The Other Elephant in the (Class)room: White Liberalism and the Persistence of Racism in Education

by Cheryl Matias, Paul C. Gorski

Overview

Purposeful, intentional racial bias poses an obvious threat to the possibility of real equity in schools. In this volume, antiracist educators explore an equally troubling, but insufficiently explored threat: the racism upheld by schools and districts that claim an antiracist commitment. These institutions perpetuate disparities by enacting that commitment through surface-level and soft diversity and inclusion goals and popular initiatives that are more equity optics than antiracism. This book asks: How is racism perpetuated through actions, programs, practices, and initiatives that might appear to be inclusion-oriented or “progressive,” but never quite get around to eliminating racism? How do these efforts pose as racial equity while protecting systems of advantage and disadvantage—creating a sort of equity inertia? The book then asks: What would antiracism look like if we enacted a deeper antiracist approach? What is a truer vision for racial equity? A diverse collection of authors apply these questions to an equally diverse assortment of programs and practices, such as trauma-informed care, social-emotional learning, restorative practices, anti-bias work in early childhood education, Montessori schooling, “inclusive” social studies curricula, and toxic positivity and “niceness” as stand-ins for racial equity.

Book Features:

• Illustrates how K–12 educators can adopt more authentically justice-oriented approaches to antiracism.
• Draws on existing theoretical frameworks such as critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and equity literacy.
• Examines concepts such as white fragility, racial battle fatigue, white privilege, and interest convergence.
• Includes a range of authors, from racial justice scholars to classroom teachers.
• Offers an engaging and accessible format that combines narrative with theoretical grounding, bridging critical analysis to visions for moving forward.

Contributors: Tracey Benson, Alina Campana, Elisabeth Chan, Lavette Coney, Jeanne Connelly, Jennifer C. Dauphinais, Addison Duane , Heidi Faust, Betty Forrester, JPB Gerald, Simona Goldin , Paul C. Gorski, Daisy Han, Debi Khasnabis, Katie Kitchens, Amelia M. Kraehe, Anna Kushner, Lindsay Lyons, Cheryl Matias, Andréa C. Minkoff, Theresa Montaño, Jenna Kamrass Morvay, Crystena Parker-Shandal, Cherie Bridges Patrick, Maria Gabriela Paz, Brianne Pitts, Chris Seeger, Greg Simmons, Daniel Tulino, Katherine Wood

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807781968
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	09/22/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Cheryl Matias is professor and director of secondary education at the University of Kentucky College of Education. Paul C. Gorski is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and author of Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap, Second Edition.

Table of Contents

Contents (Tentative)

Introduction by Cheryl Matias and Paul Gorski

Part I: White Liberalism and the Illusion of Transformative Intent

1. “Peel It Like an Onion”: A Proactive Challenge to White Liberalism Inside a Progressive Teachers Union by Theresa Montaño and Betty Forrester
Introduction
White Liberalism: Inside the Onion
“It Can’t Just Be About Racial Justice”
White Liberalism, Racial Microaggressions, and Racial Battle Fatigue
Putting Race at the Center
Racial Justice Is Social Justice Work
You Don’t See Me: Womxn of Color Are Union Leaders!
Sustaining Our Spirits With Action From White Liberalism to Racial Justice

2. The End of Altruism: Moving From White Hero Discourse to Racial Justice Praxis by J.P.B. Gerald
Introduction
Altruism and Conceptualizations of White Heroism
Altruism as Obstacle to Racial Justice
From Altruism to Racial Justice Praxis
Conclusion

3. Exposing the Other Elephant: White Liberal Discourses and the (Re)Production of Racism in K–12 Education by Lindsay Lyons and Cherie Bridges Patrick
Introduction
From Deficit Narratives to Systemic Change
White Liberalism in Action
Disproportionate Discipline and School Leadership
Disproportionate Discipline Beyond Schools
Moving Toward Racial Justice

4. How Toxic Positivity Prevents Equity for ESOL Students: Getting Uncomfortable for the Sake of Equity by Elisabeth Chan, Lavette Coney, and Heidi Faust
Introduction
Language, Race, and ESOL
Understanding Toxic Positivity and ELs
Scenarios
Conclusion

Part II: White Liberalism in Diversity, Equity, Inclusiveness, and Belonging Efforts

5. Colorblindness, White Paternalism, and the Limits of School Desegregation and Diversity Reform by Anna Kushner
Colorblindness
White Paternalism
Conclusion

6. Deploying White Liberal Anti-Racism to Avoid Accountability: Racial Appropriation in Educational Leadership by Tracey A. Benson
The Initial Training: Planting the Seeds of Discomfort
Collective Derailment: The Characters of White “Liberal” Fragility
Taking Responsibility: My Three Fