Essay Sample on Race and Inclusion in Academic Fields/Majors

Introduction

Education is the key for betterment. Indeed, every child in the world should get the education as an obligation and priority. The United States Department of Education's mission highlights this best. It identifies the need to promote student achievement and prepare them for global competitiveness by ensuring educational excellence and equal access (Hero 52). Equal access in this regards means that diversity should not be used as a hindrance to education. It has been identified that racial diversity in all academic arenas fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation of different cultures and roots. Students can present divergent viewpoints that can open the eyes particularly on a variety of issues affecting society. Research by Snyder and Dillow (123) found that diversity has increased in schools and colleges. Particularly, over the last three decades, racial and ethnic students across the education system as well as those attending colleges have increased rapidly. Even with this increase, stigmatization is still existent in schools which form barriers to education for students from minority races. This forms some difficulty in providing education equally as is enshrined in the States' Department mission statement. As such, there is a need for discussion into this area to ensure that diversity remains in our campuses and colleges (Morrison and Grbic 943). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the inclusion of all races in all academic fields for the creation of a diverse and realistic environment for students.

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The world we live in right now is filled with variety and diversity. These differences have a way of affecting society and the way we view the world (Hero 48). Indeed, humanity has not been exempted from the rule and has been found to exhibit immense and to some extent, bewildering levels of variations that are found both in his/her physical and mental states. Humanity is diverse, and the variations are either presented in genetic, cultural or environmental forms. There also exist levels of variations for humans; some could either be at the individual level (separate individuals) or the population level separate race). Indeed, the race is defined as a population of people that can be distinguished from another based on genetically transmitted physical characteristics (Buck and Patel 185-191). The race is one of the most important diversity tools that has been used by society to discriminate and look down on people. The American society has been having issues with race since independence that is still unfolding to this day (Snyder and Dillow 89).

The history of America and the evolution of American society has been blamed for much of the diversity and racial and ethnic bias that is found all over the community. America's history is filled with elements of discrimination based on race and color that is still existent albeit at a lower level (Buck and Patel 194). There are people who feel that their color gives them privileges that should not be accorded to others. These individuals feel that they are smarter, more evolved, and better than the rest of society. These perceptions exist in societies today. The African American or "Blacks" have carried the tag of being a lesser generation as compared to their white counterparts all through history (Bentley-Edwards and Chapman-Hilliard 47-53). Although there is no scientific evidence to support this claim, and because the constitution, as well as other laws, view all people as equal irrespective of their diversity, there is still a section of society that feels that they are better just because of their color (Morrison and Grbic 939).

Colleges and campuses are arenas that hold the brains that will guide the nation into the future. The society is getting more diverse with more immigrants coming through the borders as well as with more families getting larger. Indeed, for the sake of argument, if all the minority races in America are put together, they could well outnumber the dominant white race which means that all these should be taken into consideration in all matters starting from education, healthcare, security, and many other societal concerns (Whittington 49-58).

Anti-diverse campuses in America are not a new phenomenon although they are increasingly being shunned for their anti-diversity message, especially on racial lines. In the early 1900s, top American universities were at the forefront of campaigning for eugenics, a movement that was aimed at improving the human genetic qualities through selective breeding (Whittington 52). All the top elite institutions in America were behind this movement. Eugenics was all about a dominant race with the Anglo-Americans from Northern Europe identified as the master race and all other races as inferior and their inclusion into the American society should be curtailed (Morrison and Grbic 944). By 1920, eugenics was a course offered in these universities. They had President Theodore Roosevelt backing them and went on to cause massive anti-diversity runts all over America at the time. Indeed, the whole idea ended after the Holocaust which was perpetrated by the same race that eugenics was advocating for their rise. No one wanted to be put in the same line as Hitler although they were in some ways developing white supremacist ideologies in the same way Hitler was (Whittington 51-55).

