Black, Latino Students Unfairly Treated in Schools: Study

A recent study by the Obama administration shows that both Black and Latino "hip-hop" students are disproportionately punished in urban schools.

According to lead study author Muhammad Khalifa, a Michigan State University associate professor of education, the two-year study that due to cultural behaviors and/or dress, many of these students are unfairly removed from the classroom setting.

"School culture is very hostile toward hip-hop student identifies," said Khalifa, a former Detroit school teacher who identified with hip-hop culture as a young man, via a press release. "Teachers possess an impulse to suspend or expel nontraditional students."  

As of Jan. 8, the Obama administration issued federal guidelines urging schools to abandon zero tolerance policies that many believe discriminate against minority students.

"In our investigations, we have found cases where African-American students were disciplined more harshly and more frequently because of their race than similarly situated white students," the Justice and Education departments said in a letter to school districts, according to the release. "In short, racial discrimination in school discipline is a real problem."

Khalifa's study also looks at how despite discrimination, one urban school principal worked with hip-hop students to allow them to exhibit their identities while at the same time modifying what he viewed as negative behaviors. The findings showed that low-performing students were even able to improve their academic performance.

"We now know that it is possible for students to achieve great success, academic or otherwise, all the while keeping their hip-hop identities intact," he concludes.

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More information regarding the study can be found here.