Is racism is schools self perpetuating? In my essay, I run through my thoughts on racism on school and how it may be perpetuating itself. It is my opinion that there is a culture within the school and community that makes racism both inevitable and ongoing.
There is a culture of ignorance and the appreciation of idiocy that seems to inflict a lot of people that may be classed as a minority. The hatred of white people seems to perpetuate ignorance and idiocy, which then leads to yet more racism.
A black person that wants to study may be called white. Another black person may ask, “Why are you being so white?” when found to be studying. If racism didn’t exist, then this sort of comment would have no effect. Sadly, a lot of black people are racist against white people and so feel insulted when they are told they are acting white.
On the other hand, a person that has just come from Africa, and is black, will happily spend all day in a library and school in order to get a good education. They are not so racist. Even if African people were racist against white people, they see that being called white is not as bad as the consequences of not having an education. Coming from a country as poor as Africa, an African person knows that a poor education will mean poverty in the near future and maybe in the long-term future.
People that do not get an education tend to live their lives in ignorance and on welfare. This then makes white people racists against black people as they see a lot of them on welfare and not contributing to society. Such ignorance and idiocy in the black community will also lead to more black people committing crime, which may explain why most prisons are predominantly full of black people.
The racist culture does not only affect people’s educations, it also spills over into college life. People with racist parents may take on their parents’ personas and may act rudely or aggressively towards people of another race. This tension then makes more people racists as they experience racism first hand. In their mind, such ignorance, malice and hatred is uncalled for and that is used as a reason to hate the race of the person doing the hating. It is a big negative circle that spins onwards and perpetuates racism in schools.
Conclusion
Racism is self perpetuating. If black people were not so insulted by being called white, then they study more and get better jobs to help cast off the stereotypical view that black people are lazy scroungers. People that are already racist are helping to perpetuate racism by their actions. The people that racists target are making their victims racist against the race of the attacker. This is yet another cycle of racism that perpetuates itself. In college I will not be surprised if I see quite a bit of racism–though I do expect there to be less in college than in the real world where ignorant people are more commonplace.
