Before delving into the topic of White Supremacy and its impact on modern day African-Americans, one must ask themselves the following inquiry, “What is White Supremacy?”. There are multiple ideologies, beliefs, and concepts one must utilize in the description of White Supremacy, and as a result, this has led to debates and arguments concerning the validity and legitimacy of these varied definitions; however, for the sake of limited time, a dictionary definition will be sufficient and utilized when referring to this topic. According to the Oxford Dictionary, White supremacy can be defined as the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially the black race, and should therefore dominate society. While reading …show more content…
this definition, one can already notice its emphasis on white people’s superiority over the black race (“especially the black race…”), and although this is obviously prevalent and apparent in today’s society, some people, specifically white people, still continue to question and challenge this belief and view it as more of a theory than an actual concept supported by legitimate physical evidence such as statistical data based off research, first-hand and second-hand experience; therefore, the question still remains, why are people, specifically white people, hesitant towards agreeing to or acknowledging White Supremacy and its impacts on those of the black race? Additionally, how has this contributed to the internalized racism present in the black community which has resulted in blacks possessing dislike or hatred towards others within their community? In other words, what is the overall impact of White Supremacy towards African-Americans and others within the black community? Before one can further examine, analyze, and dissect the concept of White Supremacy, it is important for one to obtain a brief understanding of its initiation and continued development throughout history and society.
In simpler terms, throughout history, Europe has been referred to or described as continent of power with notable countries such as Great Britain, France, and Spain. These countries have made multiple successful attempts at imperializing weaker nations, specifically those within Africa, such as South Africa. To establish dominion and authority within these newly imperialized countries, authoritative powers and figures began to utilize basic key-principles of White Supremacy within these countries such as racial segregation, racial apartheid, and the introduction and utilization of white privilege, a term to describe the societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries. Eventually, this began to worsen as time progressed and continued to have huge impacts on colored people, especially African-Americans and others within the black community; however, since then, multiple court rulings and laws have been established and put into effect to ensure those of all races and ethnicities be given equal rights and opportunities, one of these include the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 13th and 14th Amendment. As a result, today, some may question the existence of racism or the degree in which is it displayed; however, racism has continued …show more content…
to worsen as the years have progressed and possess similar impacts and effects on African-Americans and the black community as those of the past. It has been revised and redesigned for newer generations but continues to follow and utilize the same key principals that have affected the African-American community for years; however, its danger lies in its ability to remain subtle in the form of media propaganda and brainwashing. White supremacy in mainstream media. Some may be shocked at this argument and question it with multiple arguments that, as previously mentioned, completely dismiss the belief and concept of White Supremacy. Additionally, in today’s society, the average human being is exposed to copious amounts of media in multiple forms: social media, mainstream media, print media, etc. In fact, as a result, this has caused some people to be extremely dependent, addicted, and unable to live without social media. Indeed, it has become a significant part of our daily lives; therefore, it is natural for the typical human being to question the presence of racism, White Supremacy, and White privilege in today’s society. However, it is become extremely difficult to acknowledge or recognize these extremely subtle, or some may describe as, subliminal ubiquitous messages; for example, the development, perpetuation, and usage of racial stereotypes through mainstream television shows have greatly influenced and shaped racial perceptions of African-Americans, and as a result, this has extremely limited and restricted African-Americans of achieving certain goals and advancing their lifestyles. Consequently, this has drastically impacted the way in which African-American adolescence and youth are nurtured, taught, and matured. For example, the earliest exposure of White Supremacy’s impact on African-American children is through early and higher education.
