Racism in the American Education System
Racism in the education system is still very active in our society today, despite the efforts of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Students are still segregated in a sense and not everyone gets to experience elementary school, middle school, and high school the same way. Unfortunately for some, the experience is quite disappointing. This problem has much to do with systemic racism and poverty. Systemic racism is especially seen in private education. The majority of private schools are made up of white students and very few minority students. In these circumstances there is a lack of equality amongst students in the private education system. Equality is when fair treatment and access to opportunities is given the same to all. However, no matter how much the issue of equity between white and minority students is addressed, nothing ever seems to come to resolve this issue. In fact it is often dismissed, overlooked, or just completely ignored.
There is a very wide achievement gap between white and minority students. A lower achievement rate especially among black students in urban and suburban neighborhoods. The most recent statistic on the graduation rate of black students from universities is only about forty percent, whereas the graduation rate of white students is about sixty four percent. Again, this brings us back to the topic of equality. Minority students, especially black, are not given or even offered the same opportunities that white students are. Some of these examples include a lack of support from teachers/ professors, resources, and the quality of education they are receiving in the classroom. These factors can play such an important role in the motivation of the students and the desire for students to learn and achieve big goals when it comes to schooling. This goes even outside of the classroom.
Disciplinary actions are evidently different amongst white and minority students. The punishments disproportionately affect minority students. Black and hispanic students are often given a much harsher punishment than their white counterparts. School authorities are very quick to suspend or expel black and latino students whereas their white counterparts get a “slap on the wrist” for performing the same defiant behaviors. This again goes back to equality. Why is it that black and latino students receive much harsher punishment than their white counterparts and both parties are performing the same behaviors? Why isn’t there a sense of equity when it comes to punishing students? These unfairly distributed forms of punishment also play a very large part in the perception minority students have in school and their future success in education, according to the research that was studied by the American Psychological Association. Not only does it affect their perception of school but also negatively affects their perception and relationships with teachers and other school authorities. It can perpetuate negative stereotypes against racial and ethnic minority students and even affect how they’re treated by their white peers.This unequal treatment can start as young as pre-k, ages three and four.
Public schools in urban areas with a high percentage of minority students tend to lack the necessary resources that are needed for a good quality education. Old, worn down, and outdated textbooks, no computers, and no access to advanced courses. Even the teachers lack the resources they need in order to provide their students with the proper education they need in order to move forward in the future school years. The schools themselves are even run down, old, and dirty buildings.These schools are overall underfunded and neglected by the state. Schools in areas of poverty need more attention and investments from the state they’re in. Lastly, many of these schools contain teachers who are not very experienced in the field of education. This is not to say that these teachers don’t try their best or are completely unsuccessful, but having teachers with more experience and qualifications could help the students achieve more in their academics. What also does not help this case is the fact that the student to teacher ratio is much higher, causing the schools to contain very large classes without the correct amount of teachers needed to support these classes.
Students can see when they’re being invested in. Going to a run down building, with overcrowded classrooms, and lacking essential materials everyday only wears down the students’ motivation to want to succeed. Many even drop out very early on before getting the chance to receive a high school diploma. These are the young kids that often turn to a life in the streets, risking their life and freedom everyday just to barely get by. Those who do receive their diploma feel that high school was enough and would rather step right into the world of labor instead of getting a college degree in something that could make their lives much more comfortable in the long run.
There is so much that has to be fixed in the American education system. The many advantages given to and taken away from students is completely unjust and hypocritical to what this country stands for. Urban schools deserve to have better funding and better resources. Students who attend urban schools deserve to have much better education quality and effort from their authoritative figures. Minority students attending both public and private schools deserve better treatment. In fact they deserve the same treatment as their white counterparts. Lastly they deserve to be given the same opportunities. Having no opportunities or even being given a chance to actually have access to advanced education is beyond unfair when it is all given to the white students. The sad part is, there are so many smart students that have the brains to do so many great things, things that could possibly impact the whole world and the chance is wasted solely because of the systemic racism and poverty this country still enforces on the minority community. We have a long way to go, but it does not mean that the day equal treatment isn’t even a question won’t ever come to be.
