In my last post, I shared a view of racism and discrimination from a public highschool in North Carolina. Two young women that attended the highschool were forced to leave due to the harsh environment and the lack of intervention by the school and school disticts administration. But what should have been done for them? How do the parents of minority children lace up their boxing gloves in preparation to defeat the well known champion Discrimination?
Many parents are sending their children off to institutions where their children have the potential to be discriminated against based on their race or ethnicity, without knowing their full rights as far as their child’s education. Large numbers of children are passed through the education system only to be given minimal privileges and opportunities to let their minds grow.
An important question asked by a parent to the Public School Parents Network was ”What justice was there for minority children within the settings of public education?”. As said in the article titled “Fighting Prejudice in Public Education” (also located on the website) this was one of many questions posed by concerned parents hat paved the way for other issues to be brought to light regarding discrimination within public school systems. For instance, ”Do educators hold different expectations of minority students?” and “Are children denied access to advanced or gifted placement classes based on their race?” (psparents.net). The ultimate answer to questions like these is “Yes”. There’s all kinds of discrimination agaisnt children of color that prevent them from recieving special placements in advanced and gifted student programs. But how do parents actually fight discrimination against their children?
According to the article, the Office for Civil Rights is the way to go. The article talks about how prejudice and discrimination are a part of American society as almost a kind of norm. “OCR (Office for Civil Rights), enforces several Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities that recieve Federal financial assistance from the Department of Education” (psparents.net). These laws do not vary by state, race, religion, or ethnicity. All in all, every child is entitled to the same opportunities in getting their education.
The fight against discrimination in general is a diffucult battle in itself. With the way that our country was built discrimination is at the heart of everything that we do which makes the issue virtually invisible at times. In all actuality students are discriminated against more often than not. Many cases of discrimination within public education, go unheard of or they are justified by some higher authority only to be burried and forgotten. Because of these injustices many children are deprived of their very much needed education. But, now there are options for the parents that will send them into the ring with punches of fury.
