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Title: How are Schools Racist?
Author: Steve Lorenz
Date: June 29, 2007
Language: en
Topics: school, education, racism, Bring the Ruckus
Source: Retrieved on March 14, 2019 from https://web.archive.org/web/20190314161020/http://www.bringtheruckus.org/?q=node/27
Notes: Steve Lorenz is a member of Bring the Ruckus.

Steve Lorenz

How are Schools Racist?

It is accepted by virtually everyone from most political perspectives

that a person’s education is a key to their freedom. Although

definitions of freedom may vary widely, there is not as much difference

in people’s definitions of education. Images of pencils,

(pesticide-laden) super-red apples, and desks in neat rows quickly come

to mind. But where do these images come from, and why are they the ones

that even political enemies share? Surely, in the thousands of years

that native North Americans thrived before the arrival of Europeans,

their young were educated—that is, introduced into the ways that their

communities worked and encouraged to find socially meaningful work for

themselves. With the arrival of the whites, this general educational

tradition—which varied from tribe to tribe—has been on the retreat, and

has nearly been stamped out entirely. A rich oral culture was subsumed

by necessity, as the need for literacy grew due to the exigencies of

making treaties and negotiations with whites.

Although it is not my wish to romanticize the Native education, it is

useful to think about, particularly in today’s educational context. To

return to the original statement of this essay, I add this twist: A

people’s education is a key to their collective liberation. For Native

Americans, and African-, Mexican-, Asian- and Arab-Americans and Puerto

Ricans, the quest for liberation in this land of the white has been

thwarted in no small part because of how their educational opportunities

have been controlled by the white ruling elite. Although I am not

positing that a common school, or a public school as it has come to be

known, can of itself create a free society, I am arguing that schools

are institutions that steadfastly uphold the racial divide that pervades

the rest of U.S. society. With some exceptions due to immense struggle,

the history of American education has been the elevation, imposition,

and maintenance of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture. This continues

to this day.

In popular cinematic depictions of inner-city schools with majority

people of color students, which often, though not always have ‘happy’

ending, the theme often conveys that non-white characters (be they

students, teachers, or principals) can achieve some form of salvation by

adopting a WASP outlook. Whether it’s accepting a white heroine teacher

(Dangerous Minds), a ‘good’ teacher exacting revenge (187, The

Substitute), or an authoritarian wielding a Louisville Slugger and

bullhorn, keeping all the scum out, and whipping the students into shape

to pass the test designed by whites (Lean on Me), such films play to the

values of the dominant culture rather than develop a critical analysis

of it or even portray people of color building real community power. Of

course, it is not of celluloid dreams that liberation will come;

however, it will neither come by some accident of benevolence passed on

by the ruling elite—that is clear. From the pure denial of education to

the separate but unequal schools, for the Chicano kids of the southwest

to the Puerto Rican kids of New York City to the African American kids

of Chicago, the history and present of the U.S. school system is filled

with racism.

First, a little history: It should not be necessary to allot much time

to describing how schools have contributed to the domination of all

people of color in the United States, but a few helpful facts and

anecdotes might remind us. The legacy of segregation (and its return due

to such factors as de-industrialization and white flight) cannot be

overestimated. The education in most non-white schools was vastly

inferior, as it was intended to supply an underclass of people who would

accept a social position of underemployment and perpetual landlessness.

From 1899, hear William H. Baldwin, president of the Long Island

Railroad, in a statement widely accepted by liberals and ‘progressives’

of the time: “Know that it is a crime for any teacher, white or black,

to educate the Negro for positions which are not open to him.” The type

of education they received in the late 19^(th) and early 20^(th) century

is epitomized by the Hampton Institute—attended by Booker T.

Washington—where young black students where taught in the ways of hard

manual labor. This curriculum was adopted later on as the general track

into which most African American students were placed. In fact, in many

one-race school districts the “general track”—one that did little to

prepare a person for college or a job—was the only one available.

Though school administrators and social reformers who influenced

American education all varied in their approach to dealing with ‘Negro,’

‘Indian,’ and ‘foreign stock’(which for a while included Southern

Europeans, Eastern Europeans and Irish), they were fairly unanimous in

their desire to impose the dominant culture on them. Whether it was to

acquire Indian lands, bring African Americans into the employment pool,

or curb the spread of Catholicism, these efforts were very successful.

