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Colorblind Racism: Our Education System's Role in Perpetuating Racial Caste in America

Wheeler, Ivy G
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9202-6176
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1430765564

Abstract Details

2015, Master of Arts in Education, University of Akron, Educational Foundations-Social/Philosophical Foundations of Education.
Education is never neutral. Education always serves one of two ends. It is either an instrument of liberation or one of oppression. If the education system is not actively supporting the process of liberating the oppressed, it is necessarily, through integration, supporting the current oppressive regime (Freire, 1970). The above quote, written by Richard Shaull in the forward to Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, summarizes well Freire’s theory of education’s two possible purposes. The question asked and answered in this study is as follows: which of these mutually exclusive ends does the system of education, in the United States of America, currently serve? Is it a system operating for liberation, or is it supporting the continuation of racial oppression through a racial caste system? In this study, I will examine how the funding gap, the achievement gap, and the discipline gap existing in K-12 schools have acted as one arm of a racial caste system that actively oppresses people of color, especially Black males, in this country. The second chapter in this study will begin with an exploration of three foundational concepts; Critical Race Theory, multiple forms of racism, and racial caste. Critical Race Theory (CRT) will be the lens through which this study is conducted. CRT’s foundational concepts will establish a framework of ideas which will then be drawn upon as content is presented. Next, the chapter will explore the concepts of multiple forms of racism, individual versus systemic racism and provide a working definition of racism for the study. Finally, chapter two is dedicated to understanding racial caste, what it means, how it operates, and the history of education under its previous two manifestations in society, slavery and Jim Crow Law. Chapters three through five examine the three previously mentioned racial gaps through which the current racial caste system operates; the funding gap, the achievement gap, and the discipline gap. Chapter six, the conclusion, will cover three topics: interest convergence and why each reader should care, what are the possible solutions to this dire issue, and what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to as “the fierce urgency of now”. Considering King’s words, I call upon educators to act urgently on behalf of our children. King reminds us that there is such a thing as to late.
Suzanne Mac Donald, Dr. (Advisor)
Huey-Li Li, Dr. (Committee Member)
Zachary Williams, Dr. (Committee Member)
111 p.
African American Studies; Black Studies; Education; Education History; Education Philosophy; Education Policy
racial discipline gap; racial achievement gap; racial funding gap; school discipline; school funding; racial caste; systemic racism; inequality in education; racism in education; critical race theory in education

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Wheeler, I. G. (2015). Colorblind Racism: Our Education System's Role in Perpetuating Racial Caste in America [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1430765564

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Wheeler, Ivy. Colorblind Racism: Our Education System's Role in Perpetuating Racial Caste in America. 2015. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1430765564.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Wheeler, Ivy. "Colorblind Racism: Our Education System's Role in Perpetuating Racial Caste in America." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1430765564

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.