Racial injustices and its impact on children of color 

 

 

Elsadig Abdelaziz 

 

ENG 1101 

 

Page Break 

Racial injustices and its impact on children of color 

In unit 2, we discussed the impact of racial discrimination on children of color’s childhood experiences. It is sad to note that a black or Hispanic child is treated as an adult at barely twelve years and has to serve a jail-term served by adults (Petersilia, 1983). On the other hand, a seventeen-year-old white is treated like a young and immature child who can’t face jail because he is young. In schools, teachers treat children of color with contempt, and immediately after a black child enrolls in a school, the teachers already know that his/her days in school are numbered. In other words, black children’s childhood experience is very horrible and unbearable. But how do these experiences affect them in the future? Who do they become after going through such awful experiences in their childhood? 

Discrimination encountered in one domain or one point at a time, for example, the labor market of school, seems very minimal and less impactful. We might not feel its impacts on the lives of the children and the people involved. However, small effects could cumulate over time, causing substantial differences.  According to Dotterer et al (2009), discrimination in one generation that is affecting wealth accumulation or economic opportunities in a specific group of people might diminish the later generations.  For example, the parent’s poor education and unemployment status may limit their ability to support their children’s education. Consequently, this lowers the children’s education success, leading to a low economic situation like the parents.  

Secondly, discrimination within a domain such as the educational domain might affect the entire learning process. For instance, if a child was racially discriminated against in kindergarten, his/her secondary primary and secondary school performance might be affected, diminishing their chances to attend a college or a university (Dotterer et al, 2009). Additionally, a single instance of discrimination at a critical point decision might have long-term effects on the victim. For example, a teacher’s discriminative behavior during student evaluation has a probability of continuing during grading from elementary school to middle school. This discrimination affects the victim’s life from early learning levels to higher learning levels and finally his/her future dreams.  

Thirdly, racial discrimination in one domain has impacts on other environments. Let take an example of people living in segregated areas because they experience poor housing, limited access to quality health centers, employment, and quality schools. Children living in these segregated areas are forced to attend segregated schools with fewer learning resources, which affects their academic performance. In turn, poor performance limits the child’s access to employment opportunities and good housing programs. When faced with numerous discriminations and societal disadvantages, the children of color make life choices under these biased conditions limiting their life chances and future opportunities. Due to poverty, some children have no choice but to give schooling and support their families to buy basic needs and support their siblings. Some whose parents were arrested due to some issues have to become the family’s adult and take responsibility for the younger ones (Weitzer & Tuch, 1999). For instance, the picture below shows a black man being taken away by the police. All I ask myself is where his children will go after he has been arrested, sadly the police and the law system does not care for these children.  

The picture below indicates police brutality towards the black people. As children watch and experience their close families going through this kind of torture, their perception towards the justice system and also the police changes. Therefore, they involve themselves in other activities in an attempt to defend themselves against these tortures.  

 

 

 

Walter Gadsden, an African American high school student, being attacked by a police dog during a civil rights demonstration in Birmingham, Ala., on May 3, 1963. 

(Ggarrison@al.com, 2014) 

In most cases, the differences in racial outcomes can be linked to the individual’s behavior differences. Some research shows that black children and teenagers offer high rates of committing severe crimes than whites. This outcome has led many to believe that these behaviors are caused by individual choices rather than past discrimination experiences. However, individual actions do not occur independently in a society or a community because the social factors influence people’s characters. Some of these behaviors develop over time due to incidents of discriminatory treatment and discrimination. Youths who feel alienated from mainstream social and economic institutions are more likely to involve themselves in risky and self-destructive activities such as drug addiction, trafficking, and other crime. Therefore, the youth activism movements such as “black lives matter” and others should stand firm and fight for the children’s future and their welfares.  

 

Artistic statement 

Racial discrimination is an exciting yet sensitive topic to discuss. Social isolation, the concentration of poverty marginalizes low-income families from mainstream society. Racial discrimination has affected children’s growth and development in many areas, especially socially. The childhood experience of children of color has a disparity from that of the white children. How do these cumulative discriminations affect children do and what can the activists do to change these children’s lives? For an activist like Nupol to join activism at age twelve, she must have seen or experienced black people being treated nastily. Due to racial discrimination, many black children’s future careers and dreams have been cut short, and because they don’t have power, all they can is watch helplessly as their lives become a mess.   

I chose to use a photo essay because it will reveal my feelings and opinions towards racial discrimination. It will also help me reach my audience, who are the activists fighting for social justice and equality. I believe that most of these activists went through some discrimination that ignites their spirit to fight against the injustices. But what about those vulnerable youths who lose hope after being discriminated against in school and they drop-out? Those children will join other risky activities that will distract them from the truth and reality. Eventually, the youths will end up committing crimes and getting into jail at such a young age. However, activists can change the story of children of color. They can stand firm and fight for their rights, equal treatment in schools, health centers, and juvenile systems. The essay has discussed the impacts caused by cumulative discrimination, including poor performances in school, leading to limitations to Access Colleges, good job opportunities, and subsequently, proper housing.  

 

References 

Dotterer, A. M., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2009). Sociocultural factors and school engagement among African American youth: The roles of racial discrimination, racial socialization, and ethnic identity. Applied development science, 13(2), 61-73. 

Ggarrison@al.com, G. G. (2014, February 22). Young man who confronted police dogs in 1963 was little-known civil rights icon (Life Stories: Walter Lee Fowlkes). Retrieved from https://www.al.com/living/2014/02/young_man_attacked_by_german_s.html 

Petersilia, J. (1983). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system (Vol. 2947). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. 

Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S. A. (1999). Race, class, and perceptions of discrimination by the police. Crime & Delinquency, 45(4), 494-507.