Taylor McNeill

Mrs. Thomas

UWRT 1104

25 April 2017

Correlation Between Compulsory Education and Racism

Compulsory education is a critical process in defining who we are. As children, many

people spend more time with their teachers than they do with their blood relatives. That being

said, it would stand to reason that many of our moral values as well as our ability to process

information at an objective level derive from how we are taught as children. That is why it would

be logical to explore the idea that there is some kind of correlation between contemporary

mindsets and the way in which we are educated.

I am a Japanese language and culture major as well as an international studies major. It

stands to reason that cultural awareness and acceptance are of great importance to me. In the

months leading up to the 2016 United States elections I witnessed a horrendous amount of racist

acts being performed on a large array of minority groups. Of course racism has always been a

major issue in America. I do not mean to suggest that the elections acted as a form of catalyst

that just now triggered racial dissonance. However, it did get me wondering how these people

had gotten to the point of detesting other cultures so much. After much contemplation I found

myself toying with Andrew Smiths quote we fear what we do not understand. I genuinely

believe that our hatred of other cultures derives from our ignorance of them; not an innate urge to

hate those that are different from us. It is hard for us to respect foreign customs if we do not
understand them. Unfortunately, most schools only teach history at a face value level, ergo the

understanding of anything that is not a correlation of dates and events is greatly

underappreciated. Not only this, but the American education system is very eurocentric. Even if a

teacher were to go the extra mile and focus on history at a cultural level, it would only be

teaching us to appreciate those whose values mimic our own. Because compulsory education is

so key in defining who we are, I believe there is a correlation in the way that we teach about

culture in school and racism.

Before addressing the reasons why there is a correlation between our education system

and racism, it is important to understand why the American populace should care.

Understanding racial text means understanding [America] as fundamentally a racialized place,

as fundamentally an African American place, and the American identity as inescapably African

American as well as European, Hispanic/Latino/ American Indian, and Asian American. This is

a quote by William F. Pinar, a teacher of curriculum theory at Louisiana State University. It is

important to understand that America identity lies in the fact that we are immigrants. Some

people have acquired the idea that being a certain race somehow entitles them to be more

American and ergo more possessive of the land we now reside. That is not the case. Our

country is supposed to be defined by its lack of a cultural overlord. Cultures are supposed to be

able to exist and commingle, creating new ideas and innovations in the process. Even if you can

not bring yourself to understand another culture you need to be able to respect them. If one

wanted to get technical about the subject, Native Americans are the one that initially resided our

land, ergo they are the only ones that should feel any sense of entitlement. Ironically enough,

Native Americans are also renowned for the ridicule and persecution that we have forced on

them since arriving here. I am not suggesting that Native Americans should be given any sense
of racial superiority. However, if the indigenous populace is not seen as superior, then no one

should have the mentality that their race is the superior race. Since we are all immigrants, we

need to take pride in the fact that we are different. Our differences are what have allowed this

country to thrive as much as it has since its conception.

A state of cultural acceptance should be something America is constantly striving for. In

order to accomplish this, we need to be taught at a young age to view other cultures with

benevolent curiosity. An academic author by the name of David S. Martin wrote an article

addressing the way children are taught about cultures and how it impacts their perception of

those cultures. The article details a randomized experiment that was intended to find the

correlation between certain variables and an elementary school kids tolerance towards Eskimo

culture. There were a number of variables tested, namely gender, intelligence, and the manner in

which the subject material was taught. During the experiment, children were divided into two

groups. Group 1 was taught about Eskimo culture only at face value. Group 2 was taught about

Eskimo culture while at the same time being taught about its commonalities to American culture,

as well as humanity as a whole. The study showed that Group 2 showed a statically significant

higher tolerance towards Eskimo culture. This means that the children in group 2 are more likely

to acknowledge the commonality of mankind. The children in group 1, as the author put it, are

more likely to take the attitude that they are the superior race or that they have our ways and

we have ours-- there is not much in common between us. From this experiment, it can be seen

just how drastically the manner in which we teach children alters their perception on foreign

cultures. If we were to consistently put the teaching methods from group B into practice then

theoretically the percentage of adults with racist tendencies would drop (assuming that the

teaching methods generally yield similar results.)

 The way in which we teach about foreign cultures is not the only issue. As mentioned

before, the American education system is very Eurocentric. It was not until I was a Junior in high

school that was was exposed to a world history class. To be blunt, I took an AP world history

class as well as an AP European history class, to this day I can barely tell you the difference in

the two. Asian history is mentioned in the world history textbook, but as my teacher of the time

put it, it is not important enough for us to go indepth with. Even when Asian history was

taught about, it was usually something along the lines of Asian countries being Westernized.

Essentially we are being taught that if it has nothing to do with our own ideals it is not worth

learning about in depth. While this might seem like an isolated case, I surveyed thirty random

students at UNCC about their experiences with their history courses in high school. I found that

36.7% of them had little to no exposure to history outside of the US and that 86.7% of them

claim to have had no exposure to Asian history. These were college students that were surveyed.

They are supposed to be among the smartest people in our country. How do we expect people to

be culturally understanding if they are not taught about anything other than Europe? Also, if the

survey I did is assumed to be representative of the population, (the sample size is too small for it

to be genuinely representative,) then that would mean only 13.3% of college students were

exposed to Asian culture in high school. Assuming college students are more educated than the

general public, that percentage would be even lower for the layman.

