Racism In Schools Essay
Turn on the television or open a newspaper and likely there will be a story of racism in our high schools. In many instances, it is the lack of diversity that leads to racism. Consider my personal experience in two very different high schools. My first two years were in a school located in a predominantly white community. Many of the students had attended this school since grade school and had limited exposure to diversity. There were several instances where I heard peers telling racist jokes and labeling non-whites with terms such as “ghetto”. This was very unsettling for me because I had previously come from a school where this type of disrespectful behavior was not tolerated. I later transferred to a school where whites were the minority
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Many white parents like to believe their children are colorblind to race and avoid discussing the differences between races with their children. Whites are often uncomfortable discussing race due to fear of seeming ignorant or feeling guilty for the wrongs done to earlier generations of non-whites (Bell). This belief, in fact, may be the root of the problem. The article “Are Children Racist?” by Kristina Olson discusses a study done by the University of Texas in Austin, where researchers found that the majority of white mothers adopted a colorblind approach in discussing a book about race with their four to five-year-old children. In contrast, the study also found that non-white parents did talk about race with their children. When parents avoid discussions about race there is a greater likelihood that children will pick friends of similar ethnic backgrounds rather than reaching out to children of different races; however, parents who had diversity among their own friends had children who showed less racial bias. While the education system is not the source of a student’s belief about race, they can impact that student’s viewpoint about other cultures. This is an important role, especially in light of the fact that there are parents who may not realize their own biases when it comes to
Many white parents like to believe their children are colorblind to race and avoid discussing the differences between races with their children. Whites are often uncomfortable discussing race due to fear of seeming ignorant or feeling guilty for the wrongs done to earlier generations of non-whites (Bell). This belief, in fact, may be the root of the problem. The article “Are Children Racist?” by Kristina Olson discusses a study done by the University of Texas in Austin, where researchers found that the majority of white mothers adopted a colorblind approach in discussing a book about race with their four to five-year-old children. In contrast, the study also found that non-white parents did talk about race with their children. When parents avoid discussions about race there is a greater likelihood that children will pick friends of similar ethnic backgrounds rather than reaching out to children of different races; however, parents who had diversity among their own friends had children who showed less racial bias. While the education system is not the source of a student’s belief about race, they can impact that student’s viewpoint about other cultures. This is an important role, especially in light of the fact that there are parents who may not realize their own biases when it comes to