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Shirley Paxtor

Sociology 1010

December 01, 2018

Institutional racism in public school

Introduction:

In recent years, school seems to be providing equal opportunities for all students

regardless of economic class or race. Most people don’t see beneath the surface where policies

and procedures would affect low income students of color. We are currently in the era of the

prison pipeline where children are conduction into being send into prison by harass punishment

of the schools and the unfair treatment of the staff. There were some questions I had after I did

some research. Why are there more students of color not getting a higher education? Why are

white students having higher test scores and are more likely to excel well in higher education

than their counter peers?

Brown versus board of education cases:

In 1954 there were five separate cases brought in by the supreme court concerning issues

of the separation in the pubic schools. Each of the cases have different issues but they all

regarded to the state sponsored the separation of race in their education system. The National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) were there to support the ones

going against the school board to persuade changes from the supreme court to give equal rights

to people of color. Also they were there with the help of education funding to handle theses

cases. The US District Court ruled in favor of the school boards. The clients went to the US

Supreme court.
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Around 1952 the cases were presented in front of the supreme court. They ut all five

cases and it the “Brown Vs. Board of Education.” Marshall argued in front of the court and

explain how it goes against the fourteenth amendment “Although he raised a variety of legal

issues on appeal, the most common one was that separate school systems for blacks and whites

were inherently unequal, and thus violate the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (United states courts) ” The people on the court realized

how unequal they are to the people who is against the school board but instead of the court ruling

in favor of the browns’ cases, they asked the schools to send their plans for submitation for the

law permits of the segregation of their public schools.

Prison pipeline:

The “school-to-prison pipeline,” a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled

out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. (ASLC)

Schools are training children in lower income families the same as a prison system. In

jail they have rules that are based on authoritarian structure, dress code, negative punishment,

reinforcement, walk in lines, metal detectors, mass produced processed food, emphasis on

silence and order, random searches, assigned seating, standardization and cameras, set times

enforced for walking, breaks, and eating,etc. (ACLU) The rules are similar to the prison system.

Ethnic minorities are more likely to be send to jail than whites.

Standardizing testing and funding:

As a child I remember that my Special Education teacher would let the students know

that if we failed the CRTs exam, the school will closed down and we would have to go elsewhere

to get an education. The CRTs used to be the standardized testing given through the public

schools around five years ago before they replace it with the STAGE test. I always remember
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taking the test and I remember that I never learned any of the things on the exam because the

schools I went to were underfunded while I went to elementary and middle school. The teachers

would be under staff so most of the time I would be in the same class with my peers from

preschool.

Zero tolerance:

There was an African-American child, who would get in trouble for minor stuff like for

example if he got up to use the bathroom he would get punished while someone else

would get a warning. In a conference I went to Save the Kids event, the speaker who was

an expert on racial inequalities in the public schools would talk about how the zero

tolerance policy would send up barriers for African-American student to be ten times

more likely to be suspended or expelled than a white student. If a white student is found

with weed on them they are more likely not to get punished than a black student who did

the same defense as the white student.

In conclusion:

By being more educated on the inequalities of the children getting their education and

not having the same resources as a rich white student. We can start letting our representatives

know that the kids in low income family deserves equitable rights for an education. Being more

lenient on the on the GPAs for college applications for those students who have tried to do their

best but due to currentances they can't filled their requirements. The less we jude on the

underprivileged the closer we become together to fight off inequalities in our school system.
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Citations:
www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/history-brown-v-board-
education-re-enactment
https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline