Race and Education

In several sectors of most world economies, racial bias has emerged as a prevalent form of discrimination. Some people have lost out on opportunities because of their skin color complexions. Despite the widespread movements that have been seen in most parts of the world, racism remains a painful and rising problem with no end in sight. Many academics choose to continue their studies in the United States because its educational system is among the best in the world. Instructors in American educational institutions are highly trained to deal with social inequalities in the classroom and maintain a high degree of tolerance for racist remarks. However, racism still affects education due to the existence of racist educational stakeholders. Most US schools are a mash-up of individuals of different races, for example, African-Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Latino, and Alaska Natives. This research paper addresses the connection between education and race in America’s learning facilities and describes the implication of racism to the school system. Education is a basic right that all the individuals in all the regions of the globe must possess without any forms of discrimination. Therefore, racism in learning institutions must be stopped since it bars schools, students, stakeholders in the field of education, and the community from attaining their expectations on the schooling system.

Racial profiling begins at a tender age when students are still in the preschool settings. African Americans have often been on the spot and have suffered some of the most crucial racial profiling in schools and other learning institutions. Malinda Anderson published an outstanding and emotional article regarding how the stress of racism can greatly impact learning. This author narrated the story of Zion Agostini who has witnessed racial profiling for 15 years from the time he was in his early childhood (Anderson). This African American young boy noted the differential treatment that the police gave to the individuals of his skin complexions in his community. Most African-Americans were harassed and could be arrested for minor offenses, unlike the Caucasian individuals. The young man still faces similar issues as a sophomore. Anderson utilized the research conducted by the Northwestern University to conclude that racism leads to gaps in education. Racial prejudice is the main contributor of the inequalities in performance among the non-Caucasian population in the US (Anderson). The author added that the level of cortisol is different among the youths of the various races and is relatively higher on African Americans due to racial profiling (Anderson). Malinda uses the ethos appeal to ensure that the readers comprehend whatever she talks about and pathos to inflict an emotional sense to her audience. It is only ethical that scholars are treated equally regardless of their skin complexions or origin.

Anderson’s potential audience for this piece is the population of school going students and their instructors. This author successfully uses the emotional appeal to these types of audiences and strives to pass a particular message that is to stop racism in the different educational settings. Anderson’s main objective to address the issue of racism in schools and to ask the students to stop practicing it though she does this indirectly. A key notable feature of Anderson’s piece is her ability to integrate facts with stories to come up with an excellent piece that advocates for justice in the schools. The second audience group for this literacy piece are the teachers in American schools. The author strives to use Zion Agostini’s story to inflict some emotional sense to teachers and ask them to aid in stopping racial prejudice in schools. Anderson successfully appeals to these two types of audiences using logic and applying the ethos appeal.

John Diamond talked about the issue of unequal distribution of opportunities in the “integrated” educational setting. According to Diamond, the African American students who hail from wealthy suburbs and go to integrated learning facilities outperform their counterparts who study in “all-black” learning facilities. The opportunities awarded to the students in affluent schools are higher leading to a broad gap in their academic achievements (Diamond 496). This author also explored the educational terrain in affluent and non-affluent schools and determined that the strategies employed in education in the two settings differ. The Caucasian population in the affluent integrated learning facilities still outdoes the non-Caucasian students. The author concludes by stating that the quality of education will depend on the ideological, educational, economic, political and social realms (Diamond 497). He employed the logos appeal in his article. Diamond persuades the readers of his article to use logic and find out that the main contributor of educational gaps is not just race but also economic, social, political, and ideological strengths of the parents and guardians of the students.

While Diamond discuses the different opportunities available in the educational system with particular interest in integrated schools, this author notes that scholars are not accorded with the necessary support to acquire these opportunities. The potential target audience of Diamond’s piece are the individuals in the management positions in most integrated schools. This article serves an enlightening purpose as it notifies the public and the audience of the evils that currently exist in integrated learning institutions. The major appeal that this author has to the management of the integrated schools is that they should not let skin complexion be the main basis for awarding educational opportunities to the students. All school-going children have the right to access the opportunities that education has to offer and the various stakeholders in integrated schools must ensure that there exists an equal distribution of the educational resources and opportunities to all the students regardless of their races.

