Racism in Education System of America

In today's society racism and oppression is considered to be obsolete as it has came in different types throughout the past years. Strong and courageous people like Martin Luther King Jr. have stepped up and have been the face of fighting back against prejudice behavior against people of color.

In the 21st century racism seems to be more disguised than it used to be. Communities should come together to work against racism by advocating policies in education that would eliminate racism from its root to better the quality of life of people of color which has been identified by the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council of the National Academies that 76 percent of 121 studies have demonstrated that exposure to racism is connected with mental health problems therefore affecting a person of colors quality of life (Priest et al., 2013).

In Kingsolver’s definition of community she explains how it connects everyone together, even with something as small as a lemon. The process a lemon goes through to get to America is substantial. It goes through several different phases to get there, requiring different steps people take. Communities are a lot like the process, everybody working together to get to get to a certain point that would effectively benefit the overall community.

One of the first steps to solve racism would be to educate. Educating communities about racism and how it can affect a person physically and mentally. Educating would lead to realization of the problem and how important it is to take steps forward that would decrease the amount of racism that happens in America. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between The World and Me, he describes the struggles and hardships of a black man in America, and how he didn’t realize how much of an issue racial discrimination and oppression was until he was educated on the social issue. The educational process to inform about racism has the potential to end racism by teaching kids to see each other equally and not look down on each other due to skin color.

Although there isn’t one definitive answer to solve racism, communities can work towards eliminating racism as a whole to bring everyone together and have better community engagement. Going farther into Kingsolver’s definition of community she says “It’s easier to see just a lemon, but only when we see the whole line can we feel connectedness and responsibility”. As community engagement betters in communities it would provide much of chain effect just like the food chain a lemon goes through to get to grocery stores. This chain has the ability to benefit communities to progress and eliminate racism and oppression in the educational system. That chain effect can connect everyone to not be afraid to depend on each other to solve a mass social issue that has been going on for hundreds of years and putting the quality of life of a person of color on a pedestal.

The downfall of education in the United States is failing to incorporate all of the students’ cultures into their education. Failing to do so affects the quality of education a student receives by impacting several different factors such as their confidence or how they perceive themselves throughout school. In Satasha L. Green and Kimberly Edwards-Underwood’s Understanding and Redefining Multicultural Education they state that the purpose of multicultural education is to “increase student academic attainment and achievement, help students develop the ability to realize economic self-sufficiency, and develop citizenship skills” (399). They had an idea that if children are taught their culture that they would appreciate their culture and themselves much more thus doing better academically and attaining success.

In Ta-Nehisi’s Between the World and Me he presents the importance of learning one's culture and how education is systematically biased to shield people of color from their true identity. He states “I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, and free” (69). He recognized that the classroom was a biased place and that if he wanted to learn anything about his identity he has to do his own research. Incorporating different cultures into students’ education will benefit students in many ways. Giving students the background of their culture and where they came from will give them confidence, therefore making them successful in the classroom and helping them find their own identity.

Comparing this to now, where education is just one sided. Giving students the opportunity to gain confidence and find themselves, sets the foundation they need to be able to attain success. Attaining this success would be good because it then creates a loop with other students of color to hopefully get the education they deserve.

All in all, the educational system is problematic towards students of color. Students are being placed in environments where they aren’t able to find their true identity. These behaviors implement student of colors minds into developing a self hatred towards themselves because they aren’t taught to appreciate their culture. It places them into a situation where they’re being held back in the classroom unconsciously due to not getting the liberating education they deserve. Connecting Kingsolver’s definition of community to racism in education puts into perspective the effectiveness of educating youth about racism to better communities overall.