Academic facilities and educational institutions are, obviously, pivotal and essential towards one’s success and academic development and improvement; however, the systematic and institutionalized racism present within these facilities and institutions have made it extremely difficult for African-American youth to acquire the knowledge necessary for success. According to a recent report (2015) of the State of New York Failing Schools, school districts within neighborhoods that possessed the highest Hispanic, African-American, and Black population. However, according to observational research study conducted by Niche of the Best School Districts in New York (2017), most, if not all, of the neighborhoods listed were mostly dominated by Whites or Caucasians. This, of course, is due to better funding for education which ensure the maintenance, supplementation, and implementation of top-tier faculty, resources, and state-of-the-art technology to promote academic excellence and advancements. Additionally, most of the children going being served by these school districts either live in safe, low-crime neighborhoods or dangerous, high-crime neighborhoods, and of course, this continues to influence the mental and physical stability, health, and status of those living within these communities and correlates with the educational institutions and school
districts serving these neighborhoods. In other words, good neighborhood, good school district. As a result, this endless cycle and system almost ensures the failure and limitation of African-Americans, which has led to African-Americans students being unable to attend reputable elementary schools, high schools, and/or colleges. Thus, they are forced or expected to a life of crime, poverty, and, in extreme cases, homelessness and/or death. As previously mentioned, this is all due to a system that has been put in place for African Americans and the overall black community to fail. Additionally, a huge contributor of White Supremacy is mainstream media such a television shows, movies, and news channels. Growing up in the 21st century, media broadcastings and publications were being developed at an extremely rapid rate. Everywhere I would go, I would always be exposed to newspapers, magazines, articles, and television shows that discussed trending topics, political affairs, and seemingly important topics and stories. As time continued to progress, media and media access became “essential” to human survival, and today, it is almost impossible to walk down the street or around the corner without seeing someone using a cellphone or a laptop. In fact, in today’s society, even children are being exposed to technology and social media at very young ages. Toddlers and infants utilizing products such as tablets and smartphones has become norm and is, sometimes, expected. Indeed, mainstream media and technology usage has reached its zenith of influence. Therefore, it is an extremely power tool used to develop and perpetuate racial stereotypes and biased opinions throughout today’s society.
In American history, there are centuries upon centuries of black people being deemed less than or not worthy of. Never in were black people equal, even in the sense of humanity. White people declared black people as three-fifths of a human, so to the “superior race”, because one has darker skin that automatically takes away 40% of their humanity. Now, in white history they repeatedly dominant over other nonwhite groups and especially the women of those groups because they feel anything that isn’t white is inferior.
Mr. Kozol provides his own socially conscious and very informative view of the issues facing the children and educators in this poverty ravaged neighborhood. Those forces controlling public schools, Kozol points out, are the same ones perpetuating inequity and suffering elsewhere; pedagogic styles and shapes may change, but the basic parameters and purposes remain the same: desensitization, selective information, predetermined "options," indoctrination. In theory, the decision should have meant the end of school segregation, but in fact its legacy has proven far more muddled. While the principle of affirmative action under the trendy code word ''diversity'' has brought unparalleled integration into higher education, the military and corporate America, the sort of local school districts that Brown supposedly addressed have rarely become meaningfully integrated. In some respects, the black poor are more hopelessly concentrated in failing urban schools than ever, cut off not only from whites but from the flourishing black middle class.
Parenting alone is not to blame for poor school performance of African American children. The size of a school affects their student’s dropout rate. When school size increases the quality of education decreases. As stated by Velma Zahirovic-Herbert and Geoffrey
“There must be the position of superior and inferior” was a statement by Lincoln which formed the basis of discrimination towards black Americans as it highlighted the attitudes of white Americans. Although civil rights for black people eventually improved through the years both socially and politically, it was difficult to change the white American view that black people are inferior to white people as the view was always enforce by the favour of having “the superior position assigned to the white race”.
During the mid-twentieth century African Americans were at the lowermost tier of society's hierarchy. However within the black race, there was a further social division between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned African Americans. A black individual with more Caucasian features signified high status and beauty which was sought after by members of the African American community (Dibleck). In Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author uses Janie Crawford to depict how colorism affected African Americans on both sides of the skin color spectrum. By demonstrating the attitude society (mostly men) had towards skin color, the author displays the realities of being an African American in the early 1900s and the deep racial divide within the black race.
