Race And Affirmative Action

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of Instructor]

[Subject]

[Date]

Race And Affirmative Action

Introduction

The race is based on the idea that humans are divided into different groups on the basis of inherited behavioral and physical differences such as hair texture, skin color, and facial features. Such unique features are associated with huge geographically distinct populations. The adverse political, personal, psychological and economic implications of this marginalization and discrimination can include fewer educational opportunities and unfair treatment by the authorities. The race which is based on physical characteristics play socially and pivotal important roles in the life of the people. Immigrants build diverse communities and nations which are created around racial identity. Institutional racism is not only affecting the adults in the society but also the children in the educational institute. Many researches reveal that students belonging to minority groups has to face biases in the school. They are treated more harshly and are less likely to be gifted or to have access of well-trained quality teachers

Discussion

Racism can have an impact on those who do not belong to the dominant culture in the aspect of their lives. In an educational environment racism plays a significant role in minority student's experience and access to learning. This does not happen due to any deficiency in minority students which make them less capable to learn, desire and motivate in order to succeed than dominant students. Rather to stop the academic success of the students belonging to the minority. They attend poorly funded secondary and primary schools under a racist while the dominant societies are usually having more money for providing quality education to their children. Schools which have a high population of minorities may lack quality computer labs, updated equipment, quality faculty, library equipment, and safety. It has been observed that minority students have to face many barriers for achieving academic success whether they study in high school or university racism can have a negative impact on their education. According to the recent research in the United States of America, more than fifty percent of Black students are experiencing racism while seeking education and also suffering from discrimination, disconnection, loneliness, and isolation which could be attributed to racism (Cole, 54).

Moreover, black women have to face racism due to both their gender and race and sexism and racism have a negative impact on their educational experiences in many ways as blacks are thought to be morally and intellectually inferior Black students are more likely to be expelled or suspended than white students. As a society, American faces the fact that racism is present in our culture in both quite blatant and subtle forms. This racism results in negative consequences for the Americans not in the dominant culture. The negative racism against black children results in missing school by them on a daily basis which can result in their academic failures. Such type of children is more likely to drop out of school and may contact with the criminal justice system as well (Race & Vini, 34).

Affirmative action refers to the ability of universities and colleges for acting affirmatively with the goal of emerging racial diversity within their organization. In order to accomplish this, educational organizations have race-conscious policies of admission which mean that they consider the race of an application for providing admission to him. The admission policies which are considered to be the race-conscious stand in contrast to race-neutral or race-blind policies which do not have any concern with the race of the applicant. Kinds of programs related to affirmative action such as affirmative action in giving scholarships and hiring faculty for minority students which exist at a greater range of organizations and are affected by the sustained legality related to race-conscious admissions. The debate on affirmative action has gained a significant amount of public and media attention. Due to several cases in court, the legal justification and permissibility for affirmative action remain in flux. Different states like Washington and California have passed the ordinances related to anti-affirmative action. Affirmative action in educational institutes are often associated with set-asides or quotas which is considered to be the reservation of the number of seats for the students belonging to a particular race in an admission pool. Sine 1970s such measures are declared to be illegal. Similarly, the point systems which assign a particular amount of points that depends on the ethnicity and race of the applicant are also illegal. The application of affirmative action also from organization to organization as a result of unique contexts of several college campuses. Several higher educational institutes choose to weigh separate criteria given their range and need of applicants (Stulberg, Lisa, & Anthony, 40).

Racism is considered to be the all-pervasive and enduring reality of the life of Americans which should be acknowledged by the adult educators and should also be analyzed on a regular basis. Educator in the higher education system or adult educator do not agree that confrontation of racism should be the fulcrum for learning and education and the issues of racism should be addressed for the academic success. Practitioners in higher education and an adult must attend to racial stereotypes and racism as well as race-based assumptions which are internalized and pervasive. The effect of the race to development and learning is not entirely negative. Minority students face racism may be stepped to embrace their culture and heritage by reclaiming their identity and forging new ways for the positive development of an individual. This method of development can bring new paradigms in higher education which can result in academic success for the minority students through incorporating sociocultural values and beliefs into the practices of education. The Africentric paradigm conceives higher education as a method of developing socioeconomic and cognitive African-based structures which stress collective action, interdependence, and community. A practice to move out of such a paradigm is the utilization of storytelling and narrative for facilitating the learning experience of minorities (Warmington, 23).

Minority students are at the highest risk by the tradition of America for allowing huge variations in the qualifications of teachers. It has been observed that in America new teachers who are hired without meeting the criteria of standard certification are usually assigned to teach the students in high-minority and low-income schools while the highly qualified faculty are assigned for the wealthier schools. So the students in predominantly minority schools are less likely to have quality or higher-level degree holders teachers. It has also been observed that more than seventy percent of the teachers who are teaching in high-poverty schools are not certificated in that particular subject. As a result of which they are found less effective with the students and also have the difficulty with the teaching strategies, student motivation, classroom management, and curriculum development. They have less ability to understand the learning style of students for anticipating the potential difficulties and knowledge of students for redirecting instructions in order to meet the need of the student. Curriculum quality and expertise of teacher are interrelated as, challenging curriculum need an expert teacher (Gillborn, 282).

The United States has a rich and colorful history or races which are coming together, and unfortunately, this is not considered to be a harmonious method. The social network in the educational organization among students are segregated by the race. Black students are less likely to graduate from attending college than white students with similar family income. According to recent research more than seventy-eight percent of poor white men are graduated from high school while only seventy percent of black men are graduated with the same income. The racial interactions between students and teachers could influence the performance of the student in many ways. For example, students may respect and trust someone with whom they can share their salient characteristics, and this can also help them in making their learning easier. Teacher of the same race can serve as a more efficient role model by enhancing the enthusiasm and confidence of students for learning. There may also be racial biases in the behavior of the teachers. It has been observed that specifically, minority teachers may be more generous and kind with the minority students giving more time to them and taking more favorable decisions regarding their capabilities. For example, white teachers may be more kind to white students while the black teachers will be considered more generous to the black students. Many evidence suggests that teachers are more favorable, provide more coaching or attention, and have positive feedback towards those students who share their ethnic or racial background. So, if minority teachers are assigned for teaching minority students than the positive impact is much likely to be observed (Kumasi & Kafi, 210).

Conclusion

It is concluded that assigning minority teachers can create significant achievement gains among the students belonging to the minority. As the racial demographic shift of the nation, these issues create serious risks to the future of America. If America wants to remain the world of superpower for future generations, it is necessary to make sure that minority groups should receive the same education standard and quality that privileged students do. Black teachers are not effective with the white students. Similarly, white students are not effective with white teachers so, significant improvements are required in training which could generate teachers equally effective and favorable for all the students regardless of any race.

Works Cited

Cole, Mike. Critical race theory and education: A Marxist response. Springer, 2017.

Gillborn, David. "Intersectionality, critical race theory, and the primacy of racism: Race, class, gender, and disability in education." Qualitative Inquiry 21.3 (2015): 277-287.

Kumasi, Kafi D. "Critical race theory and education: Mapping a legacy of activism and scholarship." Beyond Critique. Routledge, 2015. 208-231.

Race, Richard, and Vini Lander, eds. Advancing race and ethnicity in education. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Stulberg, Lisa M., and Anthony S. Chen. "The origins of race-conscious affirmative action in undergraduate admissions: A comparative analysis of institutional change in higher education." Sociology of Education 87.1 (2014): 36-52.

Warmington, Paul. Black British intellectuals and education: Multiculturalism’s hidden history. Routledge, 2014.