Racism and the Achievement Gap
Most educators, politicians, and educational institutions are concerned over the disparities between different ethnic/racial or socioeconomic groups in national and state test scores, attrition rates, enrollment in advanced courses, and degree attainment. Educators frequently state their commitment that "all" children will learn. One might think that this commitment and the considerable resources of the richest country in the world would result in change. But there has been little progress. A report this year analyzing National Assessment of Educational Progress results for the 1990s, for example, showed that only two states reduced the gap between white students and black or Latino students in 4th grade mathematics, and no state did so in 8th grade math. Although our society has made substantial progress in gaining civil rights for people of color, the achievement gap persists.
I contend that although no one is born prejudiced, many of the assumptions, values, and practices of people and institutions hinder the learning of students of color and students from low-socioeconomic classes. Race and class biases in particular are major causes of differential success. For the sake of brevity, I will only address racial bias.
Racism is the systematic mistreatment of certain groups of people (often referred to as people of color) on the basis of skin color or other physical characteristics. This mistreatment is carried out by societal institutions, or by people who have been conditioned by the society to act, consciously or unconsciously, in harmful ways toward people of color. Racism is different from prejudice. A person of color can hurt a white person because of prejudice. The difference is that in this country, people of color face systematic and ongoing personal and institutionalized biases every day. Shirley Chisholm, our country's first black congresswoman, wrote that "racism is so universal in this country, so widespread and deep-seated, that it is invisible because...
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