Indeed, eugenics practice was a huge hindrance to providing education to the masses during that time. There are many universities that were practicing eugenics in the early 1900s that are still having difficulties in having proper representation especially from the black race in the faculty as well as in the student population even after the inclusion of other races as a factor for admission in the 1950s (Bentley-Edwards and Chapman-Hilliard 59). It is a testament to what eugenics did to education and diversity of the same to all people. It is no wonder many American universities are pursuing diversity to make amends for their involvement in the aggressive anti-diversity crusade of recent past. These universities are now championing for diversity even going against President Trump's administration plans of scraping the Obama-era university guidelines that preached diversity and the consideration of race as a factor for the promotion of diversity in campuses and universities (Whittington 61-62).

People are generally more comfortable around people who look like them, talk like them and have similar backgrounds. In today's society, diversity is an area that is being preached in all campuses and schools. All the schools have understood the importance diversity brings to the society and are on the forefront of preaching diversity and practicing it in their campuses (Snyder and Dillow 144). However, many people as indicated feel more at home in particular campuses shunning others which still maintains the anti-diverse campus notion particularly based on race. The black race in America has been accustomed to believe that going to university is a privilege which is not obvious to them. Indeed, many studies indicate that the probability of a poor albeit bright black student going to jail is far higher than for him ending in university (Bentley-Edwards and Chapman-Hilliard 48). This is also true of other minority races in America. Such prejudices make the achievement of diversity in university an achievement that will not be achieved until we change them.

There is a need for more discussion into changing the whole aspect of racial diversity in the school. It is important that all the students in America feel like they are equal and should be accorded the same treatments and given the same education when they go to colleges and campuses. Diversity in campuses is important as it makes divergent viewpoints from different individuals. Furthermore, and more importantly, it will cause the future to have a more inclusive society because more interactions with people from different diversities will cause them to have a better relationship which will be reflected in the future generations who will come from an integrative and inclusive society (Bentley-Edwards and Chapman-Hilliard 55). The basis of this argument is that the generation we are living in is fathered and grandfathered by the generation that was alive during the civil movement, the eugenics in colleges and the end of slavery. It means that we still have certain stigmas passed on to us and until we are able to live and work together, we will still pass these bad elements to our children (Buck and Patel 196). Furthermore, having a more racial inclusive classroom will mean that the country will be able to have a change in all arenas of society and will transcend into diverse neighborhoods that will transform from the changes that will be brought by the education. These will make society better since more will be employed and have financial stability thus making the neighborhoods safer and have better resources (Bentley-Edwards and Chapman-Hilliard 55-58).

Conclusion

In conclusion, racial inclusivity in academics is important as it will create a more integrated and inclusive society that will be able to work together towards solving the social ills of the nation. It is important that campuses and universities ensure that they preach and practice inclusivity in their campuses and make efforts towards ensuring that this is achieved. As society grows, so does the population of the minority races which should be empowered through education. Even though American history has more than championed and campaigned for segregation especially based on race, it is important to correct these ills as the society we live in is more diverse and inclusive. More needs to be done to wrong the ills of the past and creating a diverse environment for the students will go a long way towards correcting these wrongs. Indeed, the trend is promising in matters diversity and inclusivity; however, more can be done towards the achievement of diversity in all academic fields.

Works Cited

Bentley-Edwards, Keisha L., and Collette Chapman-Hilliard. "Doing race in different places: Black racial cohesion on Black and White college campuses." Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 2015, pp. 43-60.

Buck, LaTanya N., and Purvi Patel. "The Roots are Racism: Historical and Current Racial Bias on College Campuses and Their (Unintended) Push on the Diversity Agenda." The Crisis of Race in Higher Education: A Day of Discovery and Dialogue, 2016, pp. 183-200.

Hero, Rodney E. "The Racial Diversity Thesis." Racial Diversity and Social Capital, 2012, pp. 48-71.

Morrison, Emory, and Douglas Grbic. "Dimensions of Diversity and Perception of Having Learned From Individuals from Different Backgrounds." Academic Medicine, vol. 90, no. 7, 2015, pp. 937-945.

Snyder, Thomas D., and Sally A. Dillow. Digest of Education Statistics 2012. US Government Printing Office, 2014.

Whittington, Keith E. "Free Speech and Ideological Diversity on American College Campuses 1." The Value and Limits of Academic Speech, 7 May 2018, pp. 47-63.