The English Language has been the major force of deculturalization of

youth of color in schools. There is a long history of Native Americans,

blacks, and immigrants being forced to learn English and made to lose

their native tongue. Obviously, with the passage of Question 2 in last

year’s election, which barred teachers from using students’ native

languages in the classroom, the forces of reaction in the form of

English-only zealots are alive and well. This deculturalization, which

includes many other elements beyond language, has always been best

imposed by appealing to logic, market forces, and an overall nod to

‘what’s best for the kids.’ This is seen in the development of so-called

proper English or standard English—the historical basis for which is

murky at best: If people don’t know ‘proper English’ they won’t be able

to get jobs and do well. But who really knows ‘proper English’ and what

allegiance should we have to it? Similarly, the racist rollback of 1960s

and 70s-era bilingual education programs, programs that worked to a

large extent and increased the bilingualism of whites, is achieved by

appealing to the American value of equal opportunity. Whether put forth

by nakedly racist and anti-immigrant factions or someone such as Rosalie

Porter, who spearheaded local support for Question 2 by appealing to

‘equality,’ the deculturalization policies are still working.

Funding of majority non-white schools is still substantially lower than

majority white districts in virtually every instance. Because school

funding is largely tied to property taxes, this is the way in which it

is easiest to see the vast political and economic forces at work and the

racism that persists. Thus, especially in this time of state fiscal

crises, it is not uncommon to see a severe dearth of textbooks (to say

nothing of how outdated they are), as well as great structural problems

within the schools themselves, including ceilings falling in on kids’

heads—the same as what Jonathan Kozol described happened in Roxbury

schools in 1967 in Death at an Early Age. Though we hear much through

mainstream media about the wasteland of inner city schools in regard to

how violent they are (though most high-profile schools shooters have

been white and in mostly-white districts), it is the school buildings

and the toxins they harbor that are more of a threat to students of

color in poor urban schools.

The face of authority and knowledge is white. Although 33% of students

enrolled in public schools are “minorities” and that number is expected

to climb to 42% within the next few years, only 13% of all teachers are

“minorities,” and that number is expected to shrink to as low as 5% in

the next decade. Numbers for administrators are even lower. Much of this

can be attributed to the growing power of graduate schools of education

and the related teacher-certification process which excludes many people

of color due to cost prohibitions, and lack of recruitment and

retainment programs. It is interesting that the AmeriCorps program

allows for non-certified college graduates to teach in inner-city public

schools, and that many of those who enroll are white and middle class,

some of them doing their Clintonian charity work before moving on with

their careers. The assumption is that these young graduates will have at

least a modicum of competence—enough to teach the colored kids, anyway.

But there would never be a program that allowed for a large number of

non-certified, non-college graduates of color to teach in any school,

regardless of how great their desire to do so. In the end we are left

with a lot of white faces at the front of a lot of non-white students.

For many working class people of color there may develop either feelings

of deference or animosity—or some combination of both—toward their

children’s teachers. But mostly they might just wonder, ‘Why can’t

someone from our community teach our kids?’

The form and content of school is racist. In the most contentious

subjects—social studies, history and English—the story is still told

from a very white point of view. Although many textbooks have been

‘upgraded’ to reflect the contributions of people of color to

civilization and, in particular, the United States, they are still tools

to foster obedience and conformity to, as bell hooks calls it, the

capitalist-white supremacist-patriarchal system. So, though we see a few

more black, brown, and Asian faces, major criticisms of the U.S. by

people of color are avoided or are left out altogether. The reason for

this can be gleaned from the celebrated liberal establishment historian

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who has said that students should be united

around a core set of values derived from White Anglo-Saxon Protestant

traditions. He says of the United States: “The language of the new

nation, its laws, its institutions, its political ideas, its literature,

its customs, its precepts, its prayers, primarily derived from Britain.”

Thus we have curriculums that admit the gross injustices of slavery and

Japanese internment but hold that whites also set up a great system

under which all people can succeed.

