The Theory of Racial Formation
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The Theory of Racial Formation
The theory of racial formation applies in school to prison pipeline. The theory suggests that society is racial when it reproduces dominant structures based on the categories of race. According to Omi and Winant (2015), culture is racially structured and ruled. Exposure of the society to racial projects, results in learning the version of racial classification rules and they end up having their unique racial identity. Therefore, society’s identity forms a way of comprehending, explaining things, and acting without being taught. Thus, what the society believes, forms their view on racial meanings, and society’s decisions depend on their understanding of race and their knowledge.
The school to prison pipeline denotes the tendency to refer to lawful persecution of learners for committing certain offences while at school. Institutions create surroundings where students are involved in the criminal justice system by eliminating them from schools (Stopping school to prison pipeline). The exclusion results in the student of color are desperately pushed out of school. In some cases being put into prison where they undergo harsh punishments. Students’ exposure to unjust sentences culminates in what society classifies as racism. The community has a unique classification of how students of color are treated in their institutions (Omi and Winant 2015). For instance, the term “students of color” gains meaning as people have learned how to comprehend and explain the injustices subjected to black people. Hence, the society relies on the racial categories to define and navigate racial issues and injustices the students of color are experiencing.
The theory works best in school to prison pipeline, as the society has formed racial interpretations that make them believe students of color are experiencing harsh punishments. They have organized their thoughts and beliefs into believing that school to prison pipeline punish students of system punishes students of color; hence racial formation arises from what they are thinking.
References
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. [1986] 2015. “The Theory of Racial Formation” In Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s, third edition, Pp. 103-136. New York, NY: Routledge.
Stopping the School-to-Prison Pipeline July 25, 20147:04 PM ET Heard on Latino USA.