Performing Color-Evasiveness: A DisCrit Analysis of Teachers Discussing Racial Equity

• In Event: Disrupting Disproportionality: Implications of Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) for Teaching Toward Equity

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how white teachers use color-evasive rhetorical tools to position themselves within—or abstracted from—the disciplinary experiences of Girls of Color. This is essential to understand because exclusionary discipline is more likely to be experienced by Girls of Color than white girls (Losen et al., 2015) and has lasting negative impacts on their education trajectories (Reyes et al., 2013). Annamma, Jackson, and Morrison (2017) expanded the concept of color-blind racial ideology (Gotanda, 1991) to include color-evasiveness, which uses power to avoid acknowledging racism, effectively sustaining white supremacy. Color-evasive racial ideology has saturated education policy and reform over the last few decades (Wells, 2014). Simultaneously, data revealing racial disparities have prompted many to insist schools take action forcing teachers to acknowledge and talk about racial inequities. Therefore, this study uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to answer the question, how do teachers employ color-evasive racial ideology when discussing inequities experienced by Girls of Color?

Theoretical Framework
Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit; Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2013) acknowledges the co-construction of racism and ableism, which positions Girls of Color as unable to behave, making them more vulnerable to exclusionary discipline. Interrogating the ways systems reproduce power in schools, DisCrit recognizes the power of teacher discourse to affect the causes of disciplinary disparities for Girls of Color. Finally, utilizing DisCrit allowed us to surface hidden assumptions of what is considered normal, or good behavior (Broderick & Leonardo, 2016).

Methods and Data Sources
We used a subset of data from a larger research project that included eleven school personnel from one middle school who participated in a total of three focus groups and eight interviews. Analytically, CDA centralizes the relationships between the structures of text and talk, and the power relations reproduced through them (Fairclough, 2013; Reynolds, 2018). We used CDA to critically understand the ways teacher discourses constructed and legitimized racial inequalities within an educational context. The focus was to examine participants’ perceptions of school discipline and district- and school-level interventions to reduce inequities for Girls of Color. Data were analyzed using multiple case study methodology (Stake, 2006).

Results
Color-evasive discursive moves emerged that displayed ways white teachers use their power to avoid talking about racism. Some were the same rhetorical devices identified by Bonilla-Silva (2014), such as abstract liberalism and minimization of racism. However, our analysis revealed several new rhetorical devices specific to teachers. For example, white racial innocence was used by teachers to portray themselves and their practices as attentive to racism, even though they simultaneously claimed they did not observe racism.

Scholarly Significance
Findings provide insights into the nuances of white teacher color-evasive racial ideology, which have implications for disrupting classroom processes leading to exclusionary school discipline. Furthermore, this study reveals white teachers’ perceptions about their abilities to impact inequities faced by Girls of Color, which is essential in disrupting the school-prison nexus.

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Authors

• Courtney Lane Wilt, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

• Elizabeth Jackson, The University of Kansas

• Sylvia N Nyegenye, University of Kansas Medical Center

• Jennifer M. Wilmot, The University of Kansas

• Amanda L. Miller, Wayne State University

• Subini Ancy Annamma, Stanford University