The Epistemic Violence of School Shuttering: Perpetuating the Color Line in Black School Communities

• In Event: Gentrification, Segregation, and Potentials for Disruption

Abstract

Our critical case study examines how school shutterings are endemic to epistemic violence, a form of violence that silences, erases, or discredits marginalized knowledge, voices, and perspectives. Insights add to literature on epistemic violence by first operationalizing it in the context of school shuttering. By emphasizing the perspectives of Black youth and community members, we demonstrate how epistemic violence intersects with structural and cultural violence impacting the education of Black youth. Next, we situate epistemic violence within an ecological framework, layering the history, political economy, and geography of Benton Harbor onto the educational landscape. Finally, we seek to disrupt this violence by centering Black voices, lived experiences, and remedies from the community–especially youth–who have been overlooked in research and policy.

Authors

• Tonya Kneff-Chang, University of Michigan

• Camille M. Wilson, University of Michigan

• Mara D. Johnson, University of Michigan