Today's education is often viewed as failing in its goal of educating students, especially those students characterized as minorities, including African American, Hispanic, and Appalachian students (Quiroz, 1999). Among the minority groups mentioned, African American males are affected most adversely. Research has shown that when Black male students are compared to other students by gender and race they consistently rank lowest in academic achievement (Ogbu, 2003), have the worst attendance record (Voelkle, 1999), are suspended and expelled the most often (Raffaele Mendez, 2003; Staples, 1982), are most likely to drop out of school, and most often fail to graduate from high school or to earn a GED (Pinkney, 2000; Roderick, 2003).
Through programs that directly fuel desegregation in schools, our educational systems have become a melting pot of different races, languages, economic status, and abilities. Programs have been in place for the past fifty years to bring students that live in school districts that lack quality educational choices, to schools that are capable of providing quality education to all who attend. Typically the trend appears to show that the schools of higher quality are located in suburban areas, leaving children who live in “black” inner-city areas to abandon the failing school systems of their neighborhoods for transportation to these suburban, “white” schools. (Angrist & Lang, 2004). This mix of inner-city and suburban cultures creates new challenges for students and teachers alike.
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most important, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students.
As cliché as it sounds, it is true that many African American students come from very harsh and poverty stricken environments. They tend to go to under resourced schools as well that do not provide the proper knowledge for them to further their education. And even worse, these schools tend to be segregated since they are usually in the harsher parts of a neighborhood. Sadly, it’s the segregated schools are one of the main reasons why black students decide not to go on to pursue a higher education. According to "The Way Out of the Black Poverty Cycle", a black student that attends an integrated suburban school is six times more likely to graduate compared to a segregated under resourced school. An African Americans family structure and the opinions of family members affects if their decision to further their education as well. Many African American children grow up un...
Have you ever been discriminated against simply because your skin is darker than the next person? Have you ever been told by someone that “your pretty for a dark skin girl or boy?” Have you ever been racist toward your own race? Since long before we or our parents were born, the black community has faced this problem with racism within the same race. In the black community, it is said that if a person have a lighter skin complexion, than they are superior to those with a darker skin complexion. Racism within the black community is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
White Supremacy is often associated with images of the Ku Klux Klan and the Civil Rights Movement (Theoharis). However, it’s a lot less confusing when you think of it as a system that engulfs the military, the judicial system, and social media (What). White Supremacy is systematically oppressing non-whites in this country under legal protection. What role does society play in White Supremacy? Legendary singer/songwriter Michael Jackson wrote a controversial song entitled “They Don’t Care About Us”, that lyrically exposes the issue of systemic White Supremacy when observed through a cultural lens.
When talking about a school that is mostly filled with African Americans, it is common to picture it as somewhere that has limited programs due to low funding from the government and located where poverty rate is high. Normally the thought of a brand new facility or more investment in schools is not associated with African American schools. The universal problem of mostly black schools is the fact that there is a lack of funding for the school and it...
Once a school system drops their efforts to integrate schools, the schools in low-income neighborhood are left to suffer; not to mention that segregation in schools leads, not only to the neglect of schools, but the neglect of students as well. Resegregation quite literally divides the public schools into two groups “the good schools”, that are well funded, and “the bad schools”, that receive a fraction of the benefits-- more often than not the groups are alternatively labeled as “the white schools” and “the black schools” (and/or hispanic). Opportunities for the neglected students diminish significantly without certain career specific qualifications that quality education can provide-- they can’t rise above the forces that are keeping them in their situation.
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
Gentrification is the transformation of run down neighborhoods into more prosperous ones by remodeling and rebuilding the homes and schools. Many big cities in the United States have a “once in a generation opportunity to create a large number of racially and socioeconomically integrated schools.” (Stillman, 2013, p. 37) This article discusses the effect of gentrification by groups of predominantly white, upper-middle class, highly educated families on different urban schools that serve mostly the poor and minority population. Before reading this article I considered this to be a fabulous opportunity that many people would be excited about and have high hopes for. If a group of people were trying to help make a neighborhood, along with its educational setting better, the outcome could only be positive.