Why America Still Didn't Become a Post-Racial Society

Introduction

What is meant by a post-racial society? According to Oxford Dictionary, it is “denoting or relating to a period or society in which racial prejudice and discrimination no longer exist” (“Post-Racial,” 2019). Based off this definition, and a quick glance at the news in America, it is painfully obvious that America is not quite a post-racial society. Throughout the course of history, America has made baby steps in the grand quest for equality such as the treatment of Native Americans throughout the 1800’s but it still has a long way to go in terms of establishing true equality for all. In his book “Deculturalization and the struggle for equality”, Spring even goes as far as to define a post-racial society as a society in which “race is no longer important in determining social status and income” (Spring, 2016, p. 141). If one looks at American policy in terms of wages for women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc., and the educational disadvantages that such groups are subjected to, once again, it is crystal clear that America has not achieved Spring’s level of equality either.

Influential Historical Perspectives of Education

After the American Revolution, the European settlers wanted to educate the Native Americans in order to civilize them and make them more like themselves. The Native Americans were practically polar opposites from the settlers in terms of community and education. Where the Whites educated their young via the father, the tribe was more matriarchal. They would educate their young via the mothers and the mothers were able to make important tribal decisions such as what happened to prisoners of war. The children would be allowed to run around pell-mell without any structure or reason. All of the people in the tribe shared their wealth, only used what they needed and gave the rest away. The European settlers wanted to change all of these aspects. They claimed it was devilish, sinful and barbaric to act in the manner of the Native Americans, so missionaries set up schools on Native American land to educate them on the proper conduct.

The attempts of missionaries were not successful over the following years. The Native Americans strongly resisted the loss of their culture, language and identity. After several decades of failure, the settlers resorted to forced removal of the Native Americans to other less bountiful lands, infamously known as the Trail of Tears. Missionaries still continued their educational efforts and after several unfair pro-White laws, the Native Americans have lost the vast majority of their ancestor’s language, identity and culture through the so-called educational and civilizing efforts of the European settlers. If America were a true post-racial society, they would be able to accept other cultures, especially ones who were here before, and embrace them rather than trying to destroy them and make them like everyone else.

Influential Policy and Educational Initiatives

A more recent example of influential policy and educational initiatives in the United States is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Again, at face value it appears to try and help all students by establishing common standards and goals throughout the country so that all students are equal in academic success. Its purpose is to create “accountability, flexibility, [and a] research-based education” (“No Child Left Behind,” 2019) to ensure that students who are at a disadvantage, who are lagging behind and not achieving certain grades in school will be held to the same standards as everyone else. In reality however, it pushes out all other cultures, ideals and differences among students in favor of “teaching English and promoting a single culture embodied in the state standards.” (Spring, 2016, p.17). Now all students are at a disadvantage because the educational system is not looking at what the students are learning or the content of what they are learning but rather looking at if they made the right grade on a test. In a post-racial society, America would be supporting and encouraging diversity in the classroom rather than squashing these essential aspects of learning.

Diversity-Past and Present

Growing up in America, students were constantly told in school that America was a melting-pot at its inception. A melting-pot is “a place where a variety of races, cultures, or individuals assimilate into a cohesive whole.” (“Melting Pot,” 2019) Though at face value, this is a true statement, if one investigates a little further, it is not wholly true. When America was being colonized, the only true Americans living here were the Native Americans. All of the other groups, including Germans, English, French, Spanish, Irish, were immigrants in search of a better life. People of color came here as slaves to work in the various agricultural industries. As mentioned previously, at face value it appears that all of these cultures worked and lived harmoniously side by side. This is not the case.

The white, Protestant, European way of life eventually won out against all others. Thus began the discrimination and deculturalization of any non-white, Protestant, European group in America even well after Americans were 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation descendants of actual Europeans. It originally began with the Native Americans after the American Revolution. In the mid-1800s, after the Mexican American war, America gained a significant amount of territory from Mexico in which the Mexican people still lived. In California in the 1850’s, people of all backgrounds tried their luck during the Gold Rush. This included the Chinese and Latin Americans who ended up having to pay a special tax for their findings based simply on their different cultural origins. The people chose to remain on the new territory but suffered persecution based of racial and cultural differences. It progressed into the 1940s with the internment of Japanese American families after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Even Black Americans in the 1960s, even though their ancestors had been here just as long as the White American’s ancestors, struggled with gaining basic rights and equality based on their divergence from the white, Protestant, European model.

