Zaire

Elleby

April 27th, 2017

ENG 102

Dr. Wynne

Colorism Opinion Piece

The topic and tragic idea of colorism is nothing new to society. For years, people in all

communities believe that people who tend to have a lighter skin tone are treated more fairly

versus people who are darker skinned. Colorism is in our communities and its also relevant

within schools. With social media growing and reaching all parts of the world, multiple media

outlets show how African American students are disciplined and treated in school versus their

white counterparts. Although schools across the United States state in their code of conduct

that all students are treated equally, people around the world can see that this is not the case.

Jaylon Sewell is a 16-year-old high school student at Neville High School in Monroe,

Louisiana. An active leader within his church and manager of his teams football team, Jaylon

was not allowed to attend his classes because his hair style was a distraction to other

students. Ironically, at Neville High School, more than 20 students have had a similar case of

Jaylon due to school administrators deeming their hair to be too nappy. While disciplinary

practices remove students from their education and are widely used, research shows that
African American students are more likely to experience and receive more school discipline

than White Students.

Various data sources show that black students are suspended and also expelled three

times higher than white students. Schools around the United States specifically say that we

treat and discipline all of our students equally and fairly, however based on multiple data

sources it is clear that this is not the case. According to the Seattle Times, the rate at which

African American students received short term suspensions is double to their white students.

As the years have increased, so too have the suspensions. While people dont believe this is

true, the data does not and will not ever lie.

Colorism is beginning to grow as the years come and its an issue that needs to be fixed

now. Its affecting schools, communities and it has a huge negative impact on children. Children
are the future, and if being taught that light skinned or white students are treated better than

black students, then we as a society have failed and it is a shame on our part.