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Racism in public schools and how it effects education
Culture and education
Racism in public schools and how it effects education
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The book The Miseducation of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson, shows the reader the weakness of European culture that fail to include African American history and culture within schools and society. The system misinforms African American students, failing to prepare them for success and to give them an adequate sense of who they are within the system that they must live in . In the book Woodson states “the so-called modern education, with all its defects, however, does others so much more good than it does the Negro, because it has been worked out in conformity to the needs of those who have enslaved and oppressed weaker peoples”. Woodson statement mean the education system benefits other race expect African American, based on that it benefits mainly whites because they were slave owner and view their race as superior. Woodson provides many strong solutions to the problems which he identifies in the book. Woodson challenges the meaning of the educated Negro. He claims that the educated Negro often remove himself from the black community and …show more content…
History books stressed their good fortune at having been exposed, through slavery, to the higher civilization, which is the white men. In the reading White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, the author states “whites are taught to think their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow them to more like us”. This statement proves the education system teach all race to learn and replica white culture and history. African American accomplishments, contributions, and achievement are not presence within history books, and it is not taught to African American
This reinforces a traditionally biased historical narrative, where white, middle-class women are the “norm”. It can be said that African American history has been shaped by systematic inequality and oppression, encouraged by a racially prejudiced system.
While growing up in the midst of a restrictive world, education becomes the rubicon between a guileless soul and adulthood. In the excerpt from W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois provides a roadmap for African Americans to discover and understand themselves through the pursuit of knowledge, self-awareness, and authenticity. The excerpt is a significant part of the essay because it also speaks for the modern day pursuit of knowledge, self-awareness, and authenticity, an indispensable path into finding one’s self.
Most public schools in the United States kept it simple and straight to the point. They taught, what we know as, “Black History” from the media’s standpoint. This concept neglects the true meaning of black history in the educational system, making it hard for African Americans to be prideful in who they are. Knowing history other than what the school systems tells us African Americans would not only give us more knowledge, but would allow us to stand up against others when try to put down our history. Media gives us mainly negative perspectives with very little positives of our
Analysis of Mis-Education of the Negro The most important aspect for a teacher to understand is that every student that comes through their door has their own experiences, history, and point of view. Mis-Education of the Negro is about how the euro-centrism-based learning has, in one way or another, crippled the African-American community and their pursuit for an equal opportunity in our society. Written by Carter Godwin Woodson in 1933, this African-American studies book is written so that everyone can understand what society has done and what they can do to correct their wrongs. Author Carter Godwin Woodson dedicated his life to studying African-American history and fought so it can be taught in schools and studied by scholars.
In his book, The Miseducation of the Negro, Carter G. Woodson addresses many issues that have been and are still prevalent in the African American community. Woodson believed that in the midst of receiving education, blacks lost sight of their original reasons for becoming educated. He believed that many blacks became educated only to assimilate to white culture and attempt to become successful under white standards, instead of investing in their communities and applying their knowledge to help other blacks.
It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of income. Aminata’s father taught Aminata to write small words in the dirt when she was small. Throughout the rest of the novel, Aminata carries this love for learning new things to the places that she travels and it inspires her to accept the opportunities given to her to learn how to write, read maps, and perform accounting duties. Early in the novel Aminata meets Chekura and they establish a strong relationship. Eventually they get married but they are separated numerous times after. Aminata continuously remembers and holds onto her times with Chekura amidst all of her troubles. CHILDREN. The only reason why Aminata Diallo does not die during her journey into and out of slavery is because she believes strongly in her parents, husband and children; therefore proving that people survive hardships only when they have relationships in which to believe.
African American history plays a huge role in history today. From decades of research we can see the process that this culture went through and how they were depressed and deculturalized. In school, we take the time to learn about African American History but, we fail to see the aspects that African Americans had to overcome to be where they are today. We also fail to view life in their shoes and fundamentally understand the hardships and processes that they went through. African Americans were treated so terribly and poor in the last century and, they still are today. As a subordinate race to the American White race, African Americans were not treated equal, fair, human, or right under any circumstances. Being in the subordinate position African Americans are controlled by the higher white group in everything that they do.
The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans.