The Impact of Popular Culture

Popular culture, or pop culture as it’s more commonly known, can be defined as “those elements of culture capable of sustaining and perpetuating themselves based on endorsement and participation by large groups of people through their own agency.” (Godsil, 2016, p.3). In today’s technologically advanced society, that largely includes anything from movies, music, television, and the Internet. On one hand, these tools are fantastic for the spread of information and portraying diversity all around the world at the click of a button. Students can access music from different countries, research festivals and the history of different cultures, becoming well rounded, culturally educated individuals.

People can even see the wonderful successes of culturally diverse people such as Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, Jackie Chan, Enrique Iglesias, Barack Obama, etc. The fact that different media sources in America show these successful people and praise them for their contributions, paints America as a more racially advanced and accepting society. This shows the children of today that they too can be successful and praised for their accomplishments and maybe they too can become doctors, humanitarians, presidents, and celebrities.

However, there is another side to the pop culture coin, the side that tends to “underrepresent, marginalize, and caricature members of nondominant racial and ethnic groups” (Godsil, 2016, p. 5). This presents a paradox which students may be conflicted by while growing up and have to read between the lines to determine whether they can actually be successful or will only amount to the caricature that society has painted of them. This lends to the idea that America is not a post-racial society as one is lead to believe originally.

Another factor of pop culture is the influence of the Internet and social media on tolerance in the United States. During the 2016 Presidential Election, the “nation [was] carved into two large coalitions […] but radically different in demographics and desires” (Jr., 2016, p.1). Based on sexist, racist, and socially unacceptable comments made by the presidential candidate, Donald Trump on his social media accounts, such as Twitter, the country was in an outrage. The two divisive sides fought each other on the Internet and pop culture erupted with stereotypical jokes which supported the comments that had been made about these culturally diverse groups. Everywhere people looked, evidence of the rift was apparent. Friends no longer spoke on social media, classes did not approach the taboo topic, and only the families who shared the same ideals remained unified. This is a direct example of how America is not a post-racial society. In a true post-racial society, such comments would not have been made, especially by a presidential candidate. If such comments had been made, a post-racial society would not have had supporters encouraging such material and spreading it across the Internet. And finally, a post-racial society would be tolerant and accepting of racial and cultural differences among other groups and would remain united with everyone, not only people who shared their same ideals.

Personal Commentary Based on Experiences

As a foreign language teacher, cultural policies and cultural education in America have a tremendous impact on the perpetuity of my career. If America is not accepting of cultural diversity and discriminates against people who do not fit the white, Protestant, European mold, foreign language teaching will cease in America as we know it. As it is, “at the K-12 level we have approximately 20 percent of students enrolled in language courses, and when you get to postsecondary level, that drops to 8.1 percent.' (WBUR, 2018, p. 3).

It is our job as teachers to equip our students with the skills necessary for success in the business world. Today’s businesses are largely international and operate all around the world. The fact that so few students are enrolled in these skills-rich courses is alarming when thinking about trying to create a post-racial society in America. The biggest issue here seems to be that “we think the rest of the world speaks English, which isn’t true.” (WBUR, 2018, p.10) We have to normalize language learning and portray cultural education in a light that will make students excited about and more open to the idea of a culturally diverse America. Our students can propel us into a post-racial society if we teach them acceptance and tolerance and give them the cultural skills and tools to go out and share these ideals with the world.

Conclusion

To conclude, America is not a post-racial society. Historical evidence, American governmental policies and educational reforms have shown that America has made drastic improvements in the right direction over the past 200+ years. America has learned to be accepting of Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Hispanics and other races. However, there is still a long way to go before reaching a truly post-racial identity that matches Spring’s and society’s definition. In America, the seed has been planted and has taken root, but seeds take a long time before they bear the sweet, delicious fruit of a post-racial society.