Re: Racism, straight up

One very direct cause of systemic racism is found in the educational system. It
is pretty clear that it is a college education that makes the biggest single
difference in economic levels. There has been an attempt for many years to
close the "achievement gap" in public schools so that people of color, have
amore even playing field when it comes to college admission. Yet even this week
in reporting SAT scores, and after decades of recognition that SAT tests are
culturally biased, the press made note of the fact that a new writing test put
out this year in Oregon is being criticized for that very deficiency.

There are other factors, as well, that seem to contribute to lower SAT scores
and therefore lower college enrollment for students of color.

The following excerpt from

http://www.ncrel.org/gap/library/text/whatcontributes.htm

articulates some of theses factors. I would suggest reading the entire article
online. It's very enlightening.

Black and Hispanic students tend to take less-rigorous courses. Though there
are more black and Hispanic students taking academically rigorous courses now
than in the past, whites and Asians still tend to be overrepresented in such
courses. In part this situation results from the lack of advanced courses at
high-minority schools. In particular, researchers have found that schools in
high-minority or high-poverty areas often offer a less-rigorous curriculum to
begin with. They thereby fail to challenge students, since theycover less
material or give less homework. This is a problem because research has found
that students enrolled in challenging courses—in topics such as algebra,
trigonometry, chemistry, and advanced English—usually have higher test
scores than their peers.

There is a lack of experienced teachers. Kober points out that black students
are more likely to be taught by less-experienced teachers than white students.
Researchers have cited this factor as one of the most critical variables for
explaining the achievement gap: there is a correlation between higher teacher
certification scores and higher student achievement scores. Teachers in
districts where there are high percentages of black or Hispanic students tend
to have lower scores on their certification tests.

Teachers set their expectations low. Studies have suggested that teachers
sometimes have lower academic expectations for black and Hispanic children than
they do for whites or Asians. Kober warns that by setting expectations low,
teachers run the risk of perpetuating the achievement gap since they do not
encourage black and Hispanic students to follow a rigorous curriculum.

Resource disparities handicap schools. Low-minority schools tend to be much
better funded and have all-around stronger resources than do high-minority
schools. The same relationship holds true for schools in low-poverty versus
high-poverty areas. There is persuasive evidence that this factor contributes
to the achievement gap. For example, data from the National Assessment of
Educational Progress show the achievement gap between low-poverty and
high-poverty schools increased throughout the 1990s.

Low-income and minority students tend to be concentrated in certain schools.
Kober notes that if a school has high levels of poverty, that can depress
achievement for all the children in that school, even if they are from higher
income families. This fact hits black and Hispanic children the hardest, since
they are more likely to attend higher poverty schools than are whites or
Asians.

etc.

Connie wrote:

> "Shava_X" <voodopeople@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >
> >
> > The colour of their skin is irrelevant. They, and the rest of us, are
> > living in an economic system that has the effect (intended or not) of
> > keeping the poor poor, and helping the rich stay rich, and get richer.
> > Leading to more and more of the worlds wealth being concentrated into the
> > hands of an ever small minority. Even if this system only effected whites
> > or Northern European decent it would still be wrong.
> >
>
> IRRELEVANT??? Did you actually say that? Omagawd, no wonder this country's
> going to hell in a handbasket. Please read Carla's wonderfully articulated
> response, copied (from this very thread) and pasted below:
>
> It's called "institutional" or "systemic" racism and it is very real. It's
> not about active hate or deliberate discrimination, but about white
> privilege not recognizing itself and basically not giving a shit about
> others who don't have it ...
>
> How many times in the early days did you hear the white leaders say, "We
> ordered them to evacuate and they wouldn't do it." This from guys who have
> money, cars, places to go, connections, and so forth.
>
> And how many times did you hear the black folks respond, "We couldn't
> evacuate. There was no way for us to get out." This from the people who have
> no money, no cars, no place to go, no connections.
>
> Seems the rich white folk don't "get" that some people don't have cars and
> money. They must be deliberately noncompliant if they are not fleeing for
> their lives, right?
>
> Poverty in this country is very much still a matter of systemic racism. The
> poor folks don't "just happen" to be black, any more than most of the guys
> with money or in position of power "just happen" to be white.
>
> No, this is not a hard and fast cause and effect sort of dynamic, any more
> than are the racial disparities in prison. Obviously, there are rich black
> folks and poor white folks. There are white folks in prison and black folks
> who are not.
>
> But when you look at the percentages, it's very real, and it truly is
> racism, though not as dramatic as George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse
> door to prevent integration, or as obvious as the lynching of a 15- year old
> black kid for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
>
> Racism in this country is much more subtle and insidious than it has ever
> been, but it is just as widespread and just as damaging.




.

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