Promoting Policies for Interactional Diversity

• In Event: Public Scholarship to Foster Positive Intercultural Relations

Abstract

Critical reviews of such policies as Brown v. Board of Education at once recognize explicit legislative intentions to redress discrimination and segregation, but often reveal tangible shortcomings in the very nature and approaches to social change via mandates (López & Burciaga, 2014). The researchers will apply a contemporary lens to examine the gaps between policy intention and implementation in order to engage public education and activism as part of civic responsibilities for social justice.

The researchers aim to engage participants in the critical review of legislative approaches that have operationalized and attempted to institutionalize social justice in a variety of organizations and industries. They use archival and extant data analyses to address policy shortfalls and to identify opportunities for public education and actions to broaden inclusion and to desegregate learning communities. A review of current scholarship shows several gaps in operationalizing social change and implications that may place unequal burdens on African Americans and other disenfranchised social groups to be held accountable for social experiments which exempted other community members (Strayhorn & Johnson, 2014).

The researchers specifically consider Brown v. Board of Education and related policy assumptions that failed to address the shared benefits and protective factors targeting cross-cultural relations and collaborations. Quantitative findings draw upon national statistics and specific Department of Education survey responses to examine variances across groups by educational entrance, achievement and identities. The researchers report on differential outcomes and other informed evidence related to the unequal application of policies and law to diversify education, housing and workplaces. They also posit several questions related to legal remedies to change social norms and educational inclusion.

This session is significant in its broad-based consideration of a variety of policies and their impacts to promote social justice. The scholars apply contemporary theory and cross-cutting organizational and social change theories to support more effective action research and educational practices for future policy development.

Authors

• Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, The Ohio State University

• Royel M. Johnson, The Ohio State University - Columbus