Racism Within Schools

 

Racism is something that is taught, not born with. As stated in this quote, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate from a young age, and if they learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite” (Mandela). For centuries people of different race and religion have been facing discrimination throughout school systems. Racism is the act of believing that a certain race holds more power than the other. Racism is so deeply embedded into many people's minds and is something that happens on a daily basis in so many settings, one of which is schools.

For many centuries there has been discrination. Back in the day it was legal, and many people had to live with the constant discriminatory acts day to day. People thought that african Americans were objects rather than humans. They were used as laborers with little pay and less humanity then the average white person. They were put into different schools, had different bathrooms, had to go to different water fountains and had to sit in the back of the bus. As many older generations are very aware of this and grew up while discrimination was very prevelant there are many mixed emotions regarding this topic.

As many students still have to face the fact that they have to walk into school everyday and be discriminated against this is something taught. Many people who have the same views as back in the day raised their children with these ideologies, making it trickle down to more recent generations.

Throughout the generations of our society we have seen a lot of discrimination from a lot of different age groups. One Of the major age groups is the older generation. This group has been known to be very prejudiced towards certain races and cultures, even though they don’t realize it. “Surveys show that younger white are less likely to express racial stereotypes than older whites” (Hagerman). 

There are many people in the world that do not care about the lives of colored people. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion, but there is a certain level of respect each individual deserves. In schools it is unacceptable to be treating people of color differently. All students should be given the same opportunities and feel comfortable walking into school everyday.