Yes

by Leon Li

Created on: August 14, 2009

Racism is a big problem in our schools today, and we've got to do something about it.

Racial acts of hate are one of the biggest problems in high schools across the US and Canada, and it's usually in the form of harassment, exclusion, expression of such hate, cyber-bullying (which includes email, text messaging, Facebook, etc.), and even violence. If you ask any student in the US or Canada, they will say that they have heard someone utter a racist remark or slur.

Where I live, in the suburbs of Toronto, racism is both a big and small problem. Toronto is the most multicultural city on the planet, where even the white population is now considered a visible minority. Uttering racist remarks or slurs are taken very seriously, and calling someone a racist is an extreme accusation. However, due to the taboo that we all have on such things, uttering racist remarks will make one extremely unpopular, so it isn't too much of a problem here. Even so, in cities all over North America where minority populations don't have backing or support, racism is taken lightly, and there are few laws and regulations that will hinder its existence.

For example, in Los Angeles, where racism and gangs are rampant, I doubt it would be unusual to hear of a racial assault or killing, even among school-aged teens. If you ask a teen among any minority population, they will say that someone's uttered a racial remark targeted at them several times before.

Yes, racism is very evident in schools. Perhaps there may not be racist violence or racist acts of hate in every school, but at the very least there is a lot of racial stereotyping. This would certainly be put under "racism", because these stereotypes are why many students are bullied around. In most schools, there are cliques or gangs that are mostly of one race or accept others based on race, a behavior that we should change. Certainly, we can't expect students to not notice differences between different races, but it shouldn't be a driving factor of bullying.

Even among teachers, racial profiling is apparent; studies have shown that students sometimes feel that their teacher is biased by race or gender when they give marks or punishments.

It's a simple yet widespread problem, and frankly, one of the biggest reasons these things occur is because the topic is not discussed enough in schools, or is not discussed in-depth enough.

Learn more about this author, Leon Li.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.