A Colorblind Perspective

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

Lee and Bean argue that in the U.S today “racial boundaries may be fading, they are not disappearing at the same pace for all groups” (Lee Jennifer, Frank D Bean, Beyond Black and White). They argue that in our current society it is no longer a white and non white racial structure; they argue that now our society is forming a color line that is “less rigid for Latinos and Asians than blacks” (Lee Jennifer, Frank D Bean, Beyond Black and White). Non black minorities such as Asians and Latinos are starting to become more “white” and gain greater benefits in society because of their higher rates of intermarriage with whites, and therefore greater integration into white culture. With these benefits come better job opportunities, social mobility, and most importantly access to better education. So I created a policy that would raise taxes and create more funding for schools that have been segregated into mainly African American neighborhoods, “37% of African Americans students attend a school that is almost entirely black” (Schaefer 2010, Lambert Lecture). These schools are often underfunded with inadequate teachers that give African American students no real opportunities for upward social mobility through education that whites latinos and asians may receive. However if these schools are better funded and can provide African American students with an education that is at least equal to that of which the average white student receives in their early through high school levels

The American education system is failing the generations of the future. Society neglects the children born into impoverished areas, while mainly white upper class children participate in superior educational activities. Low-income neighborhoods often produce schools with low scoring students. Therefore the government transitions these schools into impersonal factories. The phrase diversity masquerades the reality of re-segregation of schools. Many schools across the country are utilizing the phrase diversity, yet the statistics reveal that over ninety percent of the students are black or Hispanic. Creating successful environments is extremely difficult and subsequently results in serious consequences for the American education system.

As minority students increased in urban public schools, they have now become the majority of the school population and have brought difficult topics to the surface; race and ethnicity. In Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity Matter, Hawley and Nieto published their beliefs on how cultural differences are not to be tucked away and hidden in an educational setting, but embraced and celebrated to promote education by the teacher in an academic journal: Educational Leadership. Their appeals and claims provide various instruction to guide professional educators to overcome the achievement gap.

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children by Gloria Ladson-Billings was a great resource in thinking about how I would work toward influencing my staff, and the school community as a whole, to engage in discussions about equity. Most notably, she advises us to “acknowledge the race and culture of your students and try to weave it into your teachings” and to “foster a sense of community”. I am lucky to work in a school that was founded and lead by a woman of color for the last 6 years, so equity conversations are not as awkward as they may be in some other schools. In light of recent travesties of justice that have occurred in the US over the past year, these conversations have the potential to become more high-stakes

The transcript of “Racial Segregation in American Schools” is one of the many things that continue to convey the theme through Pathos. When the principal of Central High School explains how it felt to be inside a mixed school, he included how it made him

There’s a growing body of literature on race-conscious school leadership, colorblind ideology, and social justice practices

When we think of racism, we think of the horrific past events in America. Most people consider racism to be a terminated concept, however it is far from the truth. With the resources provided to me in this class, I have learned that many veiled discriminatory practices are still embedded in our society today, causing minorities to be limited in opportunities that would have helped them live a successful life in America. I would like to shed some light on how minorities are currently being affected due to how our society is structured. First of all, the reading titled “Sociologists on the Colorblind Question” written by Elaine McArdle illuminates the idea of how our societies way of thinking that there is no prejudice towards people of color

She examines the colorblind approach to reaching a post-racial society. Using a very simple, yet elegant way of writing, Bostick clearly states that she believes this ideology is ineffective and does more harm than good. She supports her claim by referencing a recent tragedy concerning racism -- the death of Philando Castille, a black man from Minnesota. With a strong appeal to logos, Bostick discusses how this would have been less likely to happen if Castille was a white man. Through this evidence, Bostick is able to easily exemplify how taking a colorblind approach to racism avoids addressing social issues and oppression that people of color face. Bostick also addresses the damage that can be done by teaching children to be blind to race, saying that teaching people to not see color is essentially “stripping people of a fundamental aspect of their identity” and erases their history (par. 7). This text would be helpful in realizing that “acknowledging differences is not racist; it is the opposite of racist” and also in exploring the flaws with the colorblind ideology, as its effectiveness can be related to recent events surrounding the Black Lives Matters movement and issues with police brutality (par.

In his article, “Why Millennials Can’t Afford to Be Colorblind” for the online edition of the Times, Victor Luckerson demonstrates how denying the existence of racism results in a country unable to discuss sensitive topics and progress. As a result of that, the public school systems, which there are 49.5 million students, are still segregated.

Since you were assassinated, many incidents and changes have occurred. First and foremost, your death conveyed somber emotions and rage within the black community. Violence and controversy followed. Outrage at the idea your assassination was partially or fully responsible on the government, riots broke out across the nation the weekend you were murdered. Publish accounts claim nine to eleven people died, however, there was no official death toll. In addition, three hundred fifty people were arrested, and one hundred sixty two buildings were destroyed. In April 11, 1968, following the riots, President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental and financial of housing. Despite the nature of the Fair Housing Act, housing remain segregated in many areas of the United States in the years that followed; however, we have managed to overcome many obstacles since then, and have establish a new system and way of living in many parts of the United States. Although racial inequality still exists in America, it is accurate to say racial equality is much closer than it was when you were alive.

In addition, CRT pushes to confront racial ideologies like colorblindness, neutrality, meritocracy, and white privilege (Bell, 1992; Delgado & Stefancic, 2012; Gotanda, 1996; Crenshaw 1988). A closer examination on colorblindness demonstrates why it is a major focus in CRT. In their critique of colorblindness theory, sociologist Omi & Winant (1994) identify how the color-blind racial policy enabled and empowered members from

To begin, a white woman named Erin Gruwell decides to take up teaching at Woodrow Wilson High School two years following the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. She arrives on the first day to find out that her class is full of “at-risk” high school students— some of which are just out of juvenile hall and have very poor grades. These are kids who have segregated themselves into racial groups so badly that they can’t even sit near each other in the same classroom or walk by each other without getting into fights.

Color blindness is the notion that individuals live in society disregarding racial characteristics. In the functioning of color blindness, people are treated equally in regards to skin color, there are no distinctions, profiling, or categorization based on race. It is the belief that we now live in a colorblind society where race privilege no longer exercises or shapes the power it once did. Realistically, we live in a society that defines race and is defined by race, in turn makes the ideology of color blindness inaccurate. People who are “color blind” cannot change or fix the system because color blindness ignores the racism that deals with social structures. These individuals can only perpetuate racism, as it already exists. The perspective of the color blind defines racism as a problem of individual race relation and assumes individuals can erase racism by learning about races other than their own. It does not however, address instructional racism. After interviewing three successful African Americans, we learn how their personal experiences with racism varied throughout their lives and how being successful and Black has had no bearing on them being affected by racism. Most importantly, we are able to interpret their perspectives about why the color blind ideology is not credible.