In the real world there is a cause and effect to everything. Racism in the education system here in America is the result of historical factors that have been institutionalized and structured over a long period of time. From slavery to Jim Crow, education was extremely hard for an African- American to gain in this country. Education was built on systemic racism and only gave great academic opportunities to white students. The cause and effect factors are the main focus. Focusing on the embedment of racial inequalities and disparities, and how it affects minority children today when attending schools and trying to gain a better education. Looking further into the long term effects of systemic racism in education inside and outside of the classroom. Even the watered down teachings of history in modern day education help point out the institutionalization of racism in schooling and show the lack of representation of minorities in history.
When black people could finally attend schools and receive an education after the abolishment of slavery in 1865, the schools were then segregated. White schools were well funded and given the best materials and books with qualified teachers, while black schools were underfunded, if even funded at all, and dilapidated, lacking the proper materials for a good education, and underqualified teachers. Even now we see the same occurrence. Many schools in urban neighborhoods contain predominantly black and hispanic students. The schools are run down, under prepared, and underfunded by the government. Private schools, which are predominantly white, are well funded by the government, given the best materials available, and well prepared to give a good education. Many of the negative impacts on modern day education stems all the way back to the times of slavery.
During slavery slaves were not allowed to have any kind of education, not even learning how to read and write. In fact if slaves were caught learning how to read and/ or write they were brutally beaten or even killed. Gaining any kind of education was nearly impossible. Many enslaved children attended an underground schooling system inside the homes of the African Americans that were educated and lived close to them. Enslaved African Americans would also secretly spread the lessons they had learned to the slaves that were unable to attend the “schools”. Many of the enslaved people risked their lives just to be able to receive an education.
Right after the abolishment of slavery we then began to see the Jim Crow Era and its horrifying effects on minorities, specifically black communities . This era lasted all the way up until 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed. The Jim Crow laws had an extremely negative effect on African Americans around the country for almost one hundred years following the end of slavery, hindering black students from receiving any academic advancements and opportunities. The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case in 1896 established the “separate but equal” doctrine that made these laws standard practice. These laws gave young black students a completely different experience in education. We still see the negative impacts of this court case on black students today, shaping their experience in modern day education systems. Segregation in schools would finally come to an end in 1964 after the famous Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. Although segregated schools were no longer legal, we still see segregation in schools today, hence the private and public school example. Private schools are predominantly made up of white students, where there are more academic advantages and opportunities offered to students. Public schools, specifically in urban communities, are predominantly made up of black and hispanic students, where there are barely any academic advantages and opportunities for a higher education.
Due to the lack of proper resources and academic opportunities, black students are limited to going any further in having a chance of receiving a higher education and an advanced career causing them to be more likely to drop out of school early on. This then continues the cycle of living in struggle and having limited opportunities to receive a well paying job and also holds back any chance of improving poor minority communities. Also lacking representation in school curriculum only further diminishes a minority student’s confidence and faith in schooling. School curriculums often water down the horrific and racist history of this country and completely ignore the achievements people of color have made that helped advance the world we live in today. Only teaching about oppression instead of teaching the achievements and success minorities have had in the past that still matters to this day.
We cannot just ignore the fact that systemic racism has such a negative impact on minority students’ achievements here in America. Its awful consequences are still in effect today. Many minority students are dropping out of school and turning to a hard life in the streets just to survive. We often like to point fingers at family dynamics and social factors but never want to look at the real causes of these outcomes. Many minorities are suffering the repercussions their ancestors had to endure. We must go through a curriculum reform and contribute better funding for schools in urban areas in order to help address and “ fix” these issues that are still here. Re-evaluating the education system and pointing out the flaws is a good start to ending the inequality of education in America.
