Using Critical Race Discourse Analysis to Examine Media Accounts of Black Hair Discrimination in K–12 Schools

• In Event: How Race Matters in School and Community Contexts

Abstract

As many U.S. school administrators create policies regulating hair, many neglect to consider racial differences, especially those pertaining to hair care and maintenance styles. News media outlets have recently highlighted how schools create and sustain racially biased policies in schools, demonstrating the media’s role in promoting awareness of schools’ mistreatment of Black children. This study examines media reports of these dynamics in urban-metropolitan areas in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Massachusetts. We use critical race discourse analysis to examine four recent, high-profile events of Black K-12 students’ experiences with hair policies. Analysis revealed that these students face undue discrimination due to schools’ hair policies, and that they and their families reject antiBlack constructions of Black hair care practices and styles.

Authors

• Chaddrick James-Gallaway, Texas A&M University
  Presenting Author

• ArCasia D. James-Gallaway, Texas A&M University
  Presenting Author

• Autumn A. Griffin, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author