Within our educational institutions today, supremism (racial superior attitudes) are a function of how schools enforce discipline, use standardized tests, select curriculum and texts, and of teacher attitudes. To illustrate the expression of supremism in American schools today, in Study 1, the authors instructed European American 4th-year teachers-in-training to estimate the grade point average (GPA) and IQ of four African American or four European American children. The GPAs and IQs of the African American children were estimated to be significantly lower than those of the EuropeanAmerican children. Study 2 showed that the racial attitudes of European American student teachers predicted their evaluation of and the pleasure they derivedfrom reading a short story or a poem supposedly written by an African American author It was concluded that old-fashioned racism remains afundamental problem at all grade levels in American schools today.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aboud, F.
(1989). Children and prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
2.
Asher, S. R.
, & Allen, V. L. (1969). Racial preference and social comparison processes. Journal of Social Issues, 25, 157-167.
3.
Beez, W. V.
(1969). The Black community as the source of positive self-concept for Black children: A theoretical perspective. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), Black psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
4.
Britton, G.
, & Lumpkin, M. (1983). Interracial books for children. Bulletin, 14(6), 4-7.
5.
Brown, G.
, & Johnson, S. P. (1971). The attribution of behavioural connotations to shaded and white figures by Caucasian children. British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology, 10, 306-312.
6.
Corenblum, B.
, & Wilson, A. E. (1982). Ethic preferences and identification among Canadian Indian and White children: Replication and extinction. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 14, 50-59.
7.
Cose, E.
(1993). The rage of the privilege class. New York: Harper-Collins.
8.
Eddings, J.
(1995). The covert color war. U.S. News and World Report, (119), 40-44.
9.
Feagin, J. R.
, & Feagin, C. B. (1986). Discrimination American style (2nd ed.). Malabar, FL: Robert E. Kreger.
10.
Giovanni, N.
(1994). Racism 101. New York: William Morrow.
11.
Good, T.
, & Brophy, J. (1972). Behavioral expression of teacher attitudes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 63, 617-624.
12.
Hale-Benson, J.
(1989). The school learning environment and academic success. In G. L. Berry & J. K. Asamen (Eds.), Black students: Psychological issues and academic achievement (pp. 83-97). London: Sage.
13.
Herrnstein, R. J.
, & Murray, C. (1993). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: Free Press.
14.
Kagan, J.
(1971). Preschool enrichment and leaming. Interchange, 2(2), 12-22.
15.
McAdoo, H. P.
, & McAdoo, J. L. (1985). Black children: Societal, educational, and parental environments. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
16.
McConahay, J. B.
, & Hough, J. C. (1976). Symbolic racism. Journal of Social Issues, 32, 23-45.
17.
McDermott, T. R.
(1987). Achieving school failure: An anthropological approach to literacy and social stratification. In G. Spindler (Ed.), Education and cultural processes: Anthropological approaches (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
18.
Palardy, J. M.
(1969). What teachers believe-what children achieve. Elementary School Journal, 69, 370-374.
19.
Pidgeon, D. A.
(1970). Expectations and pupil performance. Washington, DC: National Federation for Educational Research.
20.
Richman, C. L.
(1991, June). Estimates of achievement as afunction of race. Paper presented at the First International Congress on Prejudice, Discrimination, and Conflict, Jerusalem, Israel.
21.
Richman, C. L.
(1994, June). Predictors of prejudice and its relationship to the evaluation of literature. Paper presented at the Second International Congress on Prejudice, Discrimination, and Conflict, Jerusalem, Israel.
22.
Richman, C. L.
(in press). Racism in the 90's: Race-ing to the year 2000. In R. Hoffman, M. Sherrick, & J. Warm (Eds.), Psychology beyond the threshold: A Festschriftfor William N. Dember. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Books.
23.
Richman, C. L.
, & Brown, K. P. (1986). Minimal competency testing: An analysis of three remediation methods. Journal of Special Education, 20(1), 103-109.
24.
Richman, C. L.
, Brown, K. P., & Clark, M. (1987). Personality changes as a function of minimal competency test success or failure. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 12, 7-16.
25.
Richman, C. L.
, Clark, M., & Brown, K. P. (1985). General and specific self-esteem in late adolescent students: Race x gender x SES effects. Adolescence, 20(79), 555-566.
26.
Rosenthal, R.
, & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
27.
Rubovitz, P. C.
, & Maehr, M. L. (1973). Pygmalion Black and White. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25(2), 210-218.
28.
Simms, R. L.
(1978). Correcting textbook bias: An approach that works. Clearing House, 51(9), 426-427.
29.
Sizemore, B. A.
(1985). Pitfalls and promises of effective schools research. Journal of Negro Education, 54(3), 269-288.
30.
Swim, J.
, Borgida, E., Maruyama, G., & Myers, D. G. (1989). Joan McKay versus John McKay: Do gender stereotypes bias evaluations?Psychological Bulletin, 105(3), 409-429.
31.
Vaughn, G. M.
(1964). The development of ethnic attitudes in New Zealand school children. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 70, 135-175.
32.
West, C.
(1994). Race matters. New York: Random House.
33.
White, J. L.
(1984). The psychology ofBlacks: AnAfro-American perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
34.
White, J. L.
, & Parham, T. A. (1990). The psychology of Blacks: An African-American perspective (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
35.
Woodmansee, J.
, & Cook, S. W. (1967). Dimensions of verbal racial attitudes: Their identification and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7(3), 240-250.
36.
Wooldridge, P.
, & Richman, C. L. (1985). Teacher's choice of punishment as a function of a students' gender, age, race and IQ level. Journal of School Psychology, 23, 19-29.
