Racism In Education Research Paper

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.” US Representative, John Lewis said this in his return to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he spoke on 54 years ago, during the March on Washington. Racism has been around since the beginning of time, but it is not human nature. Racism is something that is taught, and given the amount of time that has passed since To Kill A Mockingbird and the March on Washington, one would think that racism wouldn’t be a serious issue any more. Although race relations have improved along with other social issues from the time of To Kill Mockingbird, racism and discrimination are major problems in today’s society.

In 1951 schools were separated by skin color, or segregated. The Brown v. Board of Education trial was brought to court because a third-grader, Linda Brown, was not allowed to attend the elementary school that was closest to her house. She wa required to take the bus to school across town instead. In the trial the point that “Education for Negroes is almost nonexistent(13).” This is an example of how there were old problems in the Fourteenth Amendment that needed to be changed. Another issue that was brought up in the trial was that, “Segregation… has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children…(19).” Without the proper education at segregated

Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark case that was decided by the Supreme Court of America in 1954. It is a case that is believed to have brought to an end decades of increasing racial segregation that was experienced in America’s public schools. The landmark decision of this case was resolved from six separate cases that originated from four states. The Supreme Court is believed to have preferred rearguments in the case because of its preference for presentation of briefs. The briefs were to be heard from both sides of the case, with the focus being on five fundamental questions. The questions focused on the attorneys’ opinions about whether Congress viewed segregation in public schools when it ratified the 14th amendment (Benoit, 2013). Changes were then made to the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Brown v. Board of Education ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and that students should be segregated. This decision was intended to allow an African-American student to attend a previously all-white school that was nearer to her home than the school she had been attending.

Today, racism still remains a prevalent issue that has constantly reared its ugly head. While bringing awareness towards racism has improved, we are still being faced with a gruesome reality that racism is still very much alive. Instead of Jim Crow laws and slavery, racism has transformed itself into microaggressions, police brutality, racial profiling, and mass incarceration of people of color (especially black men). When one talks about racism, most of our opinions are based on what happens in America; from 400 years ago until now, we find ourselves believing that racism in America has improved greatly. And we have improved, compared to the times before and after the Civil War. However, as we progress forward, we move back fifty years. Some of us in society refuse to acknowledge the arising problems that have to do with racism while others become apart of the problem. As a society, we are taught about white culture, eurocentric beauty standards, and brought up with subconscious racist mindsets that will take a lifetime to unlearn, and have for centuries, kept people of color oppressed. We are brought up with subtelities of racism, such as a child seeing their white mom lock the car door in fear when a black person walks past, or seeing their white dad make a disgusted look at a hispanic for no reason at all. It is things like this that are ingrained in our brains; racial stereotypes that we cannot help but think about each race.

The late 19th century in the US involved the increase of both nativism and racism. White supremacy lasted with traditions, and the nation’s patriotic fervor escalated the antiforeign tone. About ninety percent of blacks still lived in the South, and racist ideology fought to take discriminatory control. These ideas became known as the Jim Crow laws. The phrase “Jim Crow” characterized every African American, indicating no distinction between them. As immature as it may sound now, the phrase caused severe divisions between the whites and the blacks. “White Only” and “Colored” signs proliferated on many facilities such as parks, theaters, toilets, buses, and drinking fountains. Blacks had to wait in line a lot longer until all whites were served and couldn’t try on clothing or accessories before purchasing them.

There is a large debate in our country today on an exceedingly pressing issue: racism. Many are ignorant to the levels of discrimination acted out in the United States. They debate that we as a country are moving forward and past our history of segregation. But when one looks at the facts, is informed on current events, and sees the truth that lies throughout the country, the answer is spelled out. Racism is still extremely present in American society, especially in cases of police brutality, while the court system is unwilling to do anything to stop it, and needs to stop it in order to create justice.

“Racism is still with us. But if it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully we shall overcome.”- Rosa Parks

The article I chose takes us back to 1965, where a 28 year old substitute teacher was fired for reading the poems of Langston Hughes to his fourth class, and going outside the school's curriculum. Racism was very common in Boston, and it affected children of color in Christopher Gibson Elementary. Kozol is the teacher who was fired 50 years ago for actually teaching his students. Kozol was assigned to a fourth grade class that many teachers did not want to teach, because of the children of color in the class. In the article the students are described as:

This research paper strives to test the hypothesis of whether racism is on a rise due to President Trump being in office or was racism on a rise before President Trump got in office. As stated in the statement purpose this research question comes from incidents in my own personal life, from social patterns I have observed, and from the significance of the election of President trump. Growing up in as an African in America, noticing the racial tensions, and seeing how it has evolved to what it is today in our society led me to pursue the topic.

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

It was extremely alarming to witness university executives utilized police brutality to set all students and teachers in their “political place”. Individuals were prodded and beaten, some to the extent of having to be carried off. The purpose of the political march and strike was to make the needs, and desires of students and teachers known in education. To be heard as people that matter, to correct the corruption within the system and board (of executives) and for equal rights and opportunity in education.

Hello, welcome to your new high school! I am here today to inform you guys about our schools racism problem. I must profess that there is a lot of racism at our school. To say that we have no racism would be a statement of pure gibberish. It will not be a easy task to annihilate racism. I know that there is a great disparity between where we are today and where we want to be by the end of the year, in regards to racism. We are confident, that with your help we can come to a amicable solution to end racism sooner than later!

We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

As we have seen, the effects of Racism have continued on from the ancient times. Racism has caused mayhem in education, the work force, sports, politics, neighborhoods, and the media. As we have discussed before, Racism in today’s society has changed the point of view of the word Racism, and how people see it. A reporter from Time Magazine says that “Racism is more than what is in the heart of an individual person at the moment of a particular act. Racism is the growing history of all those thoughts and acts” (Watkins). At this point in time, biased racial stereotypes have “taken root in the hearts of people” (Watkins). Racism will soon override our brains and take over our beliefs to the point where we will discriminate everybody.