The Historical Pattern of Black Erasure: How Whiteness Operates as Property in State Education Policy

• In Event: Teaching Under Surveillance: Censorship, Book Bans, and the Struggle for Educational Freedom

Abstract

This article theorizes and conceptualizes how whiteness has historically functioned as a property within state-level education policy through strategies of Black erasure. Grounded in critical race theory, it begins by examining the tenet of whiteness as property, then presents critical policy analysis as the guiding methodological approach. The analysis examines legislation from five historical examples of state-level education policy: slave codes, anti-literacy laws, Jim Crow laws, multicultural education bans, and educational gag orders. Collectively, these cases demonstrate how whiteness has consistently shaped the origins, language, and structure of education policy, ultimately reifying educational inequality. The article then proposes a framework for recognizing Black erasure in state-level education policy and concludes by exploring the broader implications of the term.

Authors

• Logan Johnson, The Integrity Line

• Amy N. Farley, University of Cincinnati