how racist motivations have infiltrated attempts to abolish racism

how racist motivations have infiltrated attempts to abolish racism

This is mostly because the racism is so ingrained in society that even efforts to abolish racism have been infiltrated by racist motivations. Even in schools where racial equality is one of the main aspirations of many institutions, racism is still a problem. Gorski’s article writes how racist motivations have infiltrated attempts to abolish racism. According to Gorski, white people employ methods which they follow to protect their privilege and avoid the real hard work that the abolition of racism requires.

Gorski mentions that the primary equity detour is the pacing-for-privilege detour. This is whereby the attempts at establishing an environment that genuinely upholds racial equality tend to tolerate those who are the least interested in racial equality while punishing those who are the most affected by racism. This is the mother of all detours. In many schools, programs aimed at creating a racially equal environment are aimed at helping white people to accept people of other races and treat them fairly rather than giving people of colour the protection they deserve from racists. For example, in cases of racial abuse, sometimes the perpetrator of the racial abuse is suspended if the act is severe, and the one who was abused is advised to persevere and remember that the school is supportive of racial equality. However, on instances of subtle racism, which are by far the most prevalent in institutions, the abuser is usually advised to go to the school counsellor while the one suffering racial abuse usually is left to handle the effects which are usually trivialized by themselves. Instead of using the school resources to alleviate the state of coloured students, the school uses these resources to bring those with racist tendencies to the table.

The direct confrontation principle as an equity literacy principle is one of the methods through which we can confront equity detours. This involves how racism is operating in policy curricula and practices and changing them accordingly.

The model minority myth is a phrase coined in the 1960s that claims that because of following Asian traditions, Asian students are expected to be obedient, hard-working, docile, good at math and science and college-bound. Essentially the model minority myth alludes to the tendency of Asian students to succeed in American society because of their adherence to Asian values.

However, this myth is dangerous for many reasons. First, it masks the diversity of the Asian American community, which encompasses many people from various areas in Asia by labelling them all under one term, which makes it easier for them to be stereotyped. The myth also covers the class divide between Asians in America. Even within the “Asian” race, there are those who belong to the middle class and those who belong to the working class. Research has shown that just like all students, students from middle-class families tend to perform better than those students from working-class families. The myth ignores the struggle of low-income families as they struggle to obtain a good education for their children. The myth also serves to obscure the economic circumstance of Asians, which are still relatively lower than that of white Americans. The myth is also used to castigate other racial minorities such as blacks, Latinos and other racial minorities in the US by claiming that they have racial weaknesses which could adversely affect the confidence of non-Asian students of colour.

Teachers can unmask this myth in classrooms by shunning the assumption that Asian Americans are good students. Teachers can also alter their interpretation of silence of Asian students in a class, teach about Asian heroes, teach students how to challenge racism and illustrate historical and political intersections between Asin Americans and other groups. In this way, teachers can challenge this myth while also creating an environment that fosters the success of Asian American students.

Lee Mun Wah tells a story that resonates with many people of colour in the USA. The USA has a long and ugly history of racial oppression, and despite the significant progress in terms of racial equality, the problem of racism still exists in contemporary society. Lee Mun Wah’s story tells of the ugly side of racism, Americanization, microaggression and internalized oppression.

Lee Mun Wah covers racism. As he was growing up, a black student was caught gambling, and because the school did not want to deal with the black student, he was expelled. Because most of the community there was predominantly white, they did not want anything to do with black people. And because outright racial discrimination is illegal, they employ stereotyping that takes root in society in an attempt to demonize a particular group. Therefore, because the black student committed one act that affirmed these stereotypes, not because of his offence but because of his colour. This young black man later grew up to be a murderer, and this shows how racism leads to disenfranchisement that leads them to a life of crime.

Mun Wah also addresses the story of microaggression. As a young student, Mun Wah talks about how the students claimed that his food was smelly, forcing him to pour his food into the trash. He also remembers how other kids would mock his eyes and make him lose his sense of self-worth. Many other people of colour are subjected to these seemingly harmless taunts and jibes about their appearance and culture. The effect of these microaggressions and racism is internal oppression. For Mun Wah, he poured his food into the trash. For others, they seek procedures to correct their looks. They punish themselves and lose their sense of self-worth because they begin to believe what society says about them. This leads to these people of colour to start Americanizing by shedding their culture and identity and mimicking traits that are prominent in American culture. In the process, they lose their identity and live forever, hating themselves.