One of the highly discussed topics in the modern world is the question of racism. Racism is still alive in America. The evidence to this fact might be seen daily. Students of color face more severe punishments at school than their white peers; many of them live in poor conditions and study at high-poverty educational facilities; lots of people of color are in prison. In the age of so-called tolerance, there must be found way how to solve this issue.
Deductive Argument
Education nowadays plays a key role in a person’s development. As a rule, today’s student groups are increasingly diverse. Usually, it appears that their teachers come from a mono-cultural, homogenous background, and as a result do not possess an experience of diversity. It leads to a lack of the competence needed for effective teaching in diverse classrooms (Van Driel, Darmody, & Kerzil, 2016). Van Driel et al. (2016) in their research gave an example of Cunningham and Hargreaves’s study, which showed that “teachers from minority groups tend to be more aware of student needs from minority communities, they can dispel stereotypes,” (p. 72) and can support and encourage greater participation in the educational process. Moreover, according to the recent report by European Commission, teachers with a minority background serve as a positive role model for students, and some other studies also confirmed the established link between teachers’ background and students’ achievement (Van Driel et al., 2016). One more example is the network of teachers from a minority group in North Rhine-Westphalia, where according to the initiative from the Ministry of School and Further Education and the Ministry of Labor more than 630 members from 40 different countries were accepted for the teaching position. The action resulted in a reduction of institutional discrimination, and similar networks have been created in seven other federal states, like Berlin, Hesse, Bavaria, and others (Van Driel et al., 2016, p. 72). It all leads to the idea that racism could be fought due to the improved educational system, where the teachers of other races could foster tolerance in students.
Explanation: The argument is deductive because the proposed premises are confirmed facts, which can be easily checked. Therefore, the conclusion, which is based on such facts, is typical of a deductive argument. The conclusion represents the truth since the mentioned facts are also true.
Inductive Argument
It is said that if people want to change the world, they should change themselves. The researcher and public sociologist Nicki Lisa Cole provided several pieces of advice on how the world can fight racism. She examined this issue at three levels: individual, community, and national. At the individual level, people should have hard conversations with themselves concerning racism and pay attention to the people, who experience personal and systematic racism. At the community level, people should not be afraid to step in and help those, who suffer from racism. They should examine the reasons, which led others to racist beliefs and eliminate such thoughts. Even a small friendly gesture or greetings to people of other races can change the surrounding’s attitude. Moreover, people can stage a protest against racism and support post-prison programs, because the heavy term of imprisonment leads to “long-term economic and political disenfranchisement” of black and Latino people (Cole, 2017, para. 20). At the national level, people can send a demand to senators or members of Congress to end racism through passing bills, the judiciary, the media, and the educational system. One more piece of advice, provided by Cole, is participation in political life, especially during the voting. If people want to end racism, they should create a government, which will consist not only of white people but there will also be the representatives of other races. These steps at all three levels will help to eliminate racism.
Explanation: The conclusion that these steps will help to eliminate racism is based on-premises, which is more likely the opinion. They reflect only the researcher’s visions but are not supported by facts, evidence, or any statistical data. They are just pieces of advice, which can either work or not. As a result, this statement might be wrong and invalid. In its turn, it leads to the conclusion, that this argument is inductive.
Moral and Ethical Principles
The arguments proposed in this paper do not contradict moral and ethical principles. The moral or ethical dilemma of racism is that some people support this practice, while others do not. According to this, racism is nothing but a judgmental issue. It is wrong and unfair that people are judged because of the way they look, skin color, eye shape, and so on. It is said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” People owe to each other to fight for equal rights and justice in society. The provided above arguments will help people to look at other races differently. These arguments will foster tolerance among people and will teach them to look for good sides in everything that is different and unknown.
References
Cole, N. L. (2017). How to fight racism: A sociological guide to being an anti-racist activist.Web.
Van Driel, B., Darmody, M., & Kerzil, J. (2016). Education policies and practices to foster tolerance, respect for diversity and civic responsibility in children and young people in the EU. Web.