Racial discrimination is not a past issue of the 1950s. It happens every day, in many small ways that people hardly notice. Racism occurs at interpersonal and institutional levels. How their classmates, neighbors and other people they interact with the way people of color and all others they interact with determine presents racial discrimination without many of them realizing. For instance, when a student experiences a technical problem and there is a black expert in the room, but then prefers to be assisted by another White expert, they are unconscious racists. The "preferences" are unintentionally registered in the mind that Whites are better in technology than Blacks are. Organizational racism is even more rampant since institutions have embraced through beliefs and culture. The education system is an illustration of a deeply rooted vice that needs to be eliminated before it destroys the whole system.
In March 2019, a major college admission scandal hit the education sector. There had been claims of the same before, but the reports were not clear. The FBI thus went into the details of the allegations and came up with extremely shocking revelations. The racism levels in the education sector are an illustration of astray societal beliefs and culture. The Brown versus Board of Education verdict of 1954 marked a significant shift on racial discrimination in education. The verdict overturned the Plessey versus Ferguson ruling which allowed segregation of schools. With the reason that both schools were equal although separate, the verdict barred white and black students from sharing classes. The Brown ruling thus equalized both races, making it illegal for blacks to be refused admission into major colleges and universities ( Luca, Rooney & Smith, 2017) . However, seventy years later, the same is still happening although in a different version. The admission scandals were a modern-day version of the segregation in 1950 when education was more important for the White community as compared the Black and Hispanic ones. Racism is deeply rooted in the education system, and parents are willing to do absurd things just to secure a place in good universities despite the grades of their children.
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Parents have to buy their way into universities, which has sparked an intense debate on racial and educational quality. The wealthy can get into elite universities of their preference because they can bribe the officials or become donors in a bid to secure these positions. According to Lockhart (2019), Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman have been caught in this storm when reports of their participation in the huge deception of 2019 university admissions came into the limelight. The poor, Blacks and Hispanics have no right quality education since they cannot afford to bribe officials or become benefactors. Even for those who rightfully deserve the positions through merit, they are no longer able to secure them due to the unfavorable competition. Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities, has been listed among the universities in which racially based admissions are made.
The FBI compiled a 200-page report of some of the methods used to secure a position in the prestigious institutions. For instance, Loughlin allegedly spent a whopping $500,000 to bribe sports officials so that they could forge documents for her daughters in the crew team for the University of Southern California (Lockhart, 2019). Parents even go to the extent of faking a disability to gain entry into institutions. For those with enough money, they offer to donate to their university of choice as a way of creating rapport and influence within the administration. In this way, their children stand a higher chance of being admitted in these universities despite their grades. According to Cyberworld, (2019) although grades matter, their cluster points are lower than the others who have to gain admission by merit purely. Officials have also received bribes to alter the results of tests such as SAT and ACT to create an impression of bright students. A typical representation of the results of this racism is in the Stuyvesant of New York. In a class of 900 students, only seven were blacks, and thirty-three were Hispanics.
Racism, however, does not originate from a vacuum. It is shaped by societal attitude, beliefs, and culture. The black community has been associated with violence, use of force to gain what they want. They are also associated with low living standards since most of them live below the poverty line. Life in the ghetto is associated with survival for the fittest. Thus a notion of Africans being poor and illiterate has shaped the practice of them being treated unfairly in the admission process. The thought of Black lives being of lesser value is still rampant. Racism starts in the small ways Blacks and Hispanics are treated. When a crime is committed, and the police are looking for the suspect, in a group of three Whites and One Black and a Hispanic, the three white guys are farthest from being suspects. The black is the first suspect, followed by the person of Latin origin. It is such daily actions that lower the dignity of non-white lives are lowered.
The people of color have even given up the fight for equality in some cases since the government does not support them. A battle of a small group against a larger one, which is joined by the government, becomes almost futile to fight. When Donald Trump became president in 2017, the people of color felt threatened. He said that his government would deport all immigrants without proper documentation. The threat was felt most by students who had moved into the US to study and were currently working. After struggling with racism in school and were glad to be working, their efforts were just about to go down the drain. Although the process was to be carried out systemically and following the right procedures according to the law, such political tension fuels the discrimination such students face. The political views of leaders shape the people’s perspective. The inequality in the education system could, therefore, be linked to political comments against people of color.
The bible is also keen to point out the importance and equality of all lives despite their color or ethnicity. The creation account says that God created every human being in His image and likeness. The race or ethnicity of God is not known. Thus no race should feel closer to God. Although Jesus Christ was a Jew; the Jews did not believe in him and stuck to Judaism. Jesus also preached that the people Jews looked down upon would inherit the kingdom of God and leave out the Jews. Jews felt superior to the Gentiles since they were from Abraham’s lineage. They believed that they had more rights to the kingdom of God than other tribes. This sermon is an illustration of how biblical teachings embrace equality and condemn partiality. The book of Deuteronomy chapter 17, God says that He does not show partiality of any kind. Thus Christians must also not show favoritism. In the book of Proverbs chapter twenty-two verse two, the scripture says that both rich and poor, God makes them all. The book of Hebrews also speaks of treating sojourners like brothers, since people have welcomed angels into their homes without their knowledge. This relates to immigrants in the US. Some of them are survivors of war and mistreatment. No amount of money, no nationality or race is superior to another before God.
Conclusion
Racial discrimination is deeply rooted in the education sector. The black and Hispanic community is not given equal chances in elite en harder for immigrants. Institutions of higher learning despite being qualified. This is a huge discouragement to the many young people, especially outside the United States, who dreams of studying abroad.
Given that the system is already unfair to residents, it is even harder for immigrants. Majority of classes are dominated with the white community, leaving the rest to scramble for a few remaining slots. The inability to bribe officials or influence the administration robs much black youth of the opportunity to study in their dream institutions. Reforms are thus urgently needed in the education sector since the law against inequality is no longer adhered to. The citizens are unable to win the battle on their own. The government must support equality and intervene for equality in the education sector to be achieved.
References
Luca, M., Rooney, P., & Smith, J. (2017). The impact of campus scandals on college applications. Harvard Business School NOM Unit Working Paper , (16-137).
Cyber World. (2019). What the college admissions scandal says about racial inequality Retrieved from https://cwcyberworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/what-college-admissions-scandal-says.html
Lockhart P. R (2019) What the college admissions scandal says about racial inequality. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/3/20/18271462/college-admissions-race-stuyvesant-affirmative-action-inequality
