[Essay] Racism and Internalized Racism

According to www.encyclopedia.com, racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently according to their racial designation. Sometimes racism means beliefs, practices, and institutions that discriminate against people based on their perceived or ascribed race. There is a growing, but somewhat controversial, opinion that racism is a system of oppression -- a nexus of racist beliefs, whether explicit, tacit or unconscious; practices; organizations and institutions that combine to discriminate against and marginalize a class of people who share a common racial designation, based on that designation. Basically, there are several issues in racism that affects the development and healthy ego functioning of an individual particularly the youth in some schools.

Apparently, Lily Wong-Filmore, the author of the article entitled: “Equity and education in the new racism: issues for educators” compares the American educational system’s method of placement with those of China and Japan and critiques the use of examinations which measure one’s intelligence and cognitive abilities such as IQ tests to group children according to their abilities. She asserts that unlike America, China’s Educational system doesn’t care much for individual differences, though they may recognize that one child is smarter than the other. When children do not turn out well, the child isn’t seen as incapable of learning or incompetent, rather it is because their parents or teachers weren’t doing a competent job teaching them. Teaching must be constant and consistent, anything less is viewed as proof of inadequate parenting and teaching. The important thing is that as far as most Chinese are concerned, innate differences in individual cognitive abilities do not weigh heavily with regards to learning.

The author of this text addresses the question as to what the educators might do to attain unity in society, despite all of the forces at work to divide it, and what they can do to reach a multicultural society in which the diversity serves to unite rather than divide its people. The author argues that the starting point is to confront the beliefs and values that divide society and to take into account the common factors that could unite the society.

The problem it seems, with the current educational system is that it has been too complacent or too comfortable to address the issue of internalized racism. The academe has taken refuge in its insistence that racism could not exist in an academic institute because of the ideals that the institute claim to uphold. Efforts towards establishing an earnest multicultural institute are being made however to address and handle this problem and it begins with initiating a self examination on one’s awareness in detecting racist forms of behaviors and attitudes. Common solutions propose to break the silence by gaining enough courage to talk it through with the kids in order to gain a better understanding of themselves as well as growing in a culturally diverse environment.