Racial Discrimination

Kaylan Gutierrez

Professor Furlong

Writing & Humanities

 

Racial Discrimination in the education system is something that goes on a lot more often than we think. There are many articles, personal statements, and stories about this issue and how it has affected the lives of many students. However, when seen visually, information being shared is easier to grasp and understand rather than just words. By conveying my message through a variety of images the audience can get a better understanding on this topic.  

https://theconversation.com/racism-is-still-rife-in-south-africas-schools-what-can-be-done-about-it-110195                    

 

Racial Discrimination in schools occur when a student is being singled out, treated differently, bullied, because of the color of their skin/ where they are from. Sometimes the environment in a school setting can make a student very uncomfortable. This scenario happens very often in some educational spaces. However to prevent any student from feeling singled out there should be more diversity in schools and also students should be encouraged to socialize with all different kinds of students. When a diverse community is built in a school a student feels more comfortable around their classmates and is more likely to open up. Although this may be an issue that many people see often in our education system it does not stop people from having the fear of speaking up. Some students who have witnessed racial discrimination are scared to speak up because of the fear of being looked at differently, or just simply because it is a very serious topic which is hard to touch on. Through this Image a group of students are holding up a sign about students standing up to end racism. And the most important part of this image is not only that students are coming together to stand up for what is right but that these students come from different backgrounds, are different shades.   Even though there is diversity, unity is still shown. Meaning that , people should never be afraid to stand up for what they think is right because in doing so they may motivate someone else, and when people stand together and become one they are stronger.

https://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/education/prweb14022506.htm

The root of Racial Discrimination all starts with how our education system is set up. A lot of the “best schools” the majority of the students are White or Asian. But a very little percentage of the students who attend those schools are Black or Hispanic. Because of school ranks and the type of students who get accepted into these “better schools” and other students who get accepted to schools that are “not good” this forms the mentality that one is 

 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/racism-against-students-taken-more-seriously-staff-abus

better than the other.  The education system overall needs to work towards ending racial discrimination in schools. Schools should be a place where everyone feels Included and safe. All schools should be diverse and each student should be treated fairly and with respect.

 

Reflection

 

Racial Discrimination as a whole is a genre that interests me because It is something that happens so often. Racial Discrimination happens in a lot of the places we go to do daily activities. However in my visual essay I wanted to focus on racial discrimination that goes on in the educational system. As a student in school I feel like it is important to be informed on the injustices that go on in a place that is supposed to be a safe and fair environment for all students. My intended audience being students and staff that are apart of the education system affected my genre because I wanted my genre to be something that is relevant to a lot of us and that as a student if another student was going through this or knows someone who is they would be motivated to speak up against it or if they can relate to it they can know that they aren’t alone in this issue that affects so many young adults. Throughout my essay I wanted to use multiple different images that showed multiple rhetorical strategies. In two images I wanted to engage with the audience by drawing to pathos. In the first image I did this by explaining the circumstance the girl was in. Expressing her discomfort in the school she was in I wanted the audience to get in her shoes as a student who feels like they are being judged and does not belong in a place that is supposed to be welcoming for everyone. In the other image with the students protesting I also wanted to appeal to the audience by using pathos because I wanted the audience to feel a sense of motivation by looking at that image. Conversations about serious topics may be very difficult for some people to bring up because they fear they are gonna be judged or are going to stand alone. So seeing students from different backgrounds come together to stand up for an injustice can motivate the audience to do the same if they are ever in the circumstance where they are or they know someone facing racial discrimination. In the other two images I wanted to appeal to the audience by using logos because although using pathos may convince some people, there are other people who go a lot by statistics, data, and actual facts. Therefore I wanted to have an equal balance of both in my essay to appeal to the audience multiple ways.  At first when writing my visual essay I was leaning towards writing it like a traditional essay because during all my English classes the essays that we usually wrote were traditional. Therefore the format stuck with me which tempted me to write this essay like I usually do. However when receiving feedback from my professor and peers I corrected my essay making it more visual than traditional. Composing this essay was very different from a traditional essay. When writing an essay I’m very used to using a lot of words to convey my message. However, the imagery played a big role and there were a lot less words than I normally used too. This essay allowed me to apply my skills I have learned in previous English classes just in a foreign way. Overall, this essay was one of my favorite kinds of essays to type because it was something out of the ordinary and fun to do. Writing traditional essays gets boring after a while because it is so repetitive. Having this assignment not only showed me that there are other ways to write an essay not just traditionally but also showed me how to convey a message using mostly imagery. I hope we get to learn other ways to compose an essay and other different types of structures.