Ethnic Discrimination in Schools: Implications on Students and Society

This report focuses on the discrimination which is currently prevalent in schools and deeply ingrained in the scope of learning in relation to the ethnic difference and dimension present among students along with major trends which allow such unethical practices to flourish even in modern times. The report also details the reasons behind such practices being common even in modernized societies in current time and was concluded with the study of ethnicity based bias on an individual and societal level.

Essay
Question which will be answered – Question
number 2 focusing on ethnicity
Tutor's name -

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The concept of ethnicity was derived to classify individuals into major cultural groups on
the basis of perceived distinctiveness in relation to the regularly accepted norms and traditions
prevalent in society. These distinctions are often rooted in classical elements such as food,
clothing styles, religion, traditional rituals and the prevailing materialistic culture which have
been proven to be effective parameters for grouping and ease of identification. However, these
biased notions have also had a major drawback in the form of enabling extreme forms of racism
which are prevalent in major aspects of life including education (Grapin et.al., 2019). This report
will focus on the discrimination which is currently prevalent in schools and deeply ingrained in
the scope of learning in relation to the ethnic difference and dimension present among students
along with major trends which allow such unethical practices to flourish even in modern times.
The report will also focus on the effect of discrimination on a wider audience apart from the
victim to present a more detailed and holistic view regarding academic ethnic discrimination.
MAIN BODY
The concept of ethnicity has been closely linked to the detailing of races which is also a
classification criteria which is used to separate people into easily identifiable groups but the
major difference being that unlike ethnicity, race also takes into equation the biogeneric
differentiations among population. For example a student who has Irish heritage can be
considered ethnically Irish while being 'white' will be a racial subjection as it is based on broad
genetic criteria such as skin color and tone. Both these concepts although differing have been
grouped together multiple times wherein there have been used as a lethal weapon to subjugate,
illegally classify and use prejudiced stereotypes to insult and humiliate people of all ages (Li
et.al., 2022).
Discrimination in broad term refers to the unjust and often based treatment of people
wherein they are divided and subjected to societal unjust and wrongdoings on the basis of
parameters such as their race and ethnicity. Ethnic discrimination has been around many aspects
of life and has been deeply inculcated in the very fabric of our major institutions of sciences and
even education as when it comes to people belonging to minority ethnicities which means their
cultural and physical characteristics are different than the ones found in dominant groups
persisting in the society, are still not getting opportunities in society and in schools as attitude of

teachers and the society at large towards groups such as Africans and Latinos is very different
than predominant white people.
The landscape within which learning frameworks are developed in schools and the way
modern classrooms are shaped in terms of the racial and ethnic diversity which exists between
students belong to different backgrounds has changed radically over the last few years. Due to
mass migration which has happened wherein people belonging to less fortunate and developed
countries settle in major nations such as America and UK and also due to the advent of cultural
globalization, the classrooms are much more diverse. According to the reports, in the fall of
2018, of the 50.7 million students who were enrolled in public schools, 23.8 million were
predominantly white and minorities such as blacks comprised were 7.7 million which is a very
welcome change compared to statistics of previous years. There has been a major shift in the
way diversity is being address in schools as there have been many changes being made to the
curriculum along with general pedagogy which is being applied to teach diverse classrooms
(Odekunle, 2020). The reason why ethically based discrimination is prevalent in schools is
because many educational institutes are against this diversity and students belonging to different
cultural and societal backgrounds are treated in a homogeneous minors and backward classes are
pushed downwards instead of getting uplifted.
The educational institutes play a major role in making sure that the children are getting
impart quality education to children belonging to different backgrounds irrespective of any bias
or prejudice which might exist due to their being different cultural upbringings and habitual
differences between teachers and various children. As it was established earlier that the way
children exist as a group in schools have changed as they exist in a bubble made up of various
culturally diverse factors, the teaching frameworks that they develop within has been subject to
extreme forms of racism and ethically charged and suggestive discrimination for many years.
The field of discrimination in schools is a very broad topic with immense scope and possible
reasoning as there are multitude of factors which lead to students getting treated unfairly such as
classism, gender oriented discrimination along with severe stereotyping which can be owed to
ethnicity (Torres et.al., 2020). One of the major harms that has been done to the school setting
and learning patterns used in schooling by ethnicity is that it has led to various harmful
stereotyping which is actively harming students by making their constant mockery happening
among peers, classmates and even by teachers. Some examples include African students

automatically being assumed as being unlawful, comedians and being labelled as 'thugs' which
might be a common word but its used in an ethnic context, it is a very rough and charged form of
discrimination. Another major way in which ethnic discrimination operates in schools is through
the income and ethnic divides on the basis of which educational opportunities are provided as
people from generic and dominant backgrounds such as white American males are given many
chances to succeed academically and they generally receive much better education as they tend
to live in better neighbourhoods compared to marginalized students. Probably the most important
and blatant way in which such types of discrimination operates in schools around America and
on a global scale is that people from diverse backgrounds are being taught by majority race
individuals who are on sensitive on the major issues such people face due to systemic racism and
discrimination in their daily lives (Walsh et.al., 2021). A major example which can be observed
in various schools of U.S.A is that for black children and other students belonging to diverse
backgrounds such as Latinos and Indians are being taught mostly by white teachers which do not
know anything about the racist struggle that students face in their lives and they brush off major
issues raised by children and often address them using racist languages under the guise of 'just
cracking a joke'. All these instances of cultural and historically prevailing accounts of racism
which happens due to ethnic differences have tainted the current educational standards of even
the most prestigious schools of major world leading nations such as America and major
questions have to raised in order to find such solutions as the people which are involved in
imparting quality education must ensure that such discriminatory instances are eradicated from
the system itself.
There are various reasons which the rampant discrimination which exists in the education
talk institutes of U.S.A can be attributed to as there has been a long historical precedent behind
such occurrences as the very foundation of the schools are often built of the backs of racism and
ethically biased factors. A major example which verifies this fact is that most of the schools are
built on the basis of the neighbourhood they are will be located in and the predominant ethnicity
of the people that reside their. This directly leads to the fact that high quality schools with decent
infrastructure are primarily established in lands dominated by white people while areas where
minorities live such as Asians and Blacks, receive much less in comparison. The prevailing
traditions are also a major reason as it is a known fact that black people were owned as slaves by
white and more affluent people just a few centuries ago and this has led to the rise of white

