Racial Stagnation: The Shortcomings of a Racial Justice Intervention in a High School

• In Event: Policy and Protest: K–12 Education in the Era of Critical Race Theory

Abstract

Schools are privilege-dependent organizations that have a vested interest in catering to the needs of higher SES white families. Yet in maintaining a societal schooling rule, one equipped with an egalitarian ethos, schools racially decouple formal commitments to equity from policy and practice. In employing organizational theories laced with critical epistemologies, we examined the protest associated with the implementation of a year-long racial justice intervention in a New York City Public High school. Our findings show that decoupling occurred through 3 emerging mechanisms 1) relationships; 2) accountability structures; and 3) policy enforcement. In conjunction, our findings, broadly, enrichen our understanding of barriers faced in the full enactment of race-based policies and initiatives within the complex organizational structures of schools.

Authors

• Jomar M. Lopes, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Dana Marie Conlin, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author