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Breanna Edwards
February 4, 2016
The United Nations is once again tackling racism and the human rights
of black people in America, detailing several concerns, from police
brutality to mass incarceration to housing crises to the
school-to-prison pipeline.
In a preliminary statement to the media published last week, the
United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
listed its concerns over its findings of racial disparity in "almost all
the human-development indicators such as life expectancy, income and
wealth, level of education and even food security," which the experts
maintain "reflect the level of structural discrimination that creates de
facto barriers for people of African descent to fully exercise their
human rights."
And these disparities or gaps start very early in the life of black Americans, right in the school system.
"We were informed that across the country, there are police in the
schools arresting children for minor offenses. The police have authority
to detain, frisk and arrest children in school. Zero-tolerance policies
and heavy-handed efforts to increase security in schools have led to
excessive penalization and harassment of African-American children
through racial profiling. African-American children are more likely to
face harsh disciplinary measures than white children. This phenomenon
has been sadly described as 'the school-to-prison pipeline,' " the
report detailed.
The group expressed concern about the underfunding and closures of
schools in particularly poor areas with predominantly black populations,
inclusive of threats to close the Chicago State University, an HBCU.
Experts also pointed to the high level of segregation within schools,
which led to the observation about the lack of sufficient coverage of
topics such as colonization and slavery, which still impact the United
States today.
"This history, crucial in the organization of the current American
society, is taught differently by states and fails to adequately address
the root causes of racial inequality and injustice. Consequently, this
contributes to the structural invisibility of African Americans," the
report noted.
The group offered recommendations to address the several issues
outlined, including completely abolishing policing in schools and
prohibiting the use of restraint and seclusion in schools. The group
recommended that the government develop guidelines to ensure that school
discipline policies and practices are in line with international human
rights standards. It also recommended that the school curriculum in each
state "reflect appropriately the history of the slave trade."
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