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Rhea Singh
Couchman
(H) Multigenre 3B
26 February 2015
Racism in Education
The days of slavery, public lynching, and Jim Crow laws are over, thankfully. However,
many people assume that with them racism, too, has disappeared, save for a select few bigots.
However, more important than those occasional bouts of racial prejudice is institutional or
systemic racism that people often overlook. Defined by the National Association of School
Psychologists, or NASP, as the overarching societal paradigm that tolerates, accepts, and
reinforces racial inequalities, and is associated with racially unequal opportunities for children to
learn and thrive, racism poses serious obstacles to minorities in America (1). When nearly all
the characters on television, the Oscar nominees, supermodels, and successful leaders and
scientists taught in school appear White, minorities, as a result, face extreme underrepresentation. Young children take note of this from a very early age: a study found that twoand-a-half year olds display favoritism to their own race but as children become more aware of
societal norms that favor certain groups over others, they will often show a bias toward the
socially privileged group (Winkler 3). The system put in place that revolves around Caucasian
people as the norm causes negative consequences for children, especially in school when they
are more likely to be placed in special education, receive disproportionate punishments in
comparison with White peers and in turn enter the prison system (NASP 2). In order to remedy
these issues, schools should work to pass a law that would create sweeping curriculum changes

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to give minority races role models, histories, and cultures equal teaching time in school,
especially Kindergarten and elementary school, as the White equivalents.
Although changing the curriculum could help students of minority races, schools will
find it very costly and difficult to achieve. Changing statewide curriculum comes with a large
price tag. Passing and implementing the Common Core curriculum ended up costing states a
total of about $3.9 billion (Murphy 33). Taxpayers will end up footing the bill, and states just
recently began Common Core. It does not make sense to request sweeping changes in the
curriculum again so soon. Curriculum changes not only come with a huge price tag but also a
small chance of getting passed. Out of the many bills to appear on the Congress floor, only 5%
end up signed into law (Braun par. 1). Bills often die because of over-debating until the public
loses interest, making it very difficult and tedious to successfully pass a bill. It may not be worth
the time and money involved to change the curriculum of many schools. However, despite many
obstacles, implementing these changes will prove very beneficial.
The solution will foster greater academic success of students of color, which leads to a
plethora of positive outcomes. Learning about role models forms an important foundation for
young students. Ensuring that every student can relate to the role models shown in class will help
the students to feel pride and strive to excel. According to NASP, a study involving Hispanic
students who were the minority at a school showed that students subjected to racism, prejudice,
and discrimination are more resilient when they experience high expectations...and have a strong
sense of ethnic identity. In addition, greater academic success has been linked to a much lower
chance of entering the prison system and a stronger belief that one can succeed and do well (1-2).
Instead of pretending that each student is the same regardless of heritage, also known as a colorblind approach, by presenting a role model from each students ethnic background, schools can

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allow students to embrace their ethnic identity and their peoples excellence. These students will
be more likely to succeed in school and be less negatively impacted by discrimination, which in
turn will decrease their chances of falling into a cycle of crime or other bad decisions. Minority
students with a strong ethnic identity not only spring back from discrimination better but also
achieve more. One study indicated that African American middle school students who felt more
connected to their Black identity and who linked their Black identity to a value for achievement
were more academically motivated and performed better (Chavous par. 11). By including
diverse role models and histories of students home countries in the curriculum, the students will
learn from a young age that their ethnic identity has value. These students will have pride and
connection to their ethnicity; therefore, as the research suggests, they will perform better in
school. Changing the curriculum will prove crucial in increasing ambition and confidence in
many students whose cultures schools currently relegate to a footnote or elective class. This
solution will decrease the huge achievement gap between white and minority students by placing
minorities on a path to success rather than failure, as is currently the case.
Changing the curriculum will increase students self-confidence and self-efficacy, which
also has many positive benefits. Ethnic identity has proven vital to mental health and success. A
study conducted by Northwestern University revealed that students with higher ethnic pride also
had better mental health and that self-esteem no longer correlated significantly with mental
health once ethnic pride was counted as a separate factor. One researcher who conducted the
study said, These children are bombarded with negative images of African Americans in the
media...They need exposure to African Americans who are doing well to minimize the
derogatory images they see (Leopold par. 3-16). For minorities, ethnic pride is even more
crucial than self-esteem to success and health. Increasing students knowledge of successful role

