was changing dramatically. This report showed that white males were already in a minority in the workplace (47% in 1985 with the projection of only 18% by the year 2000), and it forecast that 85% of the net growth in the U.S. labor force throughout the rest of the century will be workers who are people of color, white women, or immigrants. This work force must be highly skilled. 

Our "best" school systems still do not develop children who can recognize and value people of darker hues. History, taught from a Eurocentric perspective, continues to perpetuate a myth of white superiority.  At the same time, African history, for example, begins at the point of slavery and leaves out the tremendous contributions and advancements that Africans contributed to world civilization, thus continuing to foster the myth of inferiority of African heritage people. The history, contributions, and points of view of Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans are equally absent. The absence of such information can only serve to create new generations of white-identified children who perceive themselves as superior as they interact with people whom they perceive as inferior to themselves. Children who are not identified white will continue to internalize a sense of inferiority.