Racial Discussion in the Classroom

    Despite the belief that our society is colorblind and totally equal, we still have very many racial inequity problems here in the United States. Some of our biggest problems lie within our educational system. Most people, including teachers, harbor the beliefs that African American students under perform and Asian American students exceed performance standards, when in reality each student is different.

    It is extremely important to discuss openly and unbiasedly discuss racial issues within our educational system to help each student reach his or her true potential. With all of the different stereotypes surrounding each student, they can become discouraged or start believing the stereotype is actually true. This will lead to everyone holding on to resentment for actions that most people are not even aware are happening. 

    It is up to teachers within the education system to bring these issues to everyone’s attention and begin the change. In a study done at Liberty University, it was found that “Teachers’ opinions concerning the perceptive dimensions of their students as well as a teachers’ obligation to the profession of teaching in itself, portrays an important part in the formation of their students’ academic achievement” (Batts 2012, p. 8).  A teacher’s perception of a student directly impacts that students academic performance. If a teacher holds fast to these stereotypes, the teacher’s students will embrace those stereotypes rather than find their true potential. Educators need to forget the stereotypes and see each student for what he or she truly is. They should strive to make their classroom free of any discriminations based upon race or ethnicity. It begins with a teacher.

    I think one strategy for talking about race within a classroom is by letting each student show their heritage, through projects, show-and-tell, or papers, and presenting, rather than letting someone else define them. For younger kids this may be a little harder, but you could still openly discuss race by showing and helping kids understand that despite difference of looks or belongings, they all have important roles in society.

    Race is an incredibly hard issue to bring up in school even 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement. As a society we pretend that we don’t see race, but we still see the stereotypes that each race holds. We need to truly break free by addressing the problem and changing attitudes.




Works Cited

Batts, P. L. (2012). Urban versus Suburban Public Schools: Resolving the Issue of Racial Inequality in Education. Online Submission,