As a future educator, the pitfalls of the lack of social justice in the classroom will always be present for me. The problems of race in the classroom have never ceased to be a problem in the classroom, even thought the fight for social justice in the United States started almost 100 years ago. In the United States educational system, black students are three times more likely to be expelled from the classroom than white students.
With these injustices still present in the classroom it is our job as English educators to work against this social norm through our subject material. One of the best ways to do this is to show gross exaggerations of the horrors of racism throughout literature. One of the most classic texts that provides good material to this end is Heart of Darkness. This book truly captures the horrors of imperialism where the ‘white man’ takes it upon himself to ‘take care of his black brothers.’ In reality, there always are terrible imperialists who take advantage of their race and enslave the natives of Africa and treat them worse than slaves.
During this same time period, there was a poem entitled ‘The White Man’s Burden’ which was a terrible piece of poetry that told the Americas to do what they though was right for the nations they had just taken in the Spanish-American War. Once explained, this poem will truly haunt the readers as it shows the arrogance held by true racists.
Perks of the Job 