Racism and Education in the United States

Racism is alive and well in the United States. That sad fact is playing out in the nation’s public schools. Racism compromises the quality of instruction students receive (Collins, 2009; Delpit, 1995). Racism motivates many schools to adopt a culturally irrelevant curriculum to support that instruction (Ladson-Billings, 1992, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c, 1997). Racism undermines the fairness of assessments used to measure student academic achievement (Darling-Hammond, 1995). Racism erodes the quality of the formal and informal relationships students develop with peers and with the adult educators in their lives (Ogbu, 1978; Perry, Steele, & Hilliard, 2003). Racism is a potentially quantifiable phenomenon, measured through longstanding achievement gaps, gaps in disciplinary referrals, school (re)segregation, and a disproportionate number of students of color placed in special/remedial/lower tracked education. Racism is also a qualitative phenomenon—studied throughout the world as a violent and oppressive sociological, anthropological, political, economic, and educational phenomenon (Fordham, 1996; Hacker, 2003; West, 1998). Of course, even calling racism a “‘phenomenon”‘ is generous in that it makes abstract something all too concrete in the lives of too many Americans—at its core, racism is one person or a group’s expression of contempt, of hatred, of evil, of oppression toward another person or group of people—it’s important not to lose sight of that by over-intellectualizing the concept.

Teachers and educational administrators are among the nation’s best and brightest public intellectuals (Dantley & Tillman, 2006), but many of these people are also uncritical of deep-seated overt and covert racist values that shape who they are and how they teach or lead (Young & Laible, 2000).

Racism also undermines the quality of the professional and interpersonal relationships among these educators (Brooks & Jean-Marie, 2007), so it seems reasonable to suggest that the influence of racism on education is both direct and indirect. Racism comes through implicit and explicit institutions, it comes from people, from the home, from school, and from society, and most of us are part of its pervasive force by commission or omission (Brooks, 2007). Moreover, it means one thing to me and another to you; what I may think is anti-racist, you may view as the opposite. Racism is co-constructed by the oppressor and the oppressed, among oppressors and among the oppressed; and these relationships are mediated by a great many variables and factors that are constantly changing. So, in a way, no matter how hard we try, how thoughtful we may be, we are likely part of both the problem and the solution at the same time. Does it make you upset to think that you are part of the problem? Good. It makes me angry to think that I am part of the problem, too, but I accept it as part of my efforts to unlearn the racism I have been taught by society and school. 

This is an excerpt from the Introduction of my new book, Black School, White School: Racism and Educational (Mis)leadership. I am working to update my personal web site, which will have a dedicated page where you can learn more about the book if you are interested. For now, the Amazon link above is best because you can "look inside" if you'd like to read more.