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models of their own race will greatly help them to succeed in the future if they have better
mental health. Research shows that young children learn race and form biases very early on.
Children recognize race as early as six months and then form biases from ages three to five
because factors in a childrens environment, and in our society as a whole, teach children that
race is a social category of significance (Winkler 2). Young childrens biases form separately
from their parents, so parents cannot prevent them from recognizing societal differences among
various races. Quickly teaching them that those differences are not inherent and that each student
has the same potential is vital in improving young minority students self-confidence and selfefficacy. Changing the curriculum would create sweeping changes that would make it easier for
every student to learn about these concepts in school.
Passing and funding sweeping curriculum changes will prove expensive, difficult, and
very tedious as past experiences suggest. However, the benefits heavily outweigh the obstacles
for under-represented minorities who see their ethnicities often swept under the rug. Changing
the curriculum would increase ethnic pride in minority students which research has shown
increases their resilience when faced with discrimination, their self-efficacy, their mental health,
and their academic success. Greater success in school has plenty of positive outcomes, including
a lower chance of entering the prison system. Young children see race and form biases very early
on, so it becomes extremely important to teach them pride in their race quickly as well. These
curriculum changes can help young minority students achieve success in school and beyond.
After all, there are young Black and Latino kids (along with other minorities) who have the same
potential, same talents, and same dreams as White children who never reach the same heights
because of the system placed against them. It is inexcusable to let these young children think any
less of themselves when they are just as deserving as the White children who see faces of their

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own color occupying nearly every prestigious position in America. The future of this country
should include men and women of all different races occupying those positions with children
able to dream as high as they desire.

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Works Cited
Braun, Aurelian. "Out of 5,000 Bills in Every Congress, Guess How Many Become Law?" Mic.
N.p., 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
The author writes about dysfunction in Congress resulting in very few bills being passed. It is a
brief article on Mic. Braun goes into an explanation for why Congress may be so slow-moving:
bills are often extremely long and no Congressmen read them completely. The article was used to
prove how tedious and difficult it can be to pass a bill because the odds are so low of it passing.
Chavous, Tabbye. "Ethnic Identity and Academic Achievement." Ethnic Identity and Academic
Achievement. N.p., 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
The author writes about racial identity and various ways it can affect academic achievement.
Chavous cites many different studies and research articles to prove that ethnic identity is an
important factor in academic achievement. One study she included in her article involved a direct
positive correlation between ethnic pride and academic success.
Leopold, Wendy. "Ethnic Pride Key to Black Teen Mental Health." Northwestern University, 30
Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
The author summarizes a study conducted by professors at Northwestern University, Loyola
University Chicago, and Walden University. The study involved recording Black teenagers
responses to questions about their ethnic pride and self-esteem. Those results were compared
with the mental health of each student, including if they had diseases such as depression. The
professors found that ethnic pride positively correlated with better mental health and after
controlling for ethnic pride, self-esteem actually did not affect mental health.
Murphy, Patrick, Elliot Regenstein, and Keith McNamara. "Putting a Price Tag on the Common
Core: How Much Will Smart Implementation Cost? (2012): 33. Thomas Fordham
Institute. May 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
The authors attempt to calculate the cost of implementing Common Core in the United States.
They calculate the price of a bare bones approach, or the minimum cost, a business as usual
approach, or the traditional approach most states were taking, and a balanced implementation,
or a blend of the two previous approaches. A table on page 33 listed the totals of each approach
across the United States, along with total current expenditures at the time of publication.
Business as Usual totaled in at $12.1B, Bare Bones at $2.9B, Balanced Implementation at
$5B, and Current Expenditures at $3.9B.

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NASP. "Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination [Position Statement]." (2012): n. pag. NASP
Online. National Association of School Psychologists, 2012. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
The National Association of School Psychologists published a position statement on racial issues
in school. It differentiated between racism, racial prejudice, and racial discrimination. Research
was also cited regarding the negative consequences of racism in school in America today along
with a few solutions. The solutions included having children be able to see role models of their
ethnicity often and from a young age.
Winkler, Erin D., Ph.D. "Children Are Not Colorblind: How Young Children Learn
Race." Children Are Not Colorblind: How Young Children Learn Race (2009): 1-8.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
The author collected various research and used it to report on young children and race. The
research all pointed to young children noticing race very early on and developing biases that
were separate from their parents. Children from three to five began noticing societal differences
among races and forming their own conclusions. Winkler suggested reasons for this, citing
research to back her statements up, including a system of privilege for certain races in America.