There is a notion that white people pay little attention to black people. It leads to a situation where blacks become invisible at social gatherings and any other gathering for that matter. Racial discrimination has been in existence for a long time. It ranks the black race as inferior to the white race. Measures have been taken to correct this problem; some of these measures include an all-inclusive program that provides a level platform for all to air their grievances. Racism is a hindrance to development; while on the other hand, diversity counters this by generating creativity. An education system is a good place for these measures to be implemented. In education, a person has to push themselves beyond certain limits. Integrating all members of the community is an application of this as different ideas are discussed and made better. It is hard to change the mentality that a society has kept for a long period of time. Besides, it is not possible for a person to make a difference in the world all by themselves.
In classrooms, a teacher may make a perception of a student by their appearance. This is not to say that it all happens for bad reasons, for instance, the teacher may think that a student is smart by seeing how clean and organized they are. The negative aspect of this is also existent however, as a teacher may have a stereotypical perception of a student based on his race. Stereotypes sometimes come from a past experience that makes one to imagine that other people of the same looks have inherited the same qualities (Reading for Understanding 14).
Thinking that a person is unable to learn because of their skin color is not appropriate, foolishness it is said, is what keeps people from learning. Students fail to succeed by not putting an effort and not tackling the challenges. Some factors that one can consider when making this judgment are previous achievements and the motivation towards learning. Learning for students depends on how things are phrased for them. If racism is presented as a disgusting practice they will grow to loathe it, if academic success is shown in the best light, they will desire it more. If teachers were to acknowledge significant achievements by their students, it goes a long way to motivating them and increasing their desire to study.
The fact that the society today is heaping so much praise on the use of the talent that it does to education achievement is disappointing for students. Rewards from achievements in the use of talents greatly overshadow what is showed concerning education, thus interfering with their mindset. If a person believes that his talent is a gift he will put less effort in it compared to if he had presumed he needed to work to get better. The idea that a person can achieve greatness simply by virtue of his talent is wrong; this is one of the mindsets that schools need to work towards eliminating. Success requires dedication. The title "Multiplication is for White People" comes out clearly here as some very successful black athletes such as Michael Jordan are mentioned, and these sportsmen are a source of great inspiration for many young black students (Reading for Understanding 6).
A strategy on how one will conduct himself to overcome a certain challenge is necessity for a person to achieve success. However, there does not exist an exact Science that defines how one can succeed, experimentation on controlled groups have given results to prove this statement. Students with a mindset of pushing themselves to become better, stand a greater chance of succeeding. They will face challenges and rise again after any setback.
In comparing European children versus African children, African children outdo their European counterparts until the age of four. This is where the setback sets in, and it does so in the form of education. It is easier for a European child to access quality education compared to an African child. African-American communities are stereotyped as being poor and less privileged (Reading for Understanding 65). From what was discussed earlier, that is to say that African-American students cannot achieve much. This is because their environment deprives them of a quality education. Stereotypes eventually grow on those people that they are directed towards an African-American student may feel that they are not smart enough to excel.
For example, a good athlete may feel that he is good enough that he does not require any practice. African-American children may also feel that that have a better chance of succeeding by applying their talents compared to focusing on their education. However, those who promote stereotypes are generally not smart, so it would not be sufficient to take their opinion on matters about how intelligent a person is. Education works towards giving the students a firsthand experience by interacting with people of diverse cultures to eliminate existing stereotypes.
In the case where a person has grown up hearing stereotypes to the extent he believes them to be true, it would be very difficult to convince such a person that it is wrong to have that mindset. Stereotypes end up in hatred and divisions among people of a given society. They make people to act in a particular way and some excuse wrongs because of this. Reprimands and use of hurtful names to describe African-American people lead to lower self-esteem among people. Racism is an unfortunate feature of American culture.
The racist acts of the 1960s are also practiced in modern day classrooms, but at a lower intensity. Of course, we do not expect a case today such as the one where black teachers were entirely replaced by white teachers. The system of education, therefore, needs to be all inclusive in order to promote interaction and integration if racism is to be overcome. If Americans were really serious about the values of democracy, then they would strive towards ensuring equality for a very person. Schools can be used as a model representation of society. Here, the many ethnicities and diversities are represented by the students. A system is created by the school board and overseen by the principal; and teachers become instruments of its implementation. If this society establishes rules to deal with racism and tough penalties to deter offenders, then it may achieve its objective. Students in school are also open to learning new things and by spending much more time with their peers who are of different diversity, they become tolerant (Reading for Understanding 71). Tolerance and humility are paramount if the people in a society are to live in harmony (Reading for Understanding 106).
Work Cited
Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms, Copyright © 2012 WestEd.
