How Racism Affects Children of Color in Public Schools

Date:
Author:
Nadra Kareem Nittle

Institutional racism doesn’t just affect adults but children in K-12 schools as well. Anecdotes from families, research studies, and discrimination lawsuits all reveal that children of color face bias in schools. They’re disciplined more harshly, less likely to be identified as gifted, or to have access to quality teachers, to name but a few examples.  Racism in schools has serious consequences—from fueling the school-to-prison pipeline to traumatizing children of color.