Yes, Racism is still a problem in Education
Photo via: James Eades
"He controls the ignorant darkies in his community. He can't stand when they are out of his control," said Onslow County School Board Member Eric Whitfield. “Can you provide me the research that proves that [slaves] ‘were not happy,'” said York County School Board Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin.
These statements were made by members of school boards that are supposed to be supporting the education of our future generations. These people are responsible for the budgets, policies, and curriculum of their schools. Their vile remarks just barely scratch the surface of the problem of racism in our education system. The same people making these statements are the same people drafting budgets for students of color.
Racism is affecting our students whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Racism in our education systems causes an inequitable school experience for minorities.
Students of Color are NOT receiving the same education as their white counterparts.
According to researchers Subini Annamma and Deb Morrison, Students of Color are not given the same educational opportunities as their majority-white counterparts. There are strong inequalities in the funding of schools that are predominantly persons of color. Now I know that it sounds like I'm making this up so here are some statistics. According to EDtrust, schools that predominantly serve students of color receive $2,700 per student less in funding than their majority white counterparts.
According to Forbes contributor Jeff Raikes, school districts that service predominantly students of color receive $23 billion less in funding than predominantly white districts. This funding disparity is shown in the classroom when students are given inadequate supplies and less qualified educators.
How can we expect students of color to grow into contributing members of society if we have doomed them from the moment they stepped into the classroom. It's asinine to believe that a student given less care and resources will somehow have an equal opportunity in life.
Racism in our education system is NOT a hoax.
There are people who will try to claim that this whole racism thing is just made up. They may not have been exposed to the racism that goes on behind closed doors, or maybe they weren't on the receiving end of racist policies and budgeting. No matter the reason for their ignorance; it is still true that racism in our education system is very real.
Too many people formulating the budgets that hold back students of color harbor the racist opinions expressed at the start of my article. If the people who make the budgets hate the people they're allocating funds to, there will be a continued disparity in funding. Until we address these inequalities, students of color will continue to suffer from the racist institutions that they are supposed to benefit from. We need to fund our students of color equitably because they too are our future and are no less than their white counterparts.
Photo via: Aïda Amer
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