Educational Policy and the Cultural Politics of Race

Critical Questions in Education, 2016

In this paper, I utilize three tenets of Critical Race Theory in education—racism is normal, whiteness as property, and interest convergence—to illuminate the overt and covert ways racial inequity is preserved in the contemporary climate of public schooling and corpora-tized education reform efforts, as well as the particularly troubling situation wherein communities of color have repeatedly been promised educational improvement and enrichment , but have rarely received it. I then attempt to connect what is with what might be, using Derrick Bell's theory of racial realism as a tool for understanding the very potent reality of this situation and how students, parents, educators, communities, activists and scholars can and do confront this reality as a form of empowerment in itself, and as such, can enact change.

2002

Abstract: This report discusses a study examining the impact of race on education policy decision-making. Though focusing primarily upon the process of change within schools, it also sought to understand the broader social and political context affecting reforms. The ...

Educational Review, 2017

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Review of Research in Education, 2007

D oes race (still) matter in educational discussions, analyses, and policies? This question seems to be a perennial that comes and goes, is hidden and reemerges, but is consistently (if implicitly) present. Consider, for example, educators' and educational researchers' concerns with assimilation, civilization, vocational training, IQ, poverty, cultural difference, remedial education, school readiness, achievement gaps, accountability, and standardization-all of these conversations were and still are intimately connected to race and racism regardless of whether we name them as such. Although the scholarship on race in education is vast, we attempt to review some of the most pressing and persistent issues in this chapter. We also suggest that the future of race scholarship in education needs to be centered not on equality but rather on equity and justice. It is important in this chapter for us to outline what we mean by equity and equality and to explicate the differences in these terms. In the areas of race and education, "commonsensical" uses of these terms have been conflated. Within popular discourse, what is meant by equality is the same thing as what is meant by equity, and having equal resources for schools means that the schools are equitable, fair, and equal. But we understand these terms and their relationship differently and suggest that notions of justice must be intimately connected with these terms for equity and equality to have meaningful emphases. By equality, we mean sameness and, more specifically, sameness of resources and opportunities. This concept of equality is the long-term goal of a just society: children, regardless of race, socioeconomic class, or gender, should have access to the same

The author, a White gay man, utilizes a critical race theory lens to analyze historical precedents of race based educational policy as a way to further expand his understanding of the systemic nature of racism within the context of the American educational system and to make connections between his lived experiences in a low performing, high poverty public high school. Tracing policies from Plessy v. Ferguson to Gratz v. Bolinger, the author presents a historical analysis of policy to create a framework through which he analyzes and makes connections to present day affirmative action practices in higher education admission policies. Detailing the resegregation of America's school systems through white flight and gerrymandering, the author examines concepts of Whiteness and the ways in which Whiteness is coded as racially neutral within policies. Concluding, the author argues that more attention should be paid to the connections between K-12 policies and higher education admissions policies that are centered upon race.

Equity & Excellence in Education, 2002

What can critical race theory, a movement that has its roots in legal scholarship, contribute to research in education? Plenty, as it turns out. Much of the national dialogue on race relations takes place in the context of education--in continuing desegregation and affirmative action battles, in debates about bilingual education programs, and in the controversy surrounding race and ethnicity studies departments at colleges and universities. More centrally, the use of critical race theory offers a way to understand how ostensibly race-neutral structures in education--knowledge, truth, merit, objectivity, and "good education"--are in fact ways of forming and policing the racial boundaries of white supremacy and racism (Roithmayr, 1999, p. 4).

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2013

Hartlep, N. D. (2011, September). Critical Race Theory Matters: Education and Ideology by Margaret Zamudio, Caskey Russell, Francisco Rios, & Jacquelyn Bridgeman. The International Journal of Educational Policies, 5(1), 47-51.

2018

Teaching students about race and racism is so multi-faceted and complex, yet it remains the most pivotal conversation and lesson to have with young people to empower them. One of the effective ways Americans can attempt to unravel and transform this complex legacy is to make it a part of a school’s curriculum. Allowing race and racism to remain a hidden-aspect of a school’s curriculum reinforces its trivialization and dysfunction. Indeed, having constructed, well-thought-out lessons about race and racism “myth-bust” any attempts for future Americans to continually embrace xenophobia and genetic inferiority. In recent years, the institution of education and schooling has shown progress changing young people’s mindsets toward the LGBTQ community, diverse learners, and disabled citizens. Why has this slowly occurred with changing people’s ideologues when dealing with race and racism? It is because educators, typically, find it difficult to broach this sensitive subject within their sch...

The Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2021

My thanks to all at Race and Pedagogy Journal for inviting me to review and comment on the articles accepted for the special issue. I'm in the concluding years of a career spanning more than fifty years during which so very much of my teaching, research and scholarship, and administrative involvements and services have been devoted to critical explorations of race matters in higher education, in the encompassing historically informed socio-political, economic, and cultural environments as well: that is, explorations intended to produce understandings that accounted for the who, what, when, where, how, and why of "race" matters, and that provide guidance for efforts to remedy race-affected conditions that have been, are, invidious to human well-being. It has been especially rewarding reading the accepted articles and thereby bearing witness to the important stature that Race and Pedagogy Journal has garnered as a venue for scholarship explicitly dedicated to critical explorations of race matters affecting pedagogy in higher education. While the Journal is by no means the first to explore such matters-the pioneering efforts of, among others, Carter G. Woodson (Journal of Negro Education) and W.E.B. Du Bois (Crisis Magazine) are to be remembered-to the best of my current (limited) knowledge it is a surviving venture among many launched during the past half-century that has been sustained and become an important medium for teacher-scholars of a critical temper: that is, persons with grounding and guiding concerns for the well-being of faculty, students, and administrators of African descent, in particular (though not exclusively); persons who are committed to crafting research-based articulations as contributions to national and international communities of discourse regarding teaching and learning, curricula, research and scholarship, institutional organization. The Journal is thus influential, for it is evident in the accepted articles that, to an important extent, the authors have forged critical orientations to their own pedagogical practices, to their agendas and commitments grounding and guiding their teaching and institutional involvements. Widely shared across the articles are commitments to anti-racism; to opposition to institutionalized

Teaching Race and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America, edited by K. Haltinner. New York: Springer , 2014

Though popular belief and social science analyses often assert the racial tolerance and liberality of institutions of higher education and the white students who attend them, our research reveals young, educated white students’ everyday lives are anything but racially neutral. We pull back the curtain on these “post-racial” assumptions by presenting journal data collected from white students around the U.S. over many years now. Our data documents that racist performances are a normal, habituated part of most white students’ social worlds. Nonetheless, we also find that asking students to research and write about their own lives in the context of instruction that addresses the critical realities of systemic racism can be a powerful educational tool. We explore the limits of mainstream educational and multiculturalism approaches in probing the deep realities of systemic racism; address the challenges of confronting our white students’ deeply embedded racial framing; and characterize strategies progressive, antiracist educators should consider in developing a race critical pedagogy for white students.

The Educational Forum, 2013

Critical race theory (CRT) views education as one of the principal means by which white supremacy is maintained and presented as normal in society. The article applies CRT to two real-world case studies: changes to education statutes in the state of Arizona (USA) and the introduction of a new measure of educational success in England, the English baccalaureate. The analysis highlights the globalized nature of neoliberal education reform and its fundamentally raced and racist character.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 2023

Race and education are intrinsically inseparable. Throughout U.S. history, race and racism have shaped the epistemological conversation about educational issues and impacted the structure of the education system. Indeed, as a significant component of society, education plays a vital role in shaping and maintaining the social and racial hierarchies (Connell, 1993). Despite discussions about diversity and equity among educators and policymakers, education in the United States has become increasingly selective, disciplinary, and discriminatory over the years. On one hand, Asian and white students have historically been overrepresented in elite institutions (e.g., Poon et al., 2019). This overrepresentation has been the subject of much debate and controversy, with some arguing that it reflects the high levels of educational achievement exhibited by these groups, while others suggest that it is a manifestation of racism in the contemporary U.S. society. Yet, Asian and white families continue competing for access to elite institutions and facing tensions from their divergent parenting practices. Ultimately, for many Asian and white families who seek to hoard educational advantages for their children, they are caught in a race at the top of society.

2006