How Anti-Blackness Operates in Schools: A Nuanced Overview

• In Event: Interrupting Anti-Blackness: Imagining the Possibilities

Abstract

Objectives: Almost 100 years ago, Woodson argued “The thought of the inferiority of the Negro is drilled into him in almost every class he enters and in almost every book he studies” (1933/2009, pg. 6). Anti-Blackness is a very particular kind of racism, one steeped in a refusal to acknowledge Black humanity and a disdain and disregard for Black lives (ross, 2020).

This presentation will chart the contours of anti-Blackness in schools. From the normative to the technical, examples of anti-Blackness appear in all corners of school. We call out how school policies, programs and belief systems are particularly hostile to Black youth. Based on research amassed in our recently published book, we categorize anti-Blackness into five main clusters, explored below.

Perspective(s)/ theoretical framework:
We model our approach on Ladson-Billings’ work in Dreamkeepers (2009). In her methodology, Ladson-Billings uses Patricia Hill Collins’s four propositions, which are based in Black feminist thought. We have adopted two of those propositions: concrete experience as a criterion of meaning and an ethic of personal accountability. With these propositions, importance is given to lived experience and expertise. We draw on this approach in honoring the work of teachers and in drawing from personal stories. The second proposition maintains that “Who makes the knowledge is as important as what those knowledge claims are” (Ladson-Billings, 1995, pg. 474). We try to be very explicit about who we are and how that influences our work when engaging in anti-Blackness work.

Methods, techniques, modes of inquiry:
Our primary technique for this session will focus on how anti-Blackness is operationalized in schools. Our framework is based on five primary clusters:

Overt hostility: concrete manifestations of racism

Ignoring Black intelligence: the inability to acknowledge Black childrens’ intellectual gifts

Omissions and Whitewashing: lack of curriculum and resources for Black children and the minimizing of racism as a topic of discussion

Athleticism over Intellect: a focus on the physical skills of Black children, often to their detriment

Adultification + Discipline: overidentification of Black children as older than they are impacting severity and duration of punishments

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials:
Data are drawn from document reviews, research from our recently published book, and our experience as teacher educators for more than 20 years.

Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view:
Our results show that anti-Blackness is ubiquitous and normalized. We argue that racism is so commonplace that White people have simply stopped noticing it.

Scientific or scholarly significance of the work:
Black children continue to go to schools in spaces where they are called the N-word, where other students refer to them as slaves and monkeys, and where their intelligence is questioned and undermined. On top of this are all the more quiet and hidden ways that bias can be conveyed, as well as the beliefs that frame Black children as not intelligent or committed to education. As the call for submissions relays, we must “unapologetically center race, racial injustice, and other forms of oppression in our work, while building spaces of emancipation, justice, and dignity.”

Authors

• Kerri A. Ullucci, Roger Williams University

• Joi A. Spencer, University of California - Riverside