Racial Inequalities in Education

 

Racism is at the very fabric of American culture. As one of the richest countries in the world and an economic powerhouse, the United States' owes its mass of wealth to the free labor that slaves provided for 246 years from 1619 to 1865. The plight of Black Americans would not end with slavery however-- the educational system, housing discriminations and laws and ordinances have all been created to ensure the success of White Americans and the plight of all "minorities", those with African descent in particular.  Being in the field of education has allowed me to see the systemic racism in education as a student in a predominately Black districts as well as rural, predominately Black districts. 

While White students on average perform better on standardized tests than other racial groups, there is also a disparity between students discipline records as well and how often non-White students receive referrals and in and out of school suspensions. According to 2013–14 data collected by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, black K–12 students are 3.8 times as likely as their white peers to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions. Students obviously cannot learn if they are not in school and those minutes out of class can be detrimental to a student's understanding and comprehension of material. As anyone in education will tell you, many students who feel like they are not able complete and comprehend assignments will often act out and cause disruption, thereby restarting the cycle of discipline. 

The question then becomes why are students of color being punished more than White students? Stereotypes of students of color and perception of their actions are more negative than that of White students. While a Black and White student may commit the same offense and receive the same consequence, the second offense often yields a more severe punishment for the Black student as opposed to the White student's offense. This trend is seen as early as kindergarten-- children can be pegged as troublemakers before they even start kindergarten. The U.S. Department of Education's 2013–14 data reveal that Black children represent 19 percent of preschool enrollment, but 47 percent of the out-of-school preschool suspensions. White kids, meanwhile, represent 41 percent of preschool enrollment but just 28 percent of suspensions.

Because these students are out of school more than White students, the dropout rate for Black and other students of color is much higher, thus contributing to a concept that is called the school to prison pipeline. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund depicts the pipeline as “funneling of students out of school and into the streets and the juvenile correction system perpetuates a cycle known as the ‘School-to-Prison-Pipeline,’ depriving children and youth of meaningful opportunities for education, future employment, and participation in our democracy”. This is especially apparent when it comes to examining how minorities (Hispanics and Blacks) are disciplined in school in comparison to their White peers.

While there are several influences on minority students' success in education--the most impactful to me is the basic precedent that students are present in schools.