Read about what can happen when racist stereotypes play into the classroom and how it affects BIPOC students.
Edited by Emily Kuchuk
The systemic racism in the United States permeates every aspect of society, including academic institutions. When teachers and administrators fail to provide equal opportunities for minority students, discrimination against students of color begins at an early age. This prejudice against minorities in academia roots itself is a form of racism that may not be easily recognized: the racism of diminished expectations, which ultimately means that non-white people are held to a lower standard than white people.
Although the term “soft bigotry of low expectations” is often used for this form of racism, “soft bigotry” cannot really exist. Bigotry is unacceptable no matter its form, and this term makes it seem as though it is less racist than other methods of oppressing minority groups. The act of lowering one’s expectations based on someone’s race or ethnicity is detrimental to minorities as it steers educational experiences–one of the most important aspects of gaining access to opportunities in society–away from people of color.
Although the racism of diminished expectations is most conspicuous in academia, this form of racism does not only affect those in academic institutions. There are also examples of this racism throughout history, as seen in the treatment of Indigenous Peoples during Manifest Destiny and in the treatment of Indians by the British when they colonized India. In both situations, the native populations were treated as uncivilized and child-like because they were not white Christians.
Racism due to low expectations is not only an issue of the past, as in the previous historical examples, but also an ongoing issue of present and future generations. A 2002 study found that high school teachers expected 58 percent of white students to complete a four-year degree, yet expected only 37 percent of black students to do the same. This prejudice can get in the way of black students’ education: when these students are not expected to succeed to begin with, teachers offer less support and focus their attention on the students that they expect to progress successfully.
A similar study was conducted by researchers Seth Gerhenson and Nicholas Papageorge. Teachers were evaluated on their optimism for a student’s collegiate success when told either their race and financial and academic background, or just their race alone. After finding that white teachers were significantly less optimistic about a black student’s success in college compared to a white student’s, the researchers concluded:
"Students might perceive and emotionally react to low or high teacher expectations, which could benefit or damage the quality of their work. Or, they might actively modify their own expectations and, in turn, their behavior, to conform to what they believe teachers expect of them.”
The profound effect that teachers have on their students is not immune to the systemic racism present in academic institutions. The aforementioned study suggested that when teachers were made aware of any possible prejudice against students of color and had an understanding of how their expectations affect their minority students, their expectations were raised, benefitting the students previously debilitated by their teachers’ racism.
This racism extends beyond the classroom and can affect the funding and support of lower income or non-white majority schools in general. Faculty and staff in schools and universities are not immune to society’s lower expectations for non-white students. When administrators have less faith in their students’ future success, money is often funneled away from the students. Instead, administrators put money towards aspects of the school or community deemed more important.
When given fewer opportunities at an academic level, minorities have fewer opportunities in the future, and systemic racism continues throughout their lives. Fortunately, this racism can be addressed by making teachers aware of academic institutions’ trend to put students of color at a disadvantage. When made aware, teachers are less likely to lower their expectations based on the race of their students. When expectations are uncoupled from race and all students are treated as though they are expected to succeed, the chain of systemic racism can be broken at a young age.
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