Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

Jahnell Sant Williams
Georgia Regents University

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

Abstract
Education should be an all inclusive adventure within every classroom. Lessons should be taught
in a way that expands the mental, emotional and physical horizons of the students. Through
racial integration, multicultural education would be a more reachable goal. No student should
feel like they are an outsider while in the classroom. It is the teachers job to make sure that they
are included in the class and are free to share experiences with their peers and the teacher. If a
student is physically or religiously different from their peers, that should be used as a tool to
educate everyone on the differences in human culture, but the diversity of the student body must
be available in order for that to happen. Who would benefit from being exposed to multiple
cultures? How different would the world be if those in power attempted to save and embrace
cultural differences rather than attempt to force them into extinction?

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

The way the United States was founded had a huge impact on the way our nation treats nonWhite, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant (W.A.S.P.) individuals. In the U.S there has always been an
imbalance in power and equality of resources which is ironic since the founding members of our
nation were attempting to create a country where all men were created equal (Declaration of
Independence, 2014). The aforementioned quote has been debated over countless times in an
attempt to understand who was considered men in that time. The usual consensus is that
W.A.S.P. males that identified themselves as people of the New World through manifest destiny
were the equally created men. The huge problem with this gutsy declaration is that W.A.S.P.s
were not the only men in the infant United States of America. There was a large population of
Catholic individuals, Native Americans and a fast growing population of enslaved African
Americans.
Since the 1700s the U.S. has seen a healthy influx of races from all over the world. There
have been multiple Diasporas from all over the world with the U.S. as the prime destination and
the American Dream to be whatever they want to be as their saving grace. There are sizable
members of Arabic, Asian, Pacific Islander, African, Western European and Latin populations in
the U.S. but not each group is received with the same attitude. Stereotypes have a huge amount
to do with the attitudes toward the way these groups are received in everyday life. Those of
Asian and Arabic origins are stereotyped as being hard workers and are often designated to go to
school with White students. On the other end of the spectrum those of African and Latin heritage
are stereotyped as violent and lazy. Why are these cultures not given a chance at equal
precedence in educational curriculum context? Voltaire once said, If there were one religion..,
its despotism would be terrible; if there were only two, they would destroy each other; but there
are 30, and therefore they live in peace and happiness (Separation of Race and State, 2014).

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

This quote speaks of diversity in religious context but says nothing of respect. I would assume
that an optimist would want to apply this quote to the racial situation in the U.S. but the lack of
respect for different races is why the educational state is lacking.
While multicultural education is not an immediate fix to every problem in the school
system it would certainly be a step in the right direction. With racial integration in schools
budgets should be more evenly dispersed and the interaction of multiple cultures would
definitely assist the educational process of diversity.
People like to do what is comfortable and familiar and to integrate schools would take
them out of their comfort zones and force them to interact with the unfamiliar. It would certainly
expose the privileged to the plights of the underprivileged and allow the under privileged to
aspire to something they never would have dreamed to be possible. At first it would definitely be
a learning curve for everyone involved but in the long term it would allow the world to see the
U.S. as a living nation in its willingness to change and shape its systems around the many that
follow the rules instead of the privileged few that make them.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 7.2% of the population consider themselves
to be of solely American ancestry. That leaves 92.8% of the country identifying themselves as
being descendants of a different nation and consequently of a different culture (United States
Census Bureau, 2004). With the extreme cultural diversity of the U.S. the curriculum should
reflect this with gusto. The educational system in the U.S. should be the most diverse in the
world but has a history of stagnant isolation because it is common for teachers to put so much
stress on the history of the United States that the only time other countries are discussed are
when wars are discussed and even then we glaze over the lost wars and paint ourselves the

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

heroes in the successes. In my many years as a student I can confidently say that Ive learned
more of the history of the world from my own personal studies through reading, travel and
television than I have in the classroom.
Racial integration is the key to a more multicultural curriculum. As teachers we need to
teach our pupils that the first step to accepting that which unknown is to be willing to entertain
the idea of another truth than your own. Schools in the United States are segregated on two main
levels: racial and class level. Institutions with a predominantly White middle class population are
often given a larger monetary budget and a consequently able to procure better educational
resources and through those resources able to teach their students more effectively and perform
better on tests.
Why dont schools with mostly Black or Hispanic populations get the same monetary
budget? How is such a school expected to match or outperform a school with a larger budget?
Wouldnt an even distribution of public school funding be more beneficial to our test results and
student engagement?
White high school students tend to outperform every minority except Asian by 17.5% in
reading and by17% in Mathematics. White middle-upper to lower- upper class students are also
more likely to attend suburban schools (71.5%) than urban (13.5%) or nmetropolitan (15.1%)
institutions (Logan, Minca, & Adar, 2012). These suburban schools also tend to perform 34.1%
better than schools with higher Black and Hispanic populations. Our nation is based on a model
of rewarding those who continue to perform well and to refuse to assist those who struggle while
keeping them in a perpetual cycle of poverty.

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

Multicultural education should be infused in all subjects and not just designated as a class
to be experienced or a one-time requirement. To teach it this way perpetuates the tendency to
treat it as a special need instead of an educational mainstay. It is as important as Mathematics,
Literature and Science and should be taught alongside history courses. To inform students of
different cultures is a way to allow them to temporarily travel to that place and/or time. I
remember reading books about Ancient Egypt when I was younger and constantly dreaming
about that time at night and at that age I didnt really understand the concept of language and all
of my imaginary Egyptians spoke English but the dreams I had about that time shaped who I am
today and made me proud of my Egyptian heritage. Alternatively the lessons I learned about
Germany in grade school made me feel ashamed of my heritage because it was all negative. The
only time we discussed Germany was when we talked about the Axis Powers in World War 2. I
did not learn that Germany contributed so much to Western civilization until I was prompted by
my Nana to do some independent study on the history of the nation during the summer.
I believe that every nation goes through a lifecycle of ups and downs and that the U.S. is
in a slump in terms of accepting and respect different views on educational practices. While I do
not think that the educational system will ever be perfect it can certainly make changes to
attempt to reach a higher level of multicultural exploration. Exposing students to different walks
of life by aggressively integrating schools would definitely be a step in the right direction. Also,
teaching students that looking at the world from a different perspective is an enlightening
experience and should be done for personal enrichment.

Racial Segregation and Multicultural Education

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