Throughout our history as Americans, we have always seemed to have battled the integration and acceptance of a different race other than white into our society. Since the time of the Civil Rights Movement in the sixties and the infamous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, we have battled segregation in our society and more specifically, our school system. Through various research, it has been made clear to me that the disadvantages set in place for minority students is inevitable despite the long-ago abolishment of segregation in American schools. Minority students in America can’t ever seem to escape an unfair advantage already given to their racial majority peers. What America needs is a wake-up call to the racism that is present in our schools, as analyzed by Mikki Kendall in her editorial and by Gary Orfield et al in their contextualizing report on segregation. On the other hand, even in the year 2018, people such as Mitch Pearlstein, believe that race is not the problem for low performance ratings of minority students and rather, it depends on the student themselves. In actuality, psychological researched performed by Stephen M. Quintana and Lana Mahgoub show that racial discrimination does indeed exists in schools and is linked to racial disparities for minorities. While there seems to be no real solution in sight, there are actually very feasible solutions such as reformulating the current school system, as suggested by David Johns. Or a new development in strategies for the way in which our schools are run, mentioned by Edna Breinig Chun and Alvin Evans.
Through the research of my paper, I have found that the education system in America needs to be realigned in order for all students to be able to experience a valuable education. Though not all minorities are performed poorly and some work just as hard as their white peers, due to their race and discrimination put in place in schools, they can’t get around certain obstacles put in front of them. My paper will go further into the analyzation of the disadvantages minorities face. In order to accomplish this analyzation, I will read up on the Brown v. Board of Education case and hopefully change the way in which American schools are perceived in the twenty-first century.
Johns, David, and Andrene Jones-Castro. “Editorial: Education Is the Civil Right.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 14 July 2017, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/editorial-education-civil-right-n606356. Accessed Mar. 15 2018.
Executive director David Johns, of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans and Andrene Jones-Castro, a graduate intern for the same program that Johns directs, write an editorial on how racial discrimination exists in America. While the authors format their editorial with a list stating the various faults inside school systems, their main claim is very clear. They wish to see “a well-rounded infrastructure with adequate resources [that] expand learning opportunities and fulfills every students’ civil right to excellent education” (par.26). With the article being published in NBC News and their targeted audience mainly being people sharing democratic supporting equal education, their opinions are informative and very persuasive. This article explains how unequal our schools are today and why there has been a recent call to action across America.
In this editorial, the authors analyze how racial discriminatory actions in schools affect students. For example, minorities are often suspended from schools and “harsh disciplinary practices push African American and Latino students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system, which is known as the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’” (par.9). Johns and Jones-Castro urge schools to change policies and rethink the way that schools have been running. The solution that the authors are pushing for fits my argument in which the education system needs to reformulate and benefit all students no matter of race. The authors believe that once policies change the way that they govern schools, a wide range of diversity and equal opportunities are created.
Kendall, Mikki. “We Need To Talk About Racism In Education – The Establishment.” The Establishment, The Establishment, 21 Dec. 2016, theestablishment.co/we-need-to-talk- about-racism-in-education-4a9fdcb23c39. Accessed Mar. 19 2018.
Mikki Kendall’s audience with the publication, The Establishment, receives numerous females supporting Democratic views, such as equal opportunities for everyone. The author featured in the popular news outlet offers various reasons and explanations for why the school system in America is flawed and how to fix it. Kendall, a supporter of anti-racism, has already published various articles in the past related to the same topic and has offered well educated solutions to eliminating racial discrimination in America. Though this article specifically focuses on minorities in schools, Kendall’s article supports my argument by explaining the need for Americans to open their eyes to the disadvantages minorities in schools are facing today.
The author supports her main claim by arguing that racism starts from the beginning of education when our schools “don’t teach kids about racism” (par.4). She believes that the different views that come with different races is accredited to misunderstandings by these people because they are in a different position than their peers. Kendall analyzes the effect of anti-discrimination programs such as Affirmative Action, based on personal experience and the stories of others and concludes that: “Students of color often work harder…because they have to in a system that works against them” (par.7). Mikki believes that students who are kept out of the truth of racial discrimination in school and are over-all blind, are affected the rest of their lives because they do not know how to react to diversity out of school and later in life.
Orfield, Gary, et al. “E Pluribus…Separation: Deepening Double Segregation for More Students.” E Pluribus…Separation: Deepening Double Segregation for More Students – The Civil Rights Project at UCLA, The Civil Rights Project, 19 Sept. 2012, civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/mlk- national/e-pluribus…separation-deepening-double-segregation-for-more- students. Accessed Mar. 31 2018.