There is an ongoing debate about racism here in America. Racism in the American education system results in the unequal treatment of minority students compared to white students. Many disparities are often manifested and have an effect on the academic achievements of minority students, the disciplinary actions taken upon minority students, and even the graduation rate of minority students in high school. The root of this issue dates back to the dark age of slavery that lasted over four hundred years in America and only had been abolished not even two hundred years ago. Despite the facts and statistics of the issues racism in the American education system causes, there is still a large argument that racism is not an issue in the American education system. Many feel that racism is used as an “excuse” for minority students, and that it doesn’t negatively affect them in any aspect. Many people will argue that we should just “move on” from slavery, essentially leaving it in the past. However, if the effects of slavery still remain to this day, can we really just leave slavery in the past? It is a fact racism is still very much alive today, can we just leave racism in the past if it is still here?
I would like for us to sit down and take a minute to look at the socioeconomic status many minority children are raised in. Taking a dive into socioeconomic status and the part it plays in institutional racism can help us further examine that racism is in fact alive and well and a huge problem within our education system in the United States. Often low income families (alot of the time consisting of single parent households), poor/ dangerous communities, lack of resources, goods and opportunities for success. Even trying to get a decent paying job is hard. Many parents will work multiple jobs at a time just to ensure everyday necessities for them and their children to survive. Due to all of the negative impacts of living in a lower socioeconomic status, many children lack the quality schools that they need in order to receive a good education. The schools low income students attend are run down/old buildings. As a result of these factors, low income students do not perform very well in school. They have no motivation to want to do better in school, and often see attending school as nothing more than law. We must acknowledge that this still causes a sense of segregation within the school system.
To further argue against the fact that racism is not an issue in the American education system, let us now look at the funds for schools in urban areas with a large minority population compared to schools in suburban areas with a large white population. High income students are often white children whereas low income students are often minority children like Black, LatinX, Native American, etc. High income students have much greater access to excellent schools that provide a multitude of opportunities and extracurricular activities while low income students obviously do not. Underfunded schools in urban areas lack quality resources for good classroom experiences such as new textbooks that are up to date, computers/ tablets, extracurricular activities, and even the teachers. Well funded schools in suburban areas have up-to -date textbooks, high technology like computers and tablets, and quality teachers. All of these factors cause a separation of races in the education system in this country. This is still a form of segregation.
Now that we have looked at the statistics on urban and suburban school funding, we can now understand the wide achievement gap in American education. Black and Latino students are more likely to receive harsher punishments than their white counterparts. Black students are also more likely to be placed in lower academic classes and are also retained in grade 2.2 times more than white students. There is an increased educational disadvantage for minority students and this causes a bigger dropout rate for low income students. If not the dropout rate, then the percentage of low income students attending higher education.
There are many ways that we can correct these disparities in the education system. Acknowledging the disparities is a step all in itself, and this would make a great first step. Seeing the issue, addressing the issue, and taking action to correct the issue. Urban schools receiving better funding from the government would help low income students to have a much better school experience. Attending a school with the proper resources can give a boost of motivation in wanting to do better in school. Correcting the inequality of disciplinary actions against minority students would help lower the dropout rate. Finding a better way to help the students instead of handing out harsh punishments would give them the feeling that they are cared for and have a system of support in school. Providing access for more extracurricular activities for students to participate in such as sports, advanced classes, and different programs to showcase talents. The point remains that no matter what race or ethnicity we are, we all deserve to have equal opportunities and access to good quality education. We all deserve the chance to do well in school and achieve big careers in life. Socioeconomic status, race, religion, ethnicity, etc. should not be determining factors on whether or not we all get to have good experiences in schooling. Acknowledging and addressing the issues are the only ways we can start rectifying the racism in the education system.
References
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/10/black-students-harsh-discipline
https://www.gao.gov/blog/racial-disparities-education-and-role-government
https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2022/08/education-in-enslaved-communities
https://robertsmith.com/blog/systemic-racism-in-education/
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
Because it is essentially (maybe literally) a mashup of the three short arguments without revision, this longer essay suffers from the same first-draft shortcomings as the others. I admire the impulse to write it, the content, and the integrity to call out the problems as you see them. All that said, this is just a first draft of what should have been several.