A Critical Race Analysis of Race-Neutral Policy-Making Processes: Institutionalizing Injustice Through Ethnic Studies–Related Policy

• In Event: Doubling Down on Critical Theory: Critical Policy and Discourse Analyses of Education Law and Policy

Abstract

Using a qualitative critical race policy analysis methodology, this paper examines the discursive practices leveraged to eliminate the RAZA MAS Ethnic Studies program—an initiative found to minimize disparities in educational outcomes across racial lines. Preliminary findings suggest proponents justified this policy by framing the RAZA MAS program and affiliates as a ‘threat’ to Arizona students and community members. Disguised in the language of ‘opportunity’ and ‘equity,’ political stakeholders employed race-neutral terminology to institutionalize injustice in Arizona public schools. These findings point to the deleterious power of ostensibly race-neutral policymaking processes in systemizing, sustaining, and extending racial injustice. These insights can inform justice-seeking policymaking processes that aim to support the liberation efforts of BIPOC students and their communities.

Author

• Ambar Hernandez Negrete, University of California - Davis