Are All Children Receiving Effective Instruction For Academic Success?

Race and ethnicity are two things that have been around since before the colonist journeyed over to America. But what do these two words mean? It is easy for people to confuse them and think that the two definitions can overlap. Race, in sociological terms, is a social concept. The majority of race is concerned with biology and the physical characteristics or hereditary traits a person might have. For example this could be skin, hair, or eye color, or bone structure. Ethnicity is cultural factors that a person would be able to conform to. These factors are shared by people in the subgroups and can be accepted or rejected. Examples of this would be languages, religion, food, and nationality.

Both race and ethnicity are both socially constructed and are a cultural category instead of a biological reality. Race and ethnicity are contrasts between people that we perceive. Race is nearly impossible to exactly define someone as white or black because people are so many different shades of color which makes everyone unique. Ethnicity is socially constructed because the boundaries that make someone a particular ethnicity are fairly flexible. Both of these concepts are used to describe differences between humans and ways that people are identified in society.

Young, Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students includes sections from three educators turned authors that discuss specific issues that affect educational performance of Blacks in America’s educational system while also assigning potential practical solutions to these problems. In a debate over their lack of success in education, this book is integral because it provides readers with viewpoints from the eyes of the students who make up the category of “low achieving Black students” as well as those who fully support these students.

Race and ethnicity are the occasionally have been used interchangeably. Race is described as a person’s physical appearance such as skin color, eye color, hair and many other biological traits and characteristics. Race mainly refers to the differences in skin color in the contemporary world. When we say that person is fair skinned or is black we are referring to the race of that person. Ethnicity is the cultural aspect of a an individual or a group such as the nationality of the person, the language they use to communicate, their descendants , the particular region they inhabit for example American, African, African Americans, etc. In a nutshell race is an overview of how you look and ethnicity is the social and cultural aspect of grouping you are born into.

The Cambridge Dictionaries Online (2011) defines racism as “the belief that people's qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, or the resulting unfair treatment of members of other races.”

Working thesis: The reason why African American students do not have a high rate of academic achievement is because of racism and prejudices, the way they are educated by educators, and their incomes.

A culture can be defined as a way of life of a group of people- their behaviors, beliefs, values that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes the customs, arts, literature, morals/values and traditions of a particular society or group (Virginia Encyclopedia). Culture can also be considered as a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in places or organizations. This topic is of huge importance to our society mainly in the state of

Many individuals see race and ethnicity as meaning the same thing but in reality they are separate and both have their own distinct identities. Race refers to the biological traits like our physical appearance, eye color, skin color and characteristics set by society that we identify with. Ethnicity on the other hand, is the culture, language, and

In modern Western society, education success and attainment is the clearest indicator of competence and success. This belief assumes a kind of homogeneity despite the empirical evidence of considerable racial and cultural diversity in North America. As a result, the egregious casualties of the American educational and social system remain disproportionately and overwhelmingly African American. Furthermore, the many casualties among African American youth in North America confirm the failure of the social sciences and the educational system in their attempt to address the needs of the African American child. The following study epitomizes the enduring racial and cultural generalizations of those individuals whose entire history as a “science” has been the repeated distribution of unfavorable characteristics to the African race.

James M. Henslin defines race as “a group of people with inherited physical characteristics that distinguish it from another group” (2014). Meanwhile, ethnicity “refers to cultural characteristics” (Henslin, 2014). The difference mostly relies in a similar argument to the classic nature versus nurture argument. Race is what a person genetically inherits. Whether it may be skin tone or anatomical features, they are dictated by something outside of a person’s personal preference. An example of race is that a person could be caucasian or latino. They do not get to choose, they are simply given the traits of that race through their bloodline.

The difference between race and ethnicity is that race is distinguished by appearance, and Ethnicity is distinguished by cultural identity. Race is a physical character to distinguish race. Ethnicity is emphasized by identity, culture, religion, etc. to distinguish between ethnic groups. Therefore, Race is inheritance, cannot be changed; ethnicity is formed postnatally.  

Culture is the aquired knowledge that people use to interpret, experience, and generate social behavior.

Racism refers to a certain belief that all members of one race group possess characteristics that are specific to that certain race. That can then lead to a certain racial group distinguishing their race either as inferior or superior to another race or races. Racism can also be described as a specific form of prejudice which involves a certain attitude for a certain racial group.

Racism is behaviour, in word or deed that is motivated by the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics that determine abilities and cultures. Racists believe in this erroneous concept of race; they also believe that their own race is superior and therefore ought to dominate or rule other races. Racism may be an attribute of an individual, or it may be incorporated into the institutions (social structures and laws) of an entire society.

Racism – A person or persons who beliefs that one race is superior over another. People who are racism belief others are not a worthy, just because of a few physical characteristics such as skin colour.