Essay/Term paper: My experiences with minorities vs non-minorities

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Literature Essays

Throughout most of my school years, before attending MCTC, I had never
experienced inter-racial schooling. I went to a small high school with about twenty
minority students. These students were not outcasts they were treated as any other non-
minority student. Therefore, I had little experience with minorities in a non-minority
school. After the speech that was given by Michael Jefferson, I was more informed on the
effects of stereotyping of minority students in a non-minority school.
Stereotyping may cause students and teachers to view minority students on a non-
minority campus as inferior. This may cause some teachers or faculty members to believe
that these minority students are not as capable of achieving the same quality of work as
non-minority students. Scholarships are sometimes given out to non0minority students
due to their racial background. I suppose this happens due to the stereotype of minority
students not being capable of the educational work as that of other students. Classroom
behavior toward minority students may be shown in appropriate, and/or unrecognized.
For instance, a teacher may call on a non-minority student before a minority student. The
teacher may pick on the non-minority due to a belief that these students care about their
schooling, whereas minority students are being pre-judged without the chance to really
learn. Some people even believe that combining the different minorities may cause
problems.
Combining minority with non-minority students can create some conflict. Some
non-minority students, this attitude of aggression may be brought on by "close-minded"
non-minority students. These students let their attitude take over their learning time, by
worrying about the other minority students. Each student, whether thy be minority or
non-minority, must put their mind on learning than on another minority on the campus.
Some students may see that combining minority with non-minority students, as a way of
learning about different people and their cultures. I f students would open their eyes as
they do their ears for learning, students would see a whole new possibility of meeting
others, not minding if they are a minority or not. These students should also learn to use
their own ideas, and not always to believe in the media point of view.
Today the media is a major source of minority and non-minority stereotyping.
Many different types of people watch television and listen to the radio and here or see
racist and other type of stereotypical messages. Students take this information, treating
minorities as inferior. This message may make a child that is of a minority that is put
down by a television show feel depressed or even get violent because of these messages.
So minority and non-minority students need to break through these stereotypes and be
themselves. The only truth is the truth that lies in a person.
Both minority and non-minority students are affected by stereotyping, may it be at
home, school, the work place, or in every day life. This may cause limits on learning the
truth about one another, communicating, and thoughts on education. Each student must
clear their mind off all stereotypes, and be open minded to different cultures and different
walks of life. This would bring many different forms of education, along with clear new
ideas having minority and non-minority students educate one another and others around
them to the truths of life. Stereotyping would soon vanish. This would leave the
possibility of a free truthful life for every man and women in the world.