In the two videos we watched, the speakers focus on topics surrounding racism in education. The ted talk about racism in education was overwhelming for me to watch as this was my first time seeing it. The speaker talks about how the students face exclusion due to the racism they face in their place of education. This proves to me how evident the social construct of race is. Race is made up to divide humans and categorize them and to white supremacy, it is an essential social construct. Race in white supremacy determines the treatment that people deserve. Race is a social construct in the same way that gender is. We have created categories to put people in so we can make assumptions about who they are without actually knowing them. Gender does not exist in the same way that race does not. These categories are forced upon us and we begin to define ourselves and our identities by these labels.
The need to address racism in education is linked to the need to provide access to those who would not otherwise be given access. Due to history in this country, many black and brown people live in poverty and that prevents their access to higher education. When higher education is excluded to only white people, those spaces remain primarily white and in my opinion white people cannot solve racism. White people and primarily white institutions cannot change racism, when the people affected by racism are excluded from white spaces. Black and brown people need to be listened and heard for any change to come. It is incredibly simple-minded to believe that white people can fix the social constructs they have placed on minorities.