#8: Racist Music Classes?

Both sides of the aisle are guilty of coopting certain parts of a headline in order to make a more sellable and intriguing story. While sometimes these sensationalized headlines are a means to get more clicks, the exaggeration of stories has gotten out of hand in the last few years. Fox News is one of the larger media parties that are guilty of extreme sensationalism. 

I saw a headline while scrolling through Twitter the other night, and almost did not click on the link because the title seemed so absurd. I saw that the story was creating a lot of conversation in the political world online so I decided to check it out. This article is entitled "Washington school board called out for 'absurdity' after cutting music classes for 'White supremacy'. Without reading the article, or having common sense, one may be lead to believe that the school board music classes for being racist. This is simply not true. Most of the article revolves around the outrage of the story, and comments from faculty and parents of students who disagree with the move. 

The decision by the school board was made in order to ensure that all students in the district would receive an equal education. Their research surrounded the fact that many of the more impoverished schools, mostly made up of minorities, do not receive equitable access to music classes. Due to lack of resources, funding music classes in the more impoverished schools would increase the need for staff and take time away from CORE curriculum that teachers are already struggling to get through. Giving the classes to only one group of students would further tip the scale in those white students favor, so while the music itself is not representative of white supremacy, the allocation of classes can contribute to the gap. 

However, some organizations are not interested in telling that side of the story, or breaking it down for their readers to understand. The sensationalized headline gets them more clicks and more attention, it better serves the agenda that is being pushed.