Essay On Racism In Schools

In a society abundant with racial diversity, racism is bound to take shape in some form and will vary based off the culture of each individual society. 1 Racism, in definition, is “a system of oppression created to justify social, political, and economic hierarchy” (Tedx Talks). It splits society by associating certain actions and physical characteristics to certain races and labeling them as one of two divisions, superior or inferior, creating different levels of hierarchy between individuals. Though it varies cross-culturally, racism presents itself in society in similar forms, all through both conscious and unconscious decisions of individuals in several environments including the workplace, school, political offices and more.
With the abundance of racial slurs, discrimination, and violence against racial minorities occurring in contemporary societies globally, the presence and formation of racism is often both intentional and unintentional. It acts as justification for certain advantages and titles in different cultures. It can be argued that
the average, American black male lives the most dangerous lifestyle being that they are immediately associated with handling drugs, labeled as “thugs” and more. The Trayvon Martin case shows this clearly and is one of the most disputed cases today. A hispanic male named George Zimmerman supposedly killed a 17 year old named Trayvon Martin as self-defense, simply due to the stereotypical association that hood of Martin’s jacket over his head made him a violent individual (Wikimedia Foundation). These unconscious decisions made by individuals put lives in danger and are a growing presence of racism in society.
Racism differs by culture due to differing values.
However, regardless of the varying beliefs, racism continues to present itself in the same form and environment as other cultures. For example, racism in American schools is still an issue in this day and age. The Huffington Post observes the statistics of suspension in American schools where, on average, “five percent of white students were suspended annually, compared with 16 percent of black students.” These numbers serve as evidence that blacks are largely racially discriminated against in a learning environment, to this day. This incident corresponds to a similar cross-cultural example of racism in schools, where in the Afro-American region of Brazil, individuals labeled with Afro-American descent are argued to be biologically deficient in intellectuality and incapable of learning certain subjects, such as philosophy, simply due to their origin (Al Jazeera
English).
Regardless of the varying cultures in which it is present, racism takes form in numerous environments in similar contexts entirely based off the differing values and beliefs. Environments which claim to have safe atmospheres still lack in the guarantee that an individual will not face any form of racial discrimination, whether it is in the form of labeling a student using racial slang in Japan or being face-to-face with racial bias in the process of job hiring in America. Racism is a global recurring epidemic in society that requires steps to be taken in order to overcome the ideology that one is racially superior to another.