Furthermore, standards of excellence have been created by white people,

and for white people. These standards deny the cultural forms that many

non-whites used to or still employ. What is excellent? A score of 1400

on the SATs, or an intricately woven blanket? Writing an essay for

judges to score or rapping a song for friends on a street corner? School

is not about finding out what’s worth doing, or about figuring things

out, it’s about other people taking up your time—this is true for youth

of color more than anyone.

In further incursions on time and freedom, these standards have

increasingly been measured through standardized tests, which largely

serve to marginalize people of color and working class whites who don’t

have the same community resources to ensure their success on such tests.

These tests also reinforce the myth of a standard English, completely

ignoring the nuanced, lyrical and effective way in which non-white and

non-native English speakers communicate.

The standard weapon of defense by social justice and anti-racist

advocates against the conservative culture warriors has been to call for

multiculturalism in the school curriculum. This has resulted in some

positive results: a rethinking of the Western canon to reflect the

writings of people of color and women; a mostly positive reflection on

the civil rights movement and some of the aspirations of ‘key leaders’

like Martin Luther King, Jr.; and, at times, and in different places,

strong support for bilingual/ESOL education, and various units and

projects about the quest for civil rights. In some places, a push for

multicultural education has also led to different methods for teaching

math concepts. What multicultural education has not ushered in is a

complete revamping of all kids’ schooling, where all students become at

least bilingual and study different cultures. As educator James Banks

says, multiculturalism should pervade the curriculum and general life of

the school, including bulletin boards, lunchrooms, assemblies,

everything. In my view, what multiculturalism has come to mean has been

self-esteem building for people of color—it has even been described as

such by both advocates and opponents. This is lamentable, because mere

pride in one’s heritage does not translate into attaining freedom. We

would do well to heed the lesson of W.E.B. DuBois, who urged for

educating blacks to be discontented with their social position. In The

Souls of Black Folk, DuBois describes John, before his meeting with the

judge, standing on a bluff with his younger sister:

Long they stood together, peering over the gray unsettled water.

“John,” she said, “does it make everyone—unhappy when they study and

learn lots of things?”

He paused and smiled, “I am afraid it does,” he said.

“And, John, are you glad you studied?”

“Yes,” came the answer, slowly and positively.

Zach de la Rocha, formerly of Rage Against the Machine, whispered a

variation on that sentiment in Freedom, on Rage’s debut CD: “Anger is a

gift.”

So, what can be done about the racism that pervades every aspect of U.S.

schooling, where young people of color are prepared for incarceration

and/or dead-end jobs and consumption? It might be tempting for some

folks to recommend Grace Llewellyn’s Teenage Liberation Handbook or her

Real Lives, about African-American girls who drop out of school, but

there are two major problems with that: first, when a working class

youth of color drops out of school (s)he immediately commands the

attention of cops and courts and forfeits many already bleak job

opportunities, and second, it is not a broad strategy. Therefore, though

it may seem to some contradictory, we must defend public education and

call for the expansion of ‘free’ schooling. This means arguing for

education to be considered a human right for everyone, and demanding

access to higher education without charge and with whatever remedial

help people need. Also, bilingual education programs must be defended

and struggled for, arguing boldly and eloquently against the ‘logic’ of

the market and English-only propaganda.

For those who think they might want to teach, be they white or

non-white, by all means do so…but only if you’re preparing to learn as

well as teach, and only if you’re going to teach, in hooks’ words, ‘to

transgress.’ There’s plenty else to do, too. During Reconstruction, many

former slaves took the initiative to form their own schools. These

efforts can be replicated in the form of ethnocentric schools, social

justice schools, and free schools, and they should be supported. Also,

support the self-organization of young people of color, whether they’re

forming clubs, demanding park space, organizing poetry and hip hop

nights, or starting liberation schools.

Increased mechanization of the modern public school in the form of

disciplining and teaching to tests is doomed to failure. Thus, as has

been the case over the last 150 years of schooling when things have been

too racist, or too religious, or too authoritarian, the social

controllers and ruling elite will ease up a bit. Perhaps they won’t add

twenty more tests, as some might like. But there is no doubt that U.S.

schools will seek to continue to elevate WASP culture and retain its

racist character. In that context, radicals and revolutionaries must

seek to support communities of color in building power against the

racist state school and support the struggles of youth of color against

the social factory that is the contemporary school and recognize their

power as revolutionary agents.