The dictionary meaning of racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. It can be argued that everyone is entitle to their own opinion, so anyone can think that their race is superior, but no one should be discriminated on based on race. Also, it is extremely impossible to act different from one’s mindset, meaning that a racist will always discriminate. So, there is the need for reverse racism or reverse discrimination, this is the concept that affirmative action and similar color-conscious programs for redressing racial inequality are a form of anti-white racism. However, there are still some people who cannot be convince otherwise, they will always think that their race is superior, such people should not be allowed to teach!
This topic is particularly important because children are not born racist, they do not even notice the color difference until the parents and guidance begin to point it out to them. So, it is depraved to have a racist teach in schools, especially in college. In her book “Becoming”, Michelle Obama talked about a guidance counselor telling her that she was not a Princeton material just because she is black. Most of the racism in schools today are not born out of intense hate and does not come from this place of wanting the worst for students of color but it is subtle. For instance, a well-meaning school counselor, may learn the names of all her white students, but barely any of her Latino or black pupils. A white teacher may call on students of color only for the easy questions.
According to the social learning theory, people who are prejudiced are merely conforming to the culture in which they grow up, and prejudice is the result of socialization from parents, peers, the news media, and other various aspects of their culture. Supporting this view, studies have found that people tend to become more prejudiced when they move to areas where people are very prejudiced and less prejudiced when they move to locations where people are less prejudiced.
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The original survey question for this survey paper is “consider a person who believes that Blacks are genetically inferior, should such a person be allowed to teach in a college or university, or not?” My response is not to allow it. The data from General Social Survey was used to analyze the response on this paper. GSS has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society. GSS Data Explorer, from NORC at the University of Chicago, made it easier to use the data collected by the GSS. The survey response was broken down into three different categories.
Data Section
The average response to this survey question is 56% of the population agreeing no to allow a racist to teach. The highest response was in 1977 and 1984 with 57% and the lowest response was in 2002 with 47%. The response was generally up and down between 1976 and 1994 however, there was a drop from 53% through 2014. It started to pick from 2016 with a rise to 54% and then 56% in 2018. So, what could be responsible for the deep in 2002? The events of the previous year will give some insight to this.
In 2001, there were lots of events around the world like the violent Earthquake in India, Severely escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, World Economic Slowdown and the big one, the September 11 Terror Attacks in the United States. All these events had a toll on Americans bearing in mind that the United States of America is mostly made up of immigrants. The September 11 Terror Attacks which was based on prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism and it brought a lot of frustration to Americans. According to Little, individuals who experience various kinds of problems become frustrated and tend to blame their troubles on groups that are often disliked in the real world. This most likely explains the drop to 47% in the response to allow a racist to teach in 2002.
According to Symbolic interactionism, the Differential association theory argued by Edwin H. Sutherland states that criminal behavior is learned by interacting with close friends and family members who teach us how to commit various crimes and also about the values, motives, and rationalizations we need to adopt in order to justify breaking the law. Relating this to racism simply means that racism is learnt which always bring the need for reverse racism or reverse discrimination.
Hispanic Specified
Based on the above graph, more Hispanics generally disallow a racist to teach. However, there was an exception in 2002 where there was a drop in the number of Hispanics that disallowed a racist teacher from 924(58%) to 428 (36%). It was followed by rise and later a spike of 1014(58%) disallowing it in 2006. This deep is captivating and one wonders the reason and effect of this respond. There is a case in California, where one Alejandra, a daughter of Mexican immigrants who was a bright girl that finished high school with a 3.3 GPA. Nonetheless, when it came time to talk to her guidance counselor about her future plans, the counselor dissuaded Alejandra from pursuing her dream to attend a four-year university. The counselor instead advised her to go to the local community college. Alejandra complied however, the experience, she said, filled her with self-doubt.
Racism works to undermine the self-confidence of students of color and can cause them to doubt their abilities and thus remove themselves from academic competition with mainstream students. In 2004, a lawsuit against the state of California brought the essence of institutionalized racism into sharp focus. The case was settled with the state setting aside $138 million for improving the textbooks and facilities of underserved student populations across California. The suit argued that the state was failing to provide thousands of California students with the necessities for a decent education. Most of the students in question were poor minorities especially Blacks and Hispanics. This could be one of the reasons for the spike in 2006 as it created an awareness on the effect of racism in the educational sector.
Highest Degree
In the above graph, in 2002 about 60% of people with college degree and more do not agree with allowing a person who believes that Blacks are genetically inferior to teach. This is compared to the response of about 50% from those with Highschool certificate and about 40% from those with less than a high school certificate. There was generally an increase in the response compared to the previous year recorded (2000). This increase could be again because of the September 11 attack in 2001. Thou a terrorist attack, September 11 attack changed the mind set of people, especially in America. So, more people especially the college degree holders will understand that terrorism can be because of racism, human rights abuse, alienation, and humiliation are sources of conflict. This could have resulted in the rise of more people disallowing a racist to teach.
Furthermore, there was the case of a Amy Wax, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School as reported by Chotiner of the New Yorker in 2019. In 2017, Wax said, in an interview, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class, and rarely, rarely, in the top half.” This is a very derogatory statement as it insinuates that Blacks are doll or not smart however, she was only barred from teaching core-curriculum classes. Which is why she went further to state her “cultural-distance nationalism,” She went on, “Let us be candid. Europe and the first world, to which the United States belongs, remain mostly white, for now; and the third world, although mixed, contains a lot of non-white people. Embracing cultural distance, cultural-distance nationalism, means, in effect, taking the position that our country will be better off with more whites and fewer non-whites.” Some people can not change so they have no business teaching.
Political Affiliation
The above graph states responses from people with different political affiliations on disallowing a racist to teach; Democrats, Republicans, and those with independent orientation. Based on the response, more independent people do not agree to allowing a racist to teach. This is because Democrats and Republicans can support their political orientation.
Again, there is a rise in response in 2002 and the September 11 incidence of 2001 will be a great factor on this. It is generally believed that the Republican Party has a far better record than the Democrats on race, so a teacher with sturdy political affiliation can easily be a racist. A good teacher should not focus on a collective disdain but urged his students to investigate why others feel differently.
As stated by Martin Luther King Jr, “I believe that people should be judged by the content of their character”. Regrettably, there has not been enough progress in the aspect of racial equality, such as those brought about by the civil rights movement of the 1960s. There has not been enough reverse racism or reverse discrimination to erase decades of exploitation and discrimination. Our political laws should help to create racial equality in both the educational sector and in the economy. This should be the fundamentals value of our politics not about race. Racism is about group behavior and social structures including the educational system, medical and social services etc.
Critical Analysis
Finally, in the world of today, individual racism has become embedded in organizations, systems and educational institutions through their policies, procedures, and practices. Most people’s mind has been invaded with beliefs and directed ‘ways’ of seeing doing things with subsequent practice of discrimination consciously or unconsciously. All of that is supported and is reinforced by systemic racism. Systemic racism includes the policies & practices deep-rooted in established institutions, which results in the exclusion or promotion of selected groups intentionally with a plot. Racism is a learned behavior where we are socialized to see difference and act upon it. Teachers and school communities should always work together to combat the effects of racism.
A person who believes that Blacks are genetically inferior, should not be allowed to teach in a college or university. A teacher is responsible for creating safe learning environments for all students, so they can thrive.