As the years go by we can see the aftermath of what slavery, segregation and racism toward African Americans have done to Blacks. African Americans have suffered many brutal treatment that has affected us physically and mentally and we are still dealing with the repercussion of the many years of oppression. The Declaration of Independence was written hundreds of years ago stating all men are equal but African Americans are still socially and racially unequal to White America. Until now Blacks have been given insufficient credit of the basis of where humanity and civilization started. Throughout our educational history we’ve learned that the Egyptians created Egypt not including the Egyptians were African Americans and we’ve also learned from textbooks the European’s created many inventions, founded many countries and established these intelligent philosopher’s and writers we study from today basically making Europeans the superior race for many Countries but not even mentioning the contributions of African Americans and what they have done and how much they have accomplished for civilization. When we look at film and literature we can dissect and repair the image of African Americans by looking at written evidence, documentaries and movies to see the hidden truth.
From reading the book, I have developed my own stance that the book education system is similar to today’s education system. I can relate with the text because I have noticed most of my history fails to mention successes of the Negroes. In fact, I was astonished that Dr. George Washington Carver had invented peanut butter. I can relate to chapter four’s solution because in my school system, Teach For America teachers who were from different areas and ethnic backgrounds were ill equipped to teach African American students while an older teacher would be able to raise test scores and teach students
The time has come again to celebrate the achievements of all black men and women who have chipped in to form the Black society. There are television programs about the African Queens and Kings who never set sail for America, but are acknowledged as the pillars of our identity. In addition, our black school children finally get to hear about the history of their ancestors instead of hearing about Columbus and the founding of America. The great founding of America briefly includes the slavery period and the Antebellum south, but readily excludes both black men and women, such as George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, and Mary Bethune. These men and women have contributed greatly to American society. However, many of us only know brief histories regarding these excellent black men and women, because many of our teachers have posters with brief synopses describing the achievements of such men and women. The Black students at this University need to realize that the accomplishments of African Americans cannot be limited to one month per year, but should be recognized everyday of every year both in our schools and in our homes.
Victor Frankenstein’s monster educates himself which shapes the role of his character in the novel. The monster receives the majority of his education through watching humans speak and the actions they portray. He finds books in the woods, including Paradise Lost and reads them. The story of the monster can somewhat be related to the reading from our textbook, “The Mis-Education of the Negro” by Carter G. Woodson. Several sources go about in different angles about the monster’s education. A blog about Frankenstein, The Monster of Literary Theory, mostly discusses the monster’s education through a literary sense by reading. Another source from a University of Pennsylvania English website talks about Mary Shelley and how the monster learns from observation, not just texts. The monster is abandoned and left uneducated. He goes about on his own to give himself an education through reading and the observation of others. The story of the monster can be compared to many realities that this world has faced over many years. He is said to be an evil monster because of his actions, but how would he really know what evil really is without the proper education?
It is widely known that racial and gender discrimination appeared from an early time which is still influence today’s society. The term Black American is used rather than African American because many Caribbeans and Africans identify themselves by their country of origin or use the term Black, and the federal government, along with Whites, will classify them as Blacks (ATWATER,1999). The first black president appearance is a great change for the racial discrimination which be expected to change the status of the black. For the education in America, the black children always face to the tough situation. These Black American children now enter school with various language genres, patterns of behavior, motivations, attitudes, and expectations that are either unacknowledged or seen as developmentally deficit by their science teachers. If they are considered developmentally deficient, then teachers feel like the students must be remediated before science learning can begin (Figueroa & Garcia, 1994). This remediation usually includes helping Black American students “to become ‘successful’ in terms of a traditional white, male, heterosexual, and middle class conceptualization of success” (Powell, 1997, p. 14).In a long period, the black is considered as the representative of poverty and slow-witted. On average, Black American students understand the four basic mathematical operations, can compare
Although the author provides many personal accounts of success among the black race, the macro view of the Southern perception of blacks are not examined in his work. However, the work provides an excellent source of reference to one of the two sides of the black education discussion during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The author in his work, Up from Slavery, successfully conveys his beliefs that blacks should prepare themselves for the real-world experiences they would face through an industrial education.
The American society, more so, the victims and the government have assumed that racism in education is an obvious issue and no lasting solution that can curb the habit. On the contrary, this is a matter of concern in the modern era that attracts the concern of the government and the victims of African-Americans. Considering that all humans deserve the right to equal education. Again, the point here that there is racial discrimination in education in Baltimore, and it should interest those affected such as the African Americans as well as the interested bodies responsible for the delivery of equitable education, as well as the government. Beyond this limited audience, on the other hand, the argument should address any individual in the society concerned about racism in education in Baltimore and the American Society in