Research Paper on:
School Violence, Poverty, Racism and the Nation's Schools

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of society and everything it represents, both good and bad. They reflect the prejudices and the socioeconomic inequities that exist in both industrialized and developing nations. How these  issues affect schools provide great insight into how they impact on society as a whole, for it is in the classrooms where socialization begins and where lifelong perceptions are generated.  What students learn in schools is supposed to prepare them for life. Unfortunately, however, many of these lessons are not found on the pages of textbooks; they are  too often reactions against the racism, violence and poverty that influence behavior of students, teachers, grades, courses of study and academic environment. I. Schools and Racism In order to  gain a better understanding into how racism affects schools, it is recommended that the student who is writing about this topic first consider a definition of the term. What  sociologist Gordon W. Allport first referred to as "ethnic prejudice" back in the 1950s became known as racism during the civil rights movements of the 1960s, and is defined as,  "an antipathy based upon faulty and inflexible generalization. It may be felt or expressed. It may be directed toward a group as a whole, or toward an individual because  he (or she) is a member of that group" (Spencer, 1998, p. 25). By and large, schools have tried to lead the way in attacking this antipathy through knowledge,  which exposes the notions that reinforce stereotypes as fallacies without any type of factual basis. However, despite the most laudable efforts, racism still exists on both conscious and unconscious  levels, such as through racial slurs, slogans, verbal and physical violence (Spencer, 1998). Schools, like society, are usually comprised of a diverse ethnic mix that includes Caucasians, African Americans,