Research paper

African American education and stereotype

It is no secret that the African American community is often looked
down upon in America in regards to education. History of Black
Education.
Schools, however, were at the mercy of the white-controlled state
government for funding. Many whites did not want blacks to become
educated, fearing they would challenge white supremacy and not be
content with jobs working in the fields or in domestic service. Black
schools therefore received far less financial support than did white
schools. Black schools had fewer books, worse buildings, and less well
paid teachers. Eventually across American South, Black schools were
beginning to emerge. At the forefront of this new wave of Black
education was the Blacks themselves. The black community gave
much more toward their own. African Americans have historically
suffered discrimination in this country, in housing, employment and
education. The landmark civil rights case, Brown v. Board of Education,
was a seminal moment in the education of African Americans The past
few decades have seen much progress in the education of African
Americans. More African Americans now complete high school and go
on to college. As the parents of African American students are now
more highly educated, the likelihood that their children also will be high
school and college graduates increases. Standardized test scores have
risen, and the number of African Americans living below the poverty
level also has decreased.
Every society experiences varied degrees of stereotypes to
particular groups based on race, ethnicity, and religion among other
influences. In America, African Americans have always been
stereotyped as more inclined to engage in criminal activities. The image
depicted is that of African Americans wearing a facemask with only eye
and mouth opening with guns strapped inside their leather jackets or
tight jeans. The stereotypes have therefore painted a grossly incorrect
picture of African American men as violent, aggressive monsters who
rob and rape carelessly. As a result, innocent African American youth
have wrongly been prosecuted and sentenced to capital punishment
even when they are innocent.
In stereotyping the African American men as criminals who derive
pleasure from inflicting pain on other members of the society,
especially the white people, the stereotype has been grossly unfair. The
stereotyping has denied the African Americans men the access to fair
trial in the judicial system as most of them are incarcerated in their
innocence. A close examination of the past executions of death row
convicts reveals that African American men are more likely to be
executed than white convicts for same degree of crime are. Further, the
society has traits of mistrust for the African American youth denying
them the opportunity to make positive contributions in the society.
It has certainly been shocking to us to discover there has been progress
in some areas but without equity progress not shared equally among all
the students.
Poor test scores are only part of the equation. Only 1 in 2 African-
American students in Chicago graduates from high school, a number
that has increased over the past decade but not at the rate of other
racial and ethnic groups. School suspensions, expulsions and
disciplinary cases also affect black students disproportionally.
This is an important issue in Chicago, where almost half of CPS students
are black, and the vast majority from low-income households. Yet for all
the talk and attention paid to boosting African-American achievement
in recent years, there has been no such breakthrough.
The education system was never designed to educate the diversity of
More than 50 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark
United States Supreme Court decision that ended racial segregation in
Public schools, most African American children in this country are still
denied the education they need to find meaningful and well-paying
jobs, to thrive in college, to participate fully in this nations economic
and civic life, and to join and continue the fight for a truly just society
Today, we expect all students to achieve and succeed in school, yet
current data shows that 23.6 percent of African American students in
Our state drop out during their high school years.
Students currently in our schools. We must change these outcomes and
ensure that our education system recognizes and provides
opportunities for all students to be successful.
Student achievement for African American students lags considerably
behind White and Asian students.
African-Americans have made great strides in educational rights, such
as establishing universities and colleges and changing laws. As a result,
many African-Americans have been able to advance their education,
but there have also been set-backs.
While America is founded on the principle that "all men are created
equal," many racial and ethnic groups have not always found equality.
African Americans, in particular, have endured a legacy of American
racism from slavery to Jim Crow that affected all aspects of life.
Implications of the study of national trends and of the study of
individual institutions are discussed. In a qualitative inquiry across
a range of cities, schools, and family circumstances, African
American high-school students are given the opportunity to voice
their perceptions of the barriers African Addition to examining the
higher education system as a whole, a sample of institutions are
also assessed. Cost differences among institutions, institutional
affluence and patterns of resource allocation, effect of
institutional affluence on educational outcomes, and economies
and diseconomies of scale are analyzed.
Americans faro educate the community regarding the history of
African Americans in our country.
Adequate and equitable resources are important to the future
success and development of Black students. Far too often, Black
studentsmales in particularare unnecessarily placed in special
education classes, while the number of Black students who take
honors and advanced courses remains significantly below that of
other groups. School funding structures that lead to under-
funding and under-resourcing our neediest schools have
furthered the achievement gaps. All students deserve a quality
public education, and this can only occur when
we close the gaps in equity and access.