Racism in Schools

During the last couple of decades, research and scholarship by Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Lawrence Bobo, Mica Pollock, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Daniel Solorzano, Zeus Leonardo, and others indicate that institutional racism is pervasive in U.S. society, including schools. The government has taken steps to ameliorate its effects, including federal initiatives such as No Child Left Behind. Racism has a long history, from the formal inception of the nation to its daily, even mundane, maintenance. From the New Deal to affirmative action programs, social reform efforts have had to struggle against racism's seeming intractability. Schools are no different as educators are challenged by racially based gaps and disparities. Indeed, the ubiquitous phrase achievement gap is understood as shorthand for racially based disparities in education. Racism is ...