Racial Action And Back Again : A Critical Race Discussion Of Racialized Rationales And Access Higher Education Essay

Authors Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton in Chapter Five of Courageous Conversations About Race broach the topic of race, by asking the reader to evaluate his or her own consciousness of race. According to the authors, in order to address the achievement gaps between African American students and White students, educators should shift their energy towards focusing on the factors that they have direct control of inside the classroom rather than on the factors that influence this achievement disparity between races outside the classroom.

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

The intersectionality of race and racism in education and how researchers’ conception of race may affect the research methods used are best understood multidimensionally (Feagin & Elias, 2013). This means that there is no one way to understand why race may affect the research method used, the way in which systemic racism may play a role in the researcher or the individuals they choose to study, the scope of the work that they select, and the way in which they report their findings. So far this term, we have read articles and text that describe race and racism through different lends on why there are discrepancies in the literature and research.

“Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, have played an important role in enriching the lives of not just African Americans, but our entire country.”(Keller) What Ric Keller states here is an opinion that outlines a compelling fact about HBCUs that along with several other significant information that may come as a surprise. Essentially, the great debate between the choice of whether an Historically Black College and University or Predominantly White Institution is more beneficial or not can become a pondering interrogation. Each acronym defines itself, Historically Black Colleges and Universities(HBCUs) were established by the means of providing an education for predominantly African American students. Whereas, Predominantly White Intuitions(PWI) serve to instruct and educated the opposite or in other words those of Caucasian descent.

The most evident issue between minority students and Caucasian students is not that they are not learning the same concepts, but that they are not learning how to deal with the same problems in correct ways. An article published by Andrew Rotherham in 2009 suggests, in order for racial inequality to be eliminated from the education system, educators must use their leadership skills to teach the students critical thinking and problem solving (4). The critical thinking and problem solving will put all students on a common ground thus, eliminating racial

For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that

“Double consciousness describes the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts, making it impossible to have one unified identity”(Understanding W.E.B DuBois, n.d.). This proposal was brought forth by W.E.B Bois. He believed that African American’s were struggling with these repressed feelings of not knowing who they are; they could not combine their African background with their now developed American identity. This concept was developed in 1903, but is still very relevant today; one may be able to relate the relevance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to this theory/ conclusion. At a Historically Black College or University, an individual has the ability to further their education. I decide to attend Virginia Union University to gain a better understanding of my history, to bond with others within the black community, and to profit from the HBCU experience.

This paradox is not just affecting low-income and minority students, but also students in non-minority groups as well. When there is no time for focus on skills that students need to participate in social change, these students will not learn to question practices within society or to work with other students from all different groups and backgrounds in order to effect change. Classes in schools which may contribute to multicultural education, such as social studies and foreign language, are being cut completely in order to spend more time on reading and math (Au, 2009). According to Au (2009), since multi-cultural anti-racist perspectives and content are not deemed legitimate by the high-stakes tests and classroom standards, the end result is that multicultural, anti-racist content and perspectives and not being included in the instruction time or curriculum. This reinforces the notion for white students that they are the dominant group in society, and works against the goals of multicultural education.

Racism has been around in many countries for many years and is still found to this present day. Every person has their story to tell and for each distinct story one has faced discrimination and is the victim if not the creator. As a future teacher one must realize and notice these occurrences. After watching the film Crash by Paul Haggis I could relate my education course background to the film by approaching racism, socioeconomic status, and gender roles. Each individual topic has an affect towards individual people and their families then later counters a domino like effect like in the movie.

Teaching in racially diverse classrooms often leaves educators feeling uncertain about how to proceed and how to respond to historically marginalized students. There is pressure to acknowledge and accept students of color with different perspectives, to diversify the syllabi, be more aware of classroom dynamics, and pay attention to how students of color experience the learning process.

A documentary we watched in class revealed the truth about how African Americans are falling behind in school and being placed in lower level classes than whites. Some African Americans are reading at a first grade level and are being placed in remedial classes, compared to white students who are striving in AP classes (Renaud). Part of the reason they continue to be educationally unequal is that they many of them lack the motivation to show up at school. Luckily, there are a few African Americans being placed in AP classes that are predominantly white because they are trying to “not end up like their parents,” yet, they continue to segregate themselves socially by all bunching together on one side of the classroom (Renaud). As a nation, we have all this wasted potential since African Americans do not have access to a decent education where they could help our country progress with technology and

The world we live in tends to put filters on what we see, it has always been that way. We will never know the whole story to our society and what is really going on. That is why we have to think for ourselves and not give in with what one person says or thinks. Therefore we need to stand for what we want, our beliefs, and our rights. In Kandice Sumner’s Ted Talk “How America’s Public Schools Keep Kids In Poverty” (November 2016) she argues that kids of color don’t get the same education or resources needed like the white kids do; that it’s not an equal system. Therefore her students don’t learn well. I agree with her completely because in order to have a good education money is needed for the students resources; money and education

Given the changing racial demographics of our nation’s schools (with the white population increasingly becoming the minority) and that the main role of our teachers, most of whom are white, is shaping the education of our students, the question is: How can white teachers effectively teach students of color? Although little is known about the effectiveness of white teachers and achievement in students of color, there definitely is an underlying philosophy of multicultural education that students benefit from being taught by someone of similar race and cultural background. That being said and understood, the question remains: With the majority of teachers (those already teaching and those in college to become teachers) being white, how can

From a young age, I learned that no matter how hard you try, people of color have to work harder than others. As a young African-American girl, I knew that my the majority of teachers preferred white students to black students, with there being no more than five black children in any of my classes throughout elementary school. In a society that is based on who you are, what you look like, where you come from, and who you love, it’s very easy to lose touch with your roots. Throughout my many activities and community outreach, I hope to begin to repair the color line that has imbedded itself within present day society by showing that everyone, regardless of color, should have the same rights and opportunities.

Speaking out about the mistreatment of racialized students in education can be complicated when there is a strong influence in the culture of power, as Delpit discusses in her essay. The people in the culture of power are generally white, middle-class people and they experience irrepressible privilege within the education system. The power Delpit refers to is unintentionally sanctioned in classrooms today; however, people have not attempted to change this unequal power structure. Delpit discusses that there is “the power of the teacher over the students; the power of the publishers of textbooks and of the developers of the curriculum to determine the view of the world presented” (Delpit 283). Students of color recognize throughout time; the privileged white people are consistently in control of the way everyone else is educated. It is already engraved in their minds that white people have control over the culture of power; therefore, it is extremely hard to change the current structure. When students of color recognize this strong hierarchy of white people and underrepresentation of colored people in power, they turn away from wanting to receive an education.