Racism & Disenfranchisement In Public Education

1. Racism & DisenfranchisementIn Public Education

2. Curriculum of Hip Hop Culture • Through their participation in Hip Hop culture, young people engage in a discourse that negotiates their self performance in ways that the traditional school curriculum does not allow. • Hip Hop emerges either to repair (Conscious Hip Hop) or act out (gangsta rap) the oppression of the marginalized masses. • It is an attempt of the disenfranchised to counteract and make meaning of self "in an environment that readily denies it" (Baszile 14)

3. Critical Race Theory in relation to Hip Hop curriculum • Curriculum Theory is defined as an emphasis on understanding curriculum as opposed to developing. • Based on this definition, Baszile argues that the official school curriculum "is inescapably political in that it works to empower some groups while disempowering others" (p. 10) It can also be understood as racial, gendered, political, and autobiographical text. Hip Hop, in this context, is a reaction to the way traditional schools' curriculum operates.

4. Critical Race Theory in Connection to Hip Hop Curriculum • Analyzes the lived experiences of those who have been historically marginalized based on race. Hip Hop serves a counterstory to challenge the dominant, racial narrative (Eurocentric view). • The "curriculum of the hero" assumes that identity is concrete and non-contradictory. Ie. Not considering the Native Americans opinion of Christopher Columbus or Lincoln's mother being black.

5. Conclusion • Using hip hop as a tool in the classroom will most likely always be met with resistance by the majority, and will be changed once it is censored by the school curriculum for language and certain expressions. However, hip hop should be seen as a means to an end by reclaiming education and exerting justice and voices for all students regardless of background.

6. The Destructiveness of Capitalism and Racism in Public EducationBy Jason Landberg • Capitalism and racism are perhaps the two greatest systematic influences on mainstream education policy.

7. Capitalism • Education is the very foundation of good citizenship. It's principal function is to awaken the students to cultural values, prepare them for professions, and help in adjusting and living in one's environment. • "An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.”- Albert Einstein

8. The white supremacist, capitalist attitude in schools fosters objective standards of normal, civilized, and good, while demeaning and marginalizing the "others" (minorities, people with disabilities, and immigrants) • Grading, tracking, labeling, uniformity, scripted curricula, and standardized testing are all methods of brainwashing students to make them easily controlled, and efficient as workers and consumers.

9. Racism • Students of color face persistent achievement gaps, disparities in alternative learning program placements, segregated school districts, racial profiling, low expectations, along with many staff who lack high-quality cultural competency and anti-oppression training.

10. Statistics • Compared to white students in the 2009-2010 school year in North Carolina, black students on average were 2.5 times more likely to fail one or more end of grade exams, 1.5 times more likely to drop out, 1.6 times more likely to not graduate high school within four years, and 3.9 times more likely to be short term suspended.

11. Jonothon Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation • Just about all of the research and findings in this book are all based on his own experiences and interactions with students, teachers, and administrators for over thirty years!

12. Preparing Minds for Markets • Children are regarded as investments, assets, and productive units. The "product" of the school is the skills the students learn or do not learn. Students are often referred to the product as well. • This production of "products" has become more embraced by both politicians and inner-city school principals who have strong ties to private business corporations. • Segregated schools have been given new names such as "Academy of Enterprise" or "Corporate Academy" to follow the "school-to-work" approach that exists under the guise of linking academic programs such as being a doctor or lawyer, to the world of work, but in reality are greatly overstating just what the school is providing for the students in regards to a career of their choice which tend to lead to low economic status.

13. The Rode to Rome • Standardized exams hardly has a positive effect on the process of education. It is worse in inner-city schools where teachers are demanded to stay "eternally 'on task'" (p.110) and are held accountable for all results of state exams. • Kindergarten students in Santa Paula, CA "were required to take standardized exams beginning in the last week of September" (p.113), requiring two weeks within the first month of school, all in order to receive extra funding from the federal government! • Officials in one district of Alabama did away with nap time so that teachers would have more time to prepare their kindergarten students for their three standardized exams throughout the year.

14. Deadly Lies • To satisfy the hope for realistic avenues of education in urban settings, small schools have been built throughout cities across the country as a form of innovation and starting fresh • Mission Hill in Boston is a perfect example of how a small school can thrive with encouraging teachers and students who feel a sense of worth • Unfortunately, most small schools, especially in NY are decorating their title of "small academy" to the fact that their school is just "another inner-city holding tank for students who could not obtain admission to a better and more academic institution" (p.276). • The Small school initiative can offer the best hope for a sufficient education, "but 'without careful planning' small schools 'may merely replicate the problems of the past'" (qtd. on p. 277) says the Advocates for Children, a NY nonprofit group that keeps vigilance over public education.

15. Bibliography • Baszile, Denise T. (2009). Deal with it We Must: Education, Social Justice, and the Curriculum of Hip Hop Culture. Equity and Excellence in Education, 42(1), 6-19 • Kozol, Jonathan. (2005). The Shame of the Nation. New York: Crown Publishing • Langberg, Jason (2011). The Destructiveness of Capitalism and Racism in Public Education. Juvenile Justice and Children's Rights. Retrieved from http://juvenilejusticeandchildrensrights.ncbar.org/newsletters/jjcrjune2011/destructiveness.aspx • This is America-Jonathan Kozol Part 1 (2010, October 15) Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR6yFsGMrqc

16. Langberg’s Proposal to Combat Racism and Capitalism • Speak out against racism and capitalism in education, exposing both the symptoms and the disease itself, engaging in deep dialogue and courageous conversation. This needed conversation will hopefully help end the tendency to blame the students, parents, and teachers for the failings of education. • Meaningful collaboration among individuals and organizations to combat plutocracy and legislators that propose unfair bills to single out and alienate disenfranchised students in an effort to formulate a shared vision of educational justice with democratic (instead of school systems governed from the top down), humane, and equitable public education. • Critical pedagogical practices that foster rich curriculum and natural curiosity rather than high stakes tests and drill-and-kill teaching to the test. School districts that are actually committed to leaving no child behind by implementing appropriate programs to treat them with dignity.