Alfinio Flores came up with an educational piece that aimed at enlightening the readers about the diversities witnessed in the mathematical education. This experienced scholar first identified that there were some broad unequal educational opportunities for Latino and African American students living in low-income areas. The opportunities to study and comprehend mathematics were also unequal among all students. The scholars from low-income non-Caucasian neighborhoods did not have qualified instructors to teach them math (Flores 29). Therefore, they continued lagging behind. Flores also presented means in which more educational opportunities would be created to ensure that the individuals from low-income suburbs learned mathematics. There is a distinct trend in the inequalities of performance across the various racial groups. The African Americans and Latino’s performance is considerably lower than those of European America, and some Asian American students. A gap in educational achievement between the minority and disadvantaged groups and their Caucasian counterparts continues to broaden, and there may be no existent remedy to this issue (Flores 33). The opportunities are also rare in low-income majority from African American or Latino suburbs. The students may not get adequate finances to enable them to get to post-secondary learning institutions thereby being forced to drop out of school. Teachers in the low-income suburbs receive a relatively lower salary than their counterparts in Caucasian-dominated schools and may be demoralized. Consequently, there exists an acute shortage of instructors in marginalized regions. Flores also noted that the application of technology is different among these scholars. Teachers in schools with European Americans or Asians as the majority of students use computer applications for simulation processes thereby assisting their students in relating the things that they study in class to the real world. Flores concluded by stating that various educational stakeholders must ensure that they leverage learning in all facilities to eliminate the evident inequalities (Flores 40). This author employed the logos appeal. The readers of this literacy piece may confirm that there is a logical connection between educational opportunities and race of the students.

Flores primary audiences include parents, students, school management boards and mathematical teachers in elementary and middle schools. While the various governments provide a promise of equal opportunities to all students, most of them have failed to honor these promises. This renowned author was tactical in handling the matter of inequalities in mathematical education, and the first target audience was the managements of the schools in rural areas in places with large Latinos and African American populations. The author’s piece indirectly appeals to these boards to employ qualified professionals in the field of mathematics who will ensure that they put a balance in the current imbalanced mathematical education. The second audience group, mathematics teachers, also have a task to fulfil. These individuals must be willing to teach in harsh learning environments including the rural areas. Parents and students must also understand that there exist natural diversities in student understanding of mathematics. Therefore, the teachers, schools, and community should not be blamed rather the students must ensure that they get the best out of the meagre resources that might be available to their learning settings. This author successfully educates to these three audiences using the logos appeal.

The judicial system has been on the spot several times with the public purporting that it favors different races. Court rulings also have different impacts on the acquisition of education among different students. Jamel K. Donnor provides a critical race evaluation of a ruling by the Supreme Court that declared the voluntary public school integration as unconstitutional. Donnor contends that the perception used by the court in passing its ruling was that of racial discrimination and the court also sought to satisfy the self-interest of the Caucasians (Donnor 535). The author also provided insights on how this ruling propagates racial inequality in education, and the mannerisms in which the policies created with the aim of enhancing learning opportunities for non-Caucasian students may be thwarted by the Caucasians. This author used evidence from scholarly sources and research to confirm that most Caucasians use their skin tone to enhance racial inequality in learning facilities. ‘Whiteness and White’ privilege is a factor that continues to shape the access to quality learning opportunities among the African American and Hispanic students (Donnor 548). Donnor states that Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No.1 proved that race plays a major factor in the decision of cases in courtrooms. The Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS) is an exclusively Caucasian group in the Seattle metropolitan area that saw the integration of public schools as a burden for the Caucasian families (Donnor 537). This author concluded by stating that there is little hope for school desegregation since “the power of Whiteness and White privilege is endless” (Donnor 548). This author used ethos appeal in the paper to convince the readers that his point on racism in the educational system is credible. There was also some evidence of logos as the author used reason to persuade his audience. The main reasoning behind this text was that African American scholars might strive to fight for equal educational opportunities, but the judicial system may thwart their efforts.

The target audience for Donnor’s piece was the legal personnel in the American Judicial system. These persons are charged with the tasks of ensuring that justice is served and equality is observed in the different sectors of the economy. This author presents a case that he finds unrealistic as the judgement was passed in favor of a particular group of individuals, i.e., the Caucasian Americans who fought against having schools integrated voluntarily. While this author used ethos appeal in the paper to convince the readers that his point on racism in the educational system is credible, much logic is evident. Consequently, the target group is furnished with both knowledge and facts that they can utilize in arguing for the voluntary integration of public schools.

