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Racial Prejudice And Discrimination On Children 's Self Esteem

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Introduction Racial prejudice and discrimination can negatively affect children’s self-esteem. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States enacted the Brown v. Board of Education to outlaw racial segregation from public schools in order to establish equality among children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds (Zirkel, 2005). However, racial prejudice and discrimination still exist within the educational system where children continue to experience these inequalities (Zirkel, 2005). Clark and Clark (1939) argue that during child development, children become consciously aware of themselves as distinct people by comparing their bodies to the bodies of others. This development of self-awareness includes race consciousness and racial identification. Raising children in an education system that still retains racism can impact how minority children develop their racial identities. It is difficult for children of color to develop their identities within predominantly White institutions (Zirkel, 2005). Racial prejudice and discrimination can lower the self-esteem of children that are being targeted because of their race and skin color. Racism refers to beliefs, attitudes, actions, or behaviors that are targeted against an individual or a group of people solely because of innate characteristics such as race or skin color (Pachter, L. M., Bernstein, B. A., Szalacha, L. A., & Coll, C. G., 2010). Pachter et al. (2010) discussed how racism is expressed in two forms: racial

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