The issue of our history textbooks is also worth elaborating on. A major issue with many

of the textbooks is that they are extremely biased towards whoever wrote them. It is rare that

they teach history from an objective standpoint. Rather they tend to paint one side as being

good and the other being evil. While some matters in history can be painted black in white

like this, most can not. It gives off the impression that the opposers are inherently evil. Also,
textbooks tend to brush over slavery, genocides, and other racist activities, claiming that these

European powers ultimately better the world as a result. Not only does this serve to injustice

other countries, but it again puts Europe in the spotlight.

The teachers we trust to educate our children may also be an issue. According to NEA

Today journalist, Edward Graham, despite schools recently being predominantly occupied by

minority students, the teacher that work there remain to be primarily from European

backgrounds. The issue with this is not that teachers of European descent may be biased, but

more that they could not possibly be able to teach about other cultures on the same level as

someone who has experienced them first hand. Minority teachers would be able to rely much

more passionately as well as in a manner that serves their country justice. The only issue that

could be foreseen with this is that they will teach in a way that is biased to their country. That

being said, in an education system that is already biased towards Europe, that may be a positive.

As Cynthia Chinue, a MA at San Francisco State University outs it A strictly Eurocentric

perspective will not properly prepare students for a successful future in a multicultural world.

Because students internalize what they are taught, schools profoundly affect children's

confidence and self-esteem. What is even more shocking is that despite the rise in minority

students, the amount of minority teachers has decreased. Edward Graham claims that two

decades ago, 26% of the teaching population included teachers of color. As of 2014, that number

has declined to 18%, despite there being a drastic increase of minorities in the student populace.

It is important to point out that I do not mean to say all teacher, textbooks, and are biased

or inefficient at teaching about culture on a meaningful level. I have meant a lot of people,

particularly in the younger generations, that are more culturally than the average person. I am

even proud to say that some of these people intend to go on to be teachers in the compulsory
education system. In addition to that, the fact that I was able to fnd an influx of academics who

were writing articles relevant to this paper is also hopeful. It show at least a sizeable portion of

the academic community is aware of the flaws in our compulsory education system.

The first step to a more culturally accepting America is for us to first acknowledge that a

change needs to be made. As I stated earlier in the paper we are all Americans and our

differences are what define us as a country. To ostracize any one culture is to hinder our

progression as a country. To remedy this, we need to start teaching history in a way that is less

fixated on dates and more concerned with reasonings and relationships. Knowing the dates of a

certain invasion will not help us as much as understanding why they did it. It is also important

that we look at conflicts from all perspectives in order to alleviate as much bias as possible.

Incorporating more minority teachers would be beneficial in this regard. People from different

walks of life will tend to have different viewpoints and ergo not push the same ideologies as

everyone else. In addition to this, our eurocentric ideologies need to be dispelled. We need to

teach history in a manner that portrays Europe as being equally as important as the rest of the

world. That means changing our teaching methods, writing less biased textbook, and most

importantly exposing children to world history at a much younger age. Teaching children about

world history at a younger age is extremely vital. The older we get, the more resistant we tend to

become to change. That being the case, the earlier we start stressing the importance of cultural

acceptance onto children the more likely it is for that message to stick and sink in. We also need

to stop painting world conflicts as being black and white. We are taught about World War II

countless times in school. The majority of people would view Germany as just being evil. Few

people are ever taught about the harsh treatment they received after World War I that forced them

to take drastic measures (like elect Hitler in power,) in order to not collapse as a country. Nor are
we taught about how the majority of Germans detested Hitler after he lied his way into power

and turned Germany into a fascist state. I personally have always viewed Germany as the victim

in this scenario. However, the current education just paints them as the antagonist, just another

great triumph for the United States and the rest of Europe.

Our education system definitely has some flaws in it. There are most definitely

exceptions out there, but for the most part our education system in very Eurocentric. It is hopeful

to see that the younger generations are starting to pay heed to this. Ideally we will ultimately

revamp our education system so that is gives every culture more justice. Ultimately I feel like

this country would become a much greater place than it already is if we are able to dissolve the

shackles that have been holdin cultural dissonance in place for so long.

Bibliography

Cynthia Chinue. "Afrocentric Education And Its Importance In African American

Children And Youth Development and Academic Excellence Ch2. Lit Review." Thesis. San

Francisco State University, Education, Graduate Student, n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2017.
 Graham, Edward. "NEA Report: Lack of Teacher Diversity Jeopardizes Student

Achievement." NEA Report: Lack of Teacher Diversity Jeopardizes Student Achievement (2014):

n. pag. Web. 4 Apr. 2017.

Marta Arajo & Silvia Rodrguez Maeso (2011): History textbooks, racism and the

critique of Eurocentrism: beyond rectification or compensation, Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Martin, David S. "Ethnocentrism Toward Foreign Culture in Elementary Social Studies."

The Elementary School Journal. 75.6 (1975): 381-388. Print.

McCarthy Cameron, Warren Crichlow, and Pinar William. Race, Identity, and

Representation in Education. New York: Routledge, 1993. Print.