People perceive racism in different aspects, which causes limited information. Identical ethnicities seek comfort in people with similar perspectives. Society sees ethnic groups other than white as violent, crime-related, and sinister. The cycle must be broken by acknowledging that minorities have the ability to be successful, which essentially encourages a more inclusive environment. Therefore, students should search for self-identity, overcome the racial discriminatory, and learn the ability to succeed in the classroom.
In order for minority children to succeed in the classroom, they must first search for their identity by accepting themselves, leading to other ethnic groups welcoming them. Learning with other ethnicities creates a better working environment. One way to influence education in a more positive way and a more cooperative style is by accepting the use of racial terms inside the classroom setting. Racial terms do not concern children at a young age because they don’t understand but progresses getting older. According to the “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”Beverly Daniel Tatum says personal identity intensifies through several processes of growth: values, religion, life plans, gender roles, etc. Tatum suggests that people of color tend to take longer to explore their ethnic identity than white adolescents. Minorities must learn to absorb beliefs of distortions; if not, they will reflect their stereotype. Reflecting their stereotype will result in the same continuation of assuming the ethnic label. They have to learn to respond to society as educated people. The search will critically help to accept oneself and will result in others learning to accept the ethic group more commonly. Once they find themselves, they will be able to understand their self-identity and won’t define stereotypes. Acknowledgement of one’s own racial group will change their personal impact on acceptation.
Second, people make educational stereotypes based on first impressions through media, news, and first encounters. The perceptions of ethnic racism raise awareness of negative thoughts of a certain race. An example in the article stating a perception is “Women commonly hold their purses tighter when seeing black males or cross the street to avoid eye contact.” These perceptions make it harder for a person to succeed while being put down all the time. Negative thoughts affect education by not being able to work with other ethnic groups because of their color. Another example offered in the article to illustrate the concept is when a substitute teacher used her free time to ask students about their college plans. In this example, the teacher suggests four year universities to students; but when it came to the black student, he was recommended to attend a community college, assuming the black race cannot handle the rigorous work compared to a university. In seeking comfort, ethnic groups normally turn to people of their own race. They should ignore what others have to say and overcome the stereotypes. Racial groups must challenge the perceptions that other races have made and disregard all the negative comments to overcome the ability to be successful in the