supremacy even in schools as many teachers simply do not prefer educating marginalized
students and do not prefer engaging with them on a daily basis. The outdated curriculum and
syllabus taught in many public schools also is a reason behind such practices taking place as they
are not built to incorporate marginalized students and are framed mainly for teaching the
generally dominant race which are the white people (Zahodne et.al., 2021).
“Discrimination doesn't just impact the target of discrimination. It can shape the opinions
of all people” is a quite that rings very true when it comes to the discussion of ethnic
discrimination which happens in schools and society in general as whenever people belonging to
any marginalized class such as economically backward people, African and Asian minorities
along with women are subjected to any form of prejudice or bias, it holds implications for not
only them but the broader societal fabric at large. According to many studies and researches
conducted by scientists which are well renowned in their fields, there are no ways which can be
accredited to science wherein human beings can be accurately classified on different groups
which makes the entire concept of race and ethnicity invalid however they are still taught at
every emotional level leading to mass reports of racism. If one analyses the growth of racism in
modern times along with ethnic differences being used to stereotype and embarrass people even
to an extent where they contemplate suicide, we can easily realize that apart from the victim, the
people at large are also impacted majorly and this phenomenon exists both on an individual and
societal scale.
When it comes to targeted individuals, the implications of discrimination are quite grim
as children are getting subject to such traumatic experiences at an early age which can lead to
many social and mental roadblocks to their personal and professional development. Children get
affected a lot when they are subjected to ethnic discrimination as they develop a self loathing
attitude, develop negative world view and often become an antagonist in their own eyes. The
mental trauma also lasts for a long period of time which often results in such children growing
up resenting their childhood and entering adolescent depression which is a very dangerous
precedent. The new sociology of childhood states that children are social actors which can
quickly absorb and learn from their surroundings and also states that childhood is a social
construct which is why such instances of discrimination can have long lasting impact on children
wherein they can even become discriminators themselves as such behaviour is never learnt from
natural environment (Zajda, 2021).

When it comes to implications of ethnic discrimination on a societal level, there are also
major implications on a societal level as such instances when allowed to happen freely in school
can set harmful precedent for all audiences involved. Students of white and dominant racial
lineage can feel empowered when they witness acts of discrimination by fellow students and
teachers going unpunished which leads to increase in white supremacy and sentiments such as
Islamophobia (Zhongming, 2020). There are also extreme use of ethnic slurs in schools by
people which is often ignored by the authorities and this leads to the normalization of such
behaviour not only by students in schools but in their personal lives and social media which
when bundled together make it very tough for people belonging to marginalized backgrounds
and of different sexual orientations to lead their lives and schooling in peace.
CONCLUSION
The above concluded essay went into detail regarding current schooling framework being
taught to children across America along with existence of societal evils such as racism and
discrimination based on ethnic differences. The report went into detail regarding the scope and
scale of this problem which exists not only in schooling but the broad culture at large along with
the various ways in which ethnic discrimination happens in schools. The report also detailed the
reasons behind such practices being common even in modernized societies in current time and
was concluded with the study of ethnicity based bias on an individual and societal level.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Grapin, S. L., Griffin, C. B., Naser, S. C., Brown, J. M., & Proctor, S. L. (2019). School-based
interventions for reducing youths’ racial and ethnic prejudice. Policy Insights from the
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(2), 154-161.
Li, C., Zhang, X., & Cheng, X. (2022). Perceived discrimination, integration, depression and
behavioral problems among Chinese migrant children: Examining the moderating role
of migration pattern in the rural‐urban dual system. Health & Social Care in the
Community.
Odekunle, E. A. (2020). Dismantling systemic racism in science. Science, 369(6505), 780-781.
Torres, L., Reveles, A. K., Mata-Greve, F., Schwartz, S., & Domenech Rodriguez, M. M.
(2020). Reactions to witnessing ethnic microaggressions: An experimental study.
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 39(2), 141-164.
Walsh, K., Gilmore, A. K., Barr, S. C., Frazier, P., Ledray, L., Acierno, R., ... & Resnick, H. S.
(2021). The role of discrimination experiences in postrape adjustment among racial and
ethnic minority women. Journal of interpersonal violence, 08862605211028006.
Zahodne, L. B., Sharifian, N., Kraal, A. Z., Zaheed, A. B., Sol, K., Morris, E. P., ... & Brickman,
A. M. (2021). Socioeconomic and psychosocial mechanisms underlying racial/ethnic
disparities in cognition among older adults. Neuropsychology, 35(3), 265.
Zajda, J. (2021). Discrimination and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Schools Globally. In
Globalisation and Education Reforms (pp. 51-70). Springer, Cham.
Zhongming, Z., Linong, L., Xiaona, Y., Wangqiang, Z., & Wei, L. (2020). Systemic racism has
consequences for all life in cities.