Racial Discrimination of African-American Students
Introduction
It is now over a century and a half since President Abraham Lincoln took the courageous step of issuing the emancipation proclamation that essentially laid the foundation for the freeing of African-Americans from slavery. Since then, African-Americans have been engaged in a never-ending struggle to effectively appropriate this hard fought freedom. The election of Barack Obama to the highest office of the United States is perhaps a significant enough achievement that speaks volumes of just how far African-Americans have come. However, a closer look at Americas social, economic and political fabric reveals a grim truth – that close to two centuries after gaining their freedom, African-Americans are still discriminated based on their racial identity. This paper focuses on the issue of racial discrimination of African-Americans as it relates to schools, and also explores what role existing solutions such as the diversification of student populations, parent outreach programs, and the promotion of positive racial identity serve in the mitigation of the problem.
Problem Statement The problem as identified in this essay is the issue of racial discrimination of African-American students within the school system. By African-American, this essay not only takes into account those blacks who are born in America to black parents, but also to a mixture of parents where the father is of black descent. In addition to this,