Blog #5

In the United States historically there has been discrimination against non-white students. The Latino students, while technically classified as white, have actually fallen into this discrimination, not only based on skin tone but also based on bilingual needs and abilities. According to the 2010 US Census, the Latino population of Utah was about 14.2%. While the elementary school I am at has a predominately white demographic, and is in a town of less than 500 people, there are students that attend the school that fall into other demographics. 

The Latino students in the class that I have been helping in have no language barriers and are treated the same as all the students, but if we were in the past, this might not be the case. In an article titled "The Impact of Brown on the Education of Latinos" by A. Reynaldo Contreras and Leonard A. Valverde it says "Prior to Brown v. the board of Education, the education conditions and treatments of Latinos and African Americans were very much alike." Members of both of these groups were discriminated against. In fact, the Latino population, especially on the West Coast dealt with a lot of discrimination regardless if they could speak English or not. Luckily, at the school I am helping at this does not appear to be the case anymore. From what I saw in my service learning, every student was treated the same regardless of their race. 

That isn't to say that there is no need for resources to ensure inclusion for minority races. Unfortunately at a school as small as the one I am observing I am not sure the resources are available on campus if needed. However, the school district has access to these resources if the need arises. 

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