Shadow Resistance: White Parents' Resistance to School Desegregation Initiatives in the Seattle School District, 1950–2007

• In Event: The Politics of Race, Place, and Gender

Abstract

This paper explores the history of white resistance to school desegregation initiatives in Seattle School District from 1950-2007. It scrutinizes the racially segregationist practices in the American Northwest and contextualizes them with those explored by historians and education researchers of the American South, which has defined the historiography but overlooked the politics and projects of racialization that developed in other regions of the country. This research examines the history and politics behind the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling in Parents Involved in Community Schools vs. Seattle School District. By understanding white resistance to racial justice initiatives in the past, social justice-minded educational leaders and policymakers will be more equipped to defend education policies to promote equitable educational opportunities in the present.

Author

• Nathan Tanner, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author