This contextualizing secondary source study is analyzed by The Civil Rights Project, which presents evidence suggesting the current segregation and disadvantages that minorities are face in school. The authors are members of The Civil Rights Project, an organization at UCLA that has published numerous studies affirming the need to demolish racial discrimination and unequal opportunities for minorities in America. With the overall summary of the discourse being to “suggest a number of specific ways to reverse the trends toward deepening resegregation and educational inequalities” (par.1), this report supports my argument in that it attracts the same type of audience supporting my claim and uses statistics to show why minorities are at a disadvantage in schools. The timing for the claims and evidence presented in this source is suited because the authors offer that with our current flexible society, we can “create a lasting and successful diverse schools that can help shape a successful multiracial society” (par.37).
As stated in the analyzation, “In this report, we summarize the most rigorous research to date showing that segregated schools are systematically linked to unequal educational opportunities” (par.6). An example of racial minorities facing disadvantages is an improper amount of resources offered to schools that are minority dominate with only about 1% of white students enrolled. A summary of their solutions to ease segregation and discrimination is to convince our educational leaders to “find some of the same courage that transformed our society in the mid-twentieth century” (par.37).
Pearlstein, Mitch. “Racism in Schools Is Overstated.” Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 6 Nov. 2015, www.startribune.com/racism-in-schools-is-overstated/342135531/. Accessed Mar. 15 2018.
Mitch Pearlstein published his hostile editorial in the state-wide publication for Minnesota, The Star Tribune which receives an average of one million readers every six months sharing liberal views. Pearlstein offers a rare argument in his editorial that disagrees that racial discrimination is the main reason for the poor scholarly performance of student minorities. The author brings his argument into the light of day by explaining that overdone assumptions about racism in schools is happening across the nation and not just in Minneapolis and St. Paul (par.35). Pearlstein creates a very good argument for me to refute because while it is true that a student’s performance in school depends on the type of student he/she is, being a minority leaves no room for slip-ups.
Mitch offers that the reason for some minorities to drop out of school or do worse in school is accredited to the type of student that they are and not necessarily their race. The author further analyzes his argument by offering statistics to show that national standardized tests showed minorities at a little more than 20% behind their white peer students. In recognition of a needed solution in this on-going debate, Pearlstein suggests that some students who don’t do as well in public schools, disregarding race, would do a lot better in private schools or religious schools. All in all, “the lesson here is simple: Making the revamping of society a prerequisite for educational progress is futile.” (par.17).
Quintana, Stephen M. and Lana Mahgoub. "Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education: Psychology's Role in Understanding and Reducing Disparities." Theory into Practice, vol. 55, no. 2, Spring2016, pp. 94-103. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00405841.2016.1148985. Accessed Mar. 18 2018.
This scholarly peer-reviewed article by Quintana and Mahgoub categorize all of the racial disparities that students face into the following three subjects: social class differences, differential treatment based on ethnic and racial status and differential responses to educational practices from students across ethnic and racial status (par.1). To establish expertise creditability, it is noted that Quintana is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mahgoub is a doctoral student in School Psychology in the same department and university as Quintana. The timing of the publication of this article is perfectly timed as it gives psychological reasoning for the current issue of why racial minorities tend to perform poorly. Along with fitting well with the Kairos and exigency of my argument, the findings of the article also help to give more science-based support for my argument by explaining the reason minorities go through disadvantages in school.
The audience in which I will persuade, those against racial discrimination in schools, is the audience that Quintana and Mahgoub address. In order to persuade their audience, the authors offer various solutions to minimize the disparities faced by minorities such as implementing “restorative justice and PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) strategies which have focused on promoting a positive social climate” (pag.101). In conclusion, it is stated that, “Ethnic and racial disparities in education have been demonstrated across a wide range of academic and educational outcomes over a long period of time” (pag.100).
"The Changing Paradigm: Access and Success of Minoritized Students." ASHE Higher Education Report, vol. 41, no. 4, May 2015, pp. 57-77. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db =a9h&AN=102657303&site=ehost-live. Accessed Mar. 19 2018.
Authors, Edna Breinig Chun and Alvin Evans of the non-fiction book, Affirmative Action at a Crossroads: Fischer and Forward, feature a chapter The Changing Paradigm: Access and Success of Minoritized Students. This special topic chapter contains evidence-based reasons that support my argument in that racial minority students face a disadvantage to their fellow majority White/Asian students. Both of these authors have a background of writing books focusing on divides within American society, such as the current one. The two authors’ perspective on the topic of the effect put upon minoritized students shows how blind Americans tend to be about racial disadvantages within schools. This source is suited for my argument because the studies featured in the chapter summarizes how poorly racial minorities are supported across schools in America. This chapter featured in a well-articulated book offers exactly the information and supportive evidence needed for Americans to have enough reasoning to continue the current protests against racial discrimination in our schools.
Chun and Evans split up the chapter into sections ranging from resegragation to intergenerational wealth to financial aid and tuition increases. Chun and Evans examine “the impact of unequal school resources, pervasive segregation, and economic stratification on the college preparatory process for minoritized students.” (pag.76). Though they list the various reasons as to why there are disadvantages already set up for minorities, it is in the conclusion that a development in strategies and solutions is needed in order to overcome the persistent racial educational divide (pag.76).