By Keara Williams, Gene McAdoo, and Tyrone C. Howard, Photo: Allison Shelley/American Education, EdSource, April 26, 2022
Despite decades of reform efforts, Black students’ educational experiences continue to be shaped by anti-blackness, the general or specific contempt for blackness, resulting in Black people not being seen as fully human and worthy of having their civil rights and humanity observed and protected.
Data on the more than 350,000 Black students in California schools suggests that we must do something different, as many are not being served well in the Golden State. Schools oftentimes are harbors for the production and maintenance of anti-blackness, consequently positioning Black students as uneducable and justifying policies and practices that are detrimental to their well-being.
Institutionally, anti-blackness manifests in how school segregation limits Black students’ access to academic opportunities that would enable them to succeed academically. Moreover, even when Black students attend integrated and resource-rich schools, their schooling experiences continue to be tainted by anti-blackness, as they are frequently the targets of lowered expectations from teachers such as being seen as lacking intellectual gifts and talents, consequently, not being recommended for gifted programs, Advance Placement and honors courses. Another area is academic tracking where Black students are overrepresented in special education and low-level classes.
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