Abstract

In this phase I wanted to follow the idea of the trend of some form of discrimination. After going back and forth with which topic sounds like a good Idea, I had a brainstorm of the topic of language discrimination, how our background impacts our view of the world, the effect of social media has on society, works better, I decided to follow the topics of education and racism. Using the library databases, I learned in class I found a few resources that could work for me. One major resource that helped develop and expanded the idea of the essay was “Confronting Institutionalized Racism” by Camara Phyllis Jones. I found this to be an academic source. Reading that made me want to follow and the arc of sort of talking about the issue of institutional racism in education. Along with who it affects and how it can resolve it. Having that simple idea of talking about the topic, providing examples of what is and who it impacts, and a resolution helped me follow a story of my essay. Writing this essay, I was able to gain new skills, along with a few insights on how to compose a research paper. That allowed me to compare an article with another article. I also used it away from comparing my thesis to the articles. This research paper allowed me to gain the chance of developing a well-established paper, addressing the topic of institutionalized racism in education. 

Dissecting Institutionalized Racism in Education 

Education is an opportunity that gives everyone a chance at equality. Education helps expand our knowledge and better ourselves with a new skill. The educational system is built for everyone to able to learn but not everyone gets treated right in this system. Many people face discrimination within the educational system due to their background and race. Minorities are the ones who face this discrimination. Whether it’s them coming from a different background or not knowing standard English they will have to face this racism. Racism in education can be seen as institutionalized racism. Institutional racism is seen as is a form of racism in political institutions (educational system).  Education at its early stage didn’t give everyone an equal right to learn. The court case Brown v. Board of Education was about segregated schools and how they aren’t equal and doesn’t present the same opportunity for everyone. Only the upper or dominant class had the opportunities of being educated. A wide variety of men and women along with those of different backgrounds and heritage later became able to learn and be educated. None the less that still doesn’t stop other people from limiting those opportunities. The more dominant class who always had these opportunities were able to control how this information is spread and limiting what is known. A sort of prejudice mind state has developed against minorities in the educational system. Doing some research, I found that a lot of authors and writers shared the same idea of how institutional racism exists and should be eliminated.  

Many minorities face prejudice within the educational system. Evidence can be found upon how these ideas can start at a young age and developed into adulthood. This idea and concept aren’t anything new. There have been experiments along with research proving this. One person who conducted one of these experiments was Marilyn S. Rosenthal. Using children, she showed how they have developed a prejudice to language dialects. She did this by setting up two boxes one with a standard English-speaking voice (Steve) and another with an African American English-speaking voice (Kenneth). The results were most kids preferred the standard English. After the experiment, the children stated that ““I like him [points to Steve] because he sounds nice. I don’t like him [pointing to Kenneth].” “I think I want my present from Kenneth, if he doesn’t bite.” “’Cause Steve is good, Kenneth is bad.”” (Wolfram). This shows that the children associated words like nice and good words with Steve and bad and bite with Kenneth. Even at a young age, these children carry a prejudice to the voice alone without getting to knowing more. They see how adults react and do things and copy that. They take in this information without truly understand much about it. I found that “Adults use words such as “right,” “wrong,” “correct” and “incorrect” to label speech”. (Wolfram). This reveals how adults limit the wording when comes to learning speech. They only associate with words like right or wrong which can cause the effect of children developing prejudice to another language that isn’t standard English. It also supports the fact of how adults are showing children to have the set mindset of standard English being the only form of English. This prejudice in the system for both children and adults can lend to racism within the system. 

