Anti-Blackness, American Schooling, and the Black Middle-Class: A Comparison of U.S. Schools, Domestic and Abroad

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 12:40 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Challenging Anti-Wokeness, Defacto Segregation, and the Silencing of Black Narratives in U.S. Schools (Table 1)

Abstract

This study examines the racialization of Black American middle-class families whose children attended State Department-sponsored American international schools (SAIS) overseas, as a comparision to Black racialization in United States schools. Using narrative inquiry and an intersectional theoretical framework, the study captured the voices of five Black middle-class families. The findings reveal antiblack racism persists in SAIS despite class or national distinctions, mirroring experiences in U.S. schools. The study highlights how white normativity and antiblackness persists, with tensions and contradictions around race, class, and nation. Thus, challenging assumptions about the role of class and diversity in mitigating racial discrimination. This research suggests that addressing disparities between Black and White students requires a deeper examination of whiteness in educational structures.

Author

• Teneshia A. Taylor, Self-employed