Institutional Racism In Schools

516 Words3 Pages

It’s unfortunate that even in today’s society that institutional racism is something that happens in the everyday life of many people, especially minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics. Koppelman (2014) defines institutional racism as “establish laws, customs, and practices that systematically reflect and produce racial inequities in American society” (Koppelman, 2014, p. 189). One example of where institutional racism is prevalent is in standardized testing in schools. There has always been a question of whether standardized testing, in particular the SAT’s, have been fair to minority students. Even though the SAT board feels that the test has been researched to include questions that give students from different races and …show more content…

In the past segregation of schools was a major issue for educational equality. Today there is still an issue with equal educational opportunities in addition to the issue of standardized testing. More than likely in the future there will still be an issue with standardized testing as well as minority students not being able to attend colleges because of college loan problems. Another effect is high unemployment due to minorities not being able to get a college education because most jobs now are requiring education beyond high school. One thing that is being done today is that some schools are placing less emphasis on the SAT as a requirement for admission. This has helped in some instances but I think that if standardized testing was eliminated altogether then it would provide a better advantage for minorities. College admissions should be based on their grades, community service, and school activities. Some students do well in the class but don’t do well on standardized tests. Also, I think that the SAT board should be comprised of many different races and cultures so that they can make up a test that will give everyone an equal chance at passing it. It is sad that institutional racism has existed throughout history whether its schools, banks, or other institutions; and unfortunately it will probably continue to exist if we don’t actively continue to work toward