In the educational system, people from different cultural backgrounds aren’t treated fairly. They don’t get seen as equal or even have the same opportunity as others. In the article “How Racism Affects Minority Students in public Schools” it talks about the unfair justice minorities face. It mentions what harsh punishments they face along with how they’re identified by their teachers. According to the text it stated that “The negative racial biases black children face, and the correlated high suspension rates result in African American children missing a great deal of school. This can lead to them falling behind academically, including not reading at grade level by third grade. . .” (Nittle). This is recognizing that black/African American kids face negative racial bias. Along with how these racial biases can cause them to miss school causing them to fall behind in class. This confirms and shows how racism is in school and that a group gets affected. Additionally, it shows they are being targeted due to their background. Many minorities faced being targeting in school. An example of this is “Students of color face racial microaggressions in schools as well, such as being criticized by teachers and administrators for wearing their hair in styles that reflect their cultural heritage.” (Nittle).  This is showing how students of color face aggression in a place where they’re supposed to learn and educate. The quote is also showing that they faced criticism every day on their hair that reflects their cultural heritage. This is proving how some people of the educational system will be racist to minorities because of the background. A lot of minorities get judge harshly and put into these boxes. Limiting how they’re seen and they’re able to do. According to this article, it stated that “Poor children and children from minority groups are not only less likely to be identified as gifted and talented but more likely to be identified as requiring special education services by teachers.” (Nittle). This is explaining how minorities aren’t seen as gifted and talented but in the needs of special education. Along with it acknowledging how some teachers are being prejudiced towards minorities. Along providing how there’s discrimination in the educational system. 

The educational system can treat minorities or people of color different from white people. Along with most people controlling the educational system and not understanding how to treat minority students the same as white students. A lot of people or teachers feel that they are doing the right thing when in fact they’re showing a prejudice side without knowing. For example, “What Institutionalized Racism Looks like inside Our System of Education” by Kelly Wickham Hurst shared a personal story of institutionalized racism. In its Hurst stated how a principle gave a hard punishment calling the police on a black student who skipped school to go hang out with a girl and doesn’t punish give the same or equal punishment to a white student who sells and carries drugs in school. In the article it stated ““I don’t know if you know this but calling the cops on Black children isn’t going so well for them right now.” . . . I said that this was a racist response to something that was typical adolescent behavior and that I vehemently disagreed with it.” (Hurst). This is acknowledging the fact of unfair treatment that black students face in school when dealing with punishments. Along with how this can be viewed as racism since what the student isn’t nothing out of the ordinary. What he did most adolescent would have done. It also shows that not even in the educational system is so closed-minded. Furthermore, these ideas of prejudice are supported when another student was caught selling drugs and didn’t have that type of response. In the article, it stated ““You have a KNOWN drug dealer in the building, and you didn’t contact the police for him.”” (Hurst). This is showing how the principle is giving punishment to a black student who skipped school but not to a white student who sold drugs. It also shows how she doesn’t even call the police on him even though he is committing crimes. This shows the injustice take place between the two quotes about how black student face discrimination within the educational system even when they aren’t in the wrong. It isn’t just a classroom or traditional school that can cause discrimination.  

The story “Mother Tongue” gave a personal narrative upon how the author’s mother faced discrimination. Along with the author emotions and feelings towards this discrimination. Tan stated, “I started writing non-fiction as a freelancer the week after I was told by my former boss that writing was my worst skill and I should hone my talents toward account management.” (Tan).  This is explained how due to Tan’s background she was discouraged from pursuing a career as a writer. Her boss did more than that he was being racist making her turn her claims towards her “strength” due to her background. This also shows how racism doesn’t just have a limit in the classroom but stretches further towards another educational platform. Tan and Hurst both shared a personal narrative of their experience with institutional racism. Within it, they express ideas of how prejudice mind states can limit the opportunities. Along with how people are viewed.  These personal narratives gave an insight into the personal experience of institutional racism. It also expands the idea of how this is something personal that everyday people face. Any minorities can face this at any time and the impact that it can have. As people get older escaping the mind set of institutionalized racism 