Poverty is a leading cause of racial profiling and unequal acquisition of education among the different ethnic groups in the US. Jennifer B. Ayscue and Gary Orefield published an article in 2014 that analyzed the issue of school stratification basing on race and poverty (5). These authors were also keen in identifying that school segregation basing on poverty and race continues to persist regardless of the various anti-race campaigns in the US. The study applied the expository approach that found that metropolitan residential areas were more stratified compared to other suburbs. Highly fragmented regions included New York and New Jersey where the African Americans were isolated while the less stratified regions were Virginia and North Carolina (Ayscue and Orfield 5). Therefore, there was inequality in education provision in almost all parts of the US. This paper employed the logos appeal where reason persuaded the readers.

The primary audience for this piece is the schools’ admission boards. This group of individuals determine the persons who are to join a given learning institution and the qualification requirement for all the scholars. However, most school boards have failed in ensuring that diversity is observed when admitting students in the schools. Most admission boards discriminate students basing on their families’ financial might and the skin complexions. Therefore, there exist no forms of equality in learning facilities. Ayscue and Orfiel exploited the situation to make clear the fact that all students are the same and to use the logos appeal to persuade this audience to be considerate of all social factors when admitting students and when awarding educational opportunities.

The cases of racism are widespread and continue to extend within generations. The mindsets of the individuals of the various ethnic groups of the US are prototyped when they are at a tender age. Young children join school when they already know the racial profiling that roots in the past years. Joy Resmovits posted an article in which she was shocked that racial profiling is still dominant in public learning institutions. According to Resmovits, African American students are expelled or suspended three times more than their Caucasian peers. The minority students who are mainly African Americans have less access to experienced and qualified educationists (Resmovits). The discriminations experienced in public schools result in high school dropping rates and lower academic performance in African American students. Resmovits used the pathos appeal in that she made the audience emotional by presenting her findings in a sensational manner.

Resmovits’ article had early childhood educators and parents as its target audience. The early childhood educators must ensure that they change the prototyped mindsets of their students to accommodate the various diversities that exist in learning institutions. Parents must ensure that they give the right sense of direction and give their children the benefits of living and schooling in a racially diverse setting.

In conclusion, racism negatively impacts the educational system not only in the US but also other parts of the globe. This paper addressed the race-related issues and how they affect education. This discussion also utilized other researchers’ studies to assess the current situation in both public and private schools. Racial prejudice in schools is more evident in New Jersey and New York and is the leading cause of inequalities in education. African American and Latino students from low-income suburbs have often been the victims of racial prejudice with most Caucasian parents pushing for the abolishment of integrated schools. Most authors used ethos and logos appeals while some used pathos with the aim of ensuring that the readers fully understand the implications of racial prejudice in schools. In summary, despite the tremendous steps made in the American education system, racial differences will always negatively impact education.







































Works Cited

Anderson, Melinda. "How The Stress Of Racism Affects Learning". The Atlantic, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/10/how-the-stress-of-racism-affects-learning/503567/. Accessed 28 February, 2017.

Ayscue, Jennifer B., and Gary Orfield. "School District Lines Stratify Educational Opportunity By Race And Poverty". Race and Social Problems, vol. 7, no. 1, 2014, pp. 5-20.

Diamond, John B. "Still Separate and Unequal: Examining Race, Opportunity, and School Achievement in "Integrated" Suburbs." The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 75, no. 3, 2006, pp. 495-505.

Donnor, Jamel K. "Whose Compelling Interest? The Ending of Desegregation and the Affirming of Racial Inequality in Education". Education and Urban Society, vol. 44, no. 5, 2011, pp. 535-552.

Flores, Alfinio. "Examining Disparities in Mathematics Education: Achievement Gap or Opportunity Gap?" The High School Journal, vol. 91, no. 1, 2007, pp. 29-42.

Resmovits, Joy. "American Schools Are STILL Racist, Government Report Finds". The Huffington Post, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/schools-discrimination_n_5002954.html. Accessed 28 February, 2017.