White Privilege And Racism

Lisa Delpit’s “Skin-Deep Learning” and Wanda Blanchett’s article, “Disproportionate Representation of African American Students in Special Education: Acknowledging the Role of White Privilege and Racism” both discuss how racism still exists in the classroom in the way special education is implemented and children with special needs are helped. These two authors argue that children of color who are disabled are not helped in ways that they should in the educational system.

Using her own daughter, Maya, as an example, Delpit talks about how poor African Americans and other children of color with learning disabilities are more likely to face opposition and experience trauma in the school setting. According to Asa Hilliard, “we in the United States
These programs are usually segregated from the general classroom and involved watered-down curricula that leads to lower academic performance and more dropouts. Even if they complete the program, these students usually only receive a certificate of attendance, and are set up for failure in the real world. Special education, in theory, meant to provide educational support for students with disabilities. Once these needs are met or accommodations are made, students are integrated into general education settings. In reality, special education has become a form of segregation from the mainstream, preventing African American students and poor students from receiving a good education that prepares them for success after
These schools receive inadequate funding in schools usually means denying children a solid education and learning opportunities that students at well-funded schools experience. Improving funds for general education in these schools may decrease the likelihood of African American children getting placed in special education. In addition, the curriculum taught at schools is inappropriate for African American students. Whites have all the control when it comes to determining the content of a curriculum and pedagogical practices, resulting in a very Eurocentric classroom. The curriculum is usually distorted and full of stereotypes and omissions that enforce White supremacy. Curriculum for African American students also often lacks excitement and rigor, while white students have access to rigorous classes and gifted-and-talented programs. Teachers at these schools are often entitled, prejudiced, and racist, having negative views about the students they teach. Blanchet argues that “Educators tend to see Whiteness as the norm and consequently the academic skills, behavior, and social skills of African American and other students of color are constantly compared with those of their White peers” (27). Teachers must come to realize how their views of “Whiteness, “Blackness” and “color-blindness” affect their students in the classroom, and must learn to change their views and attitudes in order to