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Perpetuating Inequalities: The Role of Political Distraction in Education Policy Making
Sun, April 11, 2:30 to 4:00pm EDT (2:30 to 4:00pm EDT), SIG Sessions, SIG-Politics of Education Paper and Symposium SessionsSession Type: Symposium
Abstract
This symposium explores the role of the politics of distraction across a range of education policy areas (i.e., desegregation; affirmative action; racist symbols/statues on college campuses; trans bathroom bills; chronic absenteeism; the recruitment/retention of educators of color). Across these contexts, the prevailing discourse persistently focus on a narrowly defined set of policy solutions and often diverts attention from root causes, structural forces, and historical and contextual circumstances (Giroux, 2013, 2017; Spade, 2011). By exploring the concept of distraction across political contexts and identities—including students and educators of color, low-income students, and trans youth—this symposium endeavors to provide a space for scholars and policymakers to consider the common characteristics of policy distraction that ultimately serve to perpetuate oppressive structures.
Sub Unit
Chair
Papers
Transgender Youth in Schools: Bathroom Bills as a Distraction From Larger Structural Issues - Amy Nichole Farley, University of Cincinnati; Bethy Leonardi, University of Colorado - Boulder
White Fear, White Flight, White Mediocrity, and the Legacy of Massive Resistance Toward Brown v. Board of Education - Jamel K. Donnor, William & Mary
A Critical Race Analysis of University Responses to Racist Histories: The Limited Potential of Racial Symbols - Antar Akari Tichavakunda, University of Cincinnati
The Recruitment and Retention of Educators of Color Amid Institutionalized Racism - Ain A. Grooms, The University of Iowa; Duhita Mahatmya, University of Iowa; Ebonee Johnson, The University of Iowa
Masking Attendance: How Education Policy Ignores School Attendance for Students in Poverty - Joshua Childs, The University of Texas at Austin; Richard Lofton, Johns Hopkins University
Racial Misdirection: How Anti–Affirmative Action Crusaders Use Racial Resentment and Incomplete Conceptions of Merit to Perpetuate Racial Inequality - Malerie Beth Barnes, University of Colorado - Boulder; Michele S. Moses, University of Colorado - Boulder