Ancillary 10: What to do About Racial Bias in School
In 2019, a survey, “Suspending Our Future” by the Black Minds Matter Coalition found that the Elk Grove Unified School District, a school district in Sacramento County, suspended more Black students than any other school district in California (Smith). At about a 15 minute drive from Elk Grove, the Sacramento City Unified School District sat in fourth for the most Black students suspended in California (Wood). Startling incidents like these have not only been present in just schools, but also in all of Sacramento. According to the Sacramento police, the number of bias-related incidents in the city grew drastically during the first half of 2021 (Reese). As one of the most diverse cities in the United States, it is important that those in Sacramento find a solution to these problems (McCann).
What has the city done to try to solve this problem of racial bias? Because of the clear racial bias that is present throughout Sacramento county, teachers, students, and their families have made an effort to incorporate and advocate for more anti-racist curriculum, however the districts have “dragged their feet” (Pham). It is clear that while many students, families, and faculty members want to have anti-racist and positive learning in their curriculum, administrators and the school districts have not listened.
How do we change this? How can we make action actually happen? I think it’s important that those who are able to should advocate for a better curriculum, such as for things like Critical Race Theory and changing what students learn in school. Elyse Pham’s article on school’s responses to the Black Lives Matter protests has shown how unsatisfied people are with the material being taught to students about race and the history of race in America. Many parents and older students talk about how the curriculum being taught was either repetitive (talking only about famous figures like MLK or Rosa Parks) or disheartening (emphasizing the fact that many Black leaders were killed during the Civil Rights Movement) (Pham).
After reading on these complaints, I believe that it’s important to incorporate a more in-depth, encouraging, and mature way of approaching the subject of race in schools. Matt Zalanick from the District Administration talks about the ways that schools can approach the subject of critical race theory in an effective manner in his article. His main points say that schools need to listen to students’ experiences, be interdisciplinary in teaching lessons, and create an environment in which students can learn and grow from each other (Zalanick).
I believe that incorporating this into our curriculum will not only teach kids from a young age about racial bias and others’ experiences, but also will force adults to learn as well. Teachers must be knowledgeable in what they are teaching to students, so having faculty learn a new curriculum surrounding insightful perspectives of race will help to reduce their racial bias and will help lower the suspension rate of Black students, as well as Indigenous students and POC.
