The Reproduction of Ignorance and Violence in America

The violence we witness against minority communities with police brutality and “accidental” fatalities are caused by fear and ignorance. When people with privilege deny the existence of the very concept of privilege itself, or systemic racism, I can only assume they have been taught to think that way. Being a sociology student, I have learned the power of socialization to be a huge factor in the reproduction of thought and one’s existence in the community.

Public education is an institution that shapes and molds the thoughts of young minds for their most important developmental years of life. The things our parents learned in school were passed down to us, and the things we learn in school will be passed down to our children, and the cycle continues.

Public grammar and high schools fail to teach children about the acceptance and tolerance of multicultural perspectives. Those concepts are saved for higher education, for people who can afford it.

Many areas that lack the kind of diversity found in New York, Los Angeles, and other multicultural meccas throughout the country do not offer racial experiences for their residents to develop the compassion needed to tolerate those that are different than them.

Areas that are high in poverty and lacking the property tax benefits of financial support for their schools are not providing the same high-quality education needed to succeed as their wealthy, mostly white counterparts; they are being socialized to live in and reproduce poverty in their community. Ignorance to these issues and ignorance to the different ways of life in America fuel fear; fear of the unknown is what underlies the feelings of hate and intolerance. Education reform is needed. Acknowledgment and awareness are always the first steps to healing and recovery. How long will we continue to push the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans aside as we choose to reproduce ignorance?