"Nevertheless, They Persisted": Black High School Students Resisting Educational Racial Equity "Reform" and Redefining Success

• In Event: “Surviving” White Supremacy: Students of Color Realizing Dreams and Imagining Possibilities in Spite of Challenge

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how Black high school students, placed in varying academic tracks, resist equity reform in their school and demonstrate resilience in spite of a white supremacist school structure that threatens their survival and success. Critical Race Theory is employed to analyze data collected from seven interviews. Findings suggest Black students may actively resist reform efforts in order to shape their own narratives of success. Consequently, racial disparities in academic placement persist and Black students, intentionally or not, become complicit in the reproduction of a white supremacist educational structure. This study draws attention to how students, when not properly engaged as stakeholders, can undermine equity efforts, impact desired outcomes through resistance, and redefine success.

Author

• Ivory Marcel Berry, George Mason University