Analyzing Harm, Power, and the Possibilities for Redress: An Intersectional Analysis of Civil Rights Complaints

• In Event: Enforcing Equity in PK-12 Schools: An In-Depth Examination of the Office for Civil Rights

Abstract

Purpose
Despite increasing efforts to promote equity in education, far-reaching inequities persist (Lewis & Diamond, 2015). Because these issues are systemic in nature, it is necessary to implement strategies at the federal, state, and local levels (Lewis & Muñiz, 2023). Federal civil rights enforcement through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is one mechanism to help to address these inequities, depending on how enforcement activities are enacted. The mission of OCR “is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights” (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.).
During the 2017-18 school year, 34,910 students reported harassment on the basis of either race or disability. Of those students, 9,897 students alleged discrimination based on disability, 4,052 (41%) were students of color. Of the 25,013 students who reported harassment on the basis of race, 4,157 (17%) were disabled students (Civil Rights Data Collection, 2017- 2018). Although a report does not equate to a finding of harassment, the reports show that the issue of harassment is pervasive and the interplay between race and disability is noteworthy.
We are interested in the complaint investigation process as a policy mechanism to address inequities. Specifically, we are interested in how, if at all, the complaint process promotes sustainable, systemic, intersectional change related to harassment (race and disability).
Theoretical Framework
To frame our analysis, we employ a lens of intersectionality introduced by critical legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw and other Black feminist scholars who theorized an understanding of the multiple, confluential systems of oppression and discrimination. Our document analysis is also guided by Disability Critical Theory (DisCrit) (Annamma et. al, 2013), particularly its emphasis on “the ways that the forces of racism and ableism circulate interdependently, often in neutralized and invisible ways, to uphold notions of normality…and the legal and historical aspects of dis/ability and race and how both have been used separately and together to deny the rights of some citizens” (p. 11).
Data Sources and Methods
Data sources are publicly available decision letters and resolution agreements that 1) include allegations of disability-based harassment, 2) feature any form of racial discrimination, whether in the harassment (language) or occurrences (actions) in the initial complaint or district responses, 3) occurred within the PK-12 context. Critical Discourse Analysis was selected as an analytical tool for document review due to its ability to uncover complex manifestations of systemic inequities situated within hierarchical structures of schools and districts.
Results and Significance
Our review evidenced racial and disability harassment and discrimination, enacted through systems, district personnel, and peers. Few remedies reflect robust measures at the individual and systems levels. At the macro policy level, this review underscores the need for explicit and meaningful use of intersectionality within OCR’s complaint investigation process and at the micro policy level. Implications for policy, research, and practice will emphasize consideration of intersectional oppression as a proactive framework for school districts, to protect disabled students of color.

Authors

• Maria Lewis, Pennsylvania State University

• Lydia L Ocasio-Stoutenburg, Pennsylvania State University