Operationalizing Violence: Examining Discourse in a Washington, D.C., School Closure Court Case

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable 22
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Policy

Abstract

In this paper, I re-produce data from a Washington, D.C. court case, Smith et al. v. Henderson et al., as a springboard to operationalize violence as a discursive practice and as normalized and legitimized decisions against Black students. Combining critical legal theories with qualitative research methodologies, I outline how public school consolidation policies and permanent school closure disparately impact Black students. Focusing on a recent court case in Washington, D.C.—which documents the process and legal considerations of closing 15 public schools only in Wards 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Washington, D.C. in 2013 and 2014—this paper broadly examines how violence is normalized and legitimized in a minoritized community as presented in a court case.

Author

• Rhodesia McMillian, The Ohio State University