Race, Discrimination and Education Racism and Discrimination

Race, Discrimination and Education

Racism and discrimination have been long-lasting impediments to equality of education in the United States. It was only in the mid-20th century that African and Native Americans won legal access to equal education. Much of America's early history of racism still lingers within the educational system. Today, poverty and poor literacy skills often plague African-American and Hispanic students, and Native American groups continue to pressure the government for self-determination and equality in educational attainment. Groups like the NAACP continue to work to see racism and discrimination in education eliminated in the United States, and significant progress has been made over the last decades, although racism continues to be a problem in American schools.

The history of racism and discrimination in the United States is almost as long as that of America itself. The fledgling nation of the United States reserved education largely for its white, male, children, and it was only as the nation entered the 20th century that education began to be seen as a right of women and racial minorities. It was only with the landmark 1954 case of Brown vs. Board of Education that African-Americans were granted equality of educational opportunity 60 years ago in the segregated south (NAACP). The education of Native Americans follows a similar tack, with Native American children forced onto non-reservation boarding schools in the 1920s where they were separated from their parents, and distanced from native language and culture. The popularity of the boarding schools fell in the 1930s with the intervention of commissioner of Indian affairs John Collier, but rose again in the 1940s. By the 1960s and 1970s, Native American education in the United States was largely characterized by attempts at self-determination for American Indian schooling (American Indian Education Foundation).

Racism, Discrimination, and Education Today

Today, racism and discrimination continue to persist in the United States' educational system. In the United States today, poverty is closely linked to racism and low literacy. Importantly, Black and Hispanic-Americans are close to three times morel likely to live in poverty than are white Americans. In turn, poverty is closely associated with poor literacy skills. In part due to the continuing presence of racism in America, and the link between race and poverty, Black and Hispanics have higher unemployment rates and lower levels of educational attainment (Corley).

For the Native American population, self-determination and equality in educational attainment continues to be a challenge. There continues to be a large skepticism of the government's true motivations and intent regarding Native American education. As the American Indian Education Foundation notes, "If the past is any indicator of the future, those committed to helping improve the lives of Indian people must continue to pressure the U.S. government to meet its responsibility in the area of education."

While racism continues to be a problem within America's educational system, groups like the NAACP are working diligently to reduce the impact of racism on America's students. Specifically, the NAACP has suggested initiatives like racial equality within teaching state, so that the teaching population to mirrors the student population. Despite these attempts, the overall tone of the NAACP Call for Action in Education is discouraging, noting "the persistent failure of schools to provide equality of opportunity for all students is having a devastating impact on communities of color and the future of our nation." The NAACP notes that federal, state and local educational agencies and community agents must work together to ease the impact of race on the equality of American education (McLean Donaldson, 1987).