Becoming an Antiracist Leader: Understanding the Nexus of Race, Politics, and Neoliberalism in Everyday Leadership

• In Event: Critical Views and Leadership: Understanding, Analyzing, and Acting

Abstract

Our schools are in desperate need of anti-racist educational leaders who are prepared to face the political complexity and uncertainty that will undoubtedly occur when they advance racial equity in their school communities. In this paper, we discuss a theoretical framework in which to understand how the current sociopolitical contexts exacerbate a racialized market-oriented state in urban educational systems that has been in existence in the U.S. for the last several decades. Specifically, through an analysis of urban school districts, we illustrate how the racialized market-driven educational policy context disguised as color-evasive impacts school leaders’ practices. We emphasize the importance of moving away from discussions focused solely on color-evasiveness or neoliberalism as market-based policies and practices are racialized.

Authors

• Sarah Diem, University of Missouri

• Sarah Wenneker Walters, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Anjale DeVawn Welton, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Shannon Paige Clark, University of Illinois at Chicago