It isn’t just their heritage that leads to this discrimination. Many minorities face discrimination because of their background. Many minorities come from poverty and low-class neighborhoods. A lot of them due to this face prejudices and have unequal opportunities. One article I found that shared this idea is “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education”. In it, Darling-Hammond talks about education and inequality. Along with how poverty is connected to this central idea of prejudices in education. An example of this is in the article it stated where “Even within urban school districts, schools with high concentrations of low-income and minority students receive fewer instructional resources than others” (Darling-Hammond). This is acknowledging that there’s a connection between poverty and education. This small connection can create a big effect like fewer instructional resources. That means less of an equal opportunity for minorities. This also shows how the educational system is also limiting these low-income students by not providing them with proper resources. This alone can create more institutionalized racism. Furthermore, in the article, it stated that “Americans often forget that as late as the 1960s most African-American, Latino, and Native American students were educated in wholly segregated schools funded at rates many times lower than those serving whites and were excluded from many higher education institutions entirely” (Darling-Hammond). This is explaining how many people forget about how there was a segregated school in American. This was when minorities didn’t have equal rights as white people. And white people had to control who gets educated. It also shows how funding for these institutions was lower than the white counterpart who has much higher education.   

The system is far perfect, there are ways, but we can improve. While doing some research found that many people believe we can confront institutionalized racism. The article “Confronting Institutionalized Racism” talks about ways in which we can address institutional racism. She gives many examples of how we as people can address the idea of institutionalized racism. In the article, it stated that “Naming racism. . .  Understanding the local mechanisms and impact of racism. . . Acting to dismantle racism. (Jones). This is acknowledged in 3 ways we can confront this. It first is saying only by naming racism and identifying it can we address it. Along with understanding how it works in local communities and the impact can we further confront it. Finally, it talks about acting and working on dismantling it we can put an end to racism. All together this laying out a plan of action we as people can work with to address this topic idea. This isn’t just the only we can address racism. Another author who suggests ways of combating racism in schools is Walt Wolfram. In his article, “Sound Effects: How to Challenge Language Prejudice in the Classroom”, he states … “They came to understand “there are tons of stereotypes, which are almost always wrong” and that “dialects represent people’s culture and past.”. This showing how through education students understand that there’s a ton of stereotypes and they’re wrong.  It also shows through educating students on other cultural like their heritage, dialects, and background they would develop a prejudice mind state. They become more open-minded about these other cultures. Wolfram and Jones shared this common idea of by talking about racism and letting it be known we can end it.  Having this type of resolution won’t end institutionalized racism but at least it will make people more aware of what’s happening in the educational system.   

How else can we as people dissect racism and in education and address these many problems? I feel that the background and race of minorities impact their opportunities in education.  Institutionalized racism plays a part in the fact of the way many minorities either miss out on this opportunity or don’t even have a chance. At a young age, children can develop a prejudice outlook on language dialects. This due to the negative concepts they learn in school when came to learning English. Furthermore, it isn’t just that factor alone. It’s the factor of minorities getting put into this box. Minorities aren’t seen as equal to their white counterparts. Minorities are seen as lesser because of their background. This is due to their educators aren’t treating with fairness or even allowing them to have the opportunity of doing better or being more. The truth is that is isn’t just happening in public school other educational institutions with minorities are facing this as well. Furthermore, poverty also plays a part in this system as well. It’s because of the low income that many minority students don’t get as many chances as white students. Through it all there’s still a chance to change and confront this. With education and knowing what racism is and how it impacts communities than can we only address the problem. 

 

Work Cited Page  

Camara Phyllis Jones. “Confronting Institutionalized Racism.” Phylon (1960-), vol. 50, no. 1/2, 2002, pp. 7–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4149999. 15 October 2019 

 

Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/.. 15 October 2019   

 

Hurst, Kelly Wickham. “What Institutionalized Racism Looks like inside Our System of Education.” Medium, Medium, 7 Mar. 2018, medium.com/@kellywickham/what-institutionalized-racism-looks-like-inside-our-system-of-education-4a69c72edeed. 15 October 2019   

 

Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “How Racism Affects Minority Students in Public Schools.” ThoughtCo, 8 Aug.2019, www.thoughtco.com/how-racism-affects-public-school-minorities-4025361. 15 October 2019   

 

Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue. Three Penny Review, 1990. www.jstor.org/stable/4383908. 15 October 2019 

  

Wolfram, Walt. “Sound Effects, How to Challenge Language Prejudice in the Classroom.” Teaching Tolerance, 2013, www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2013/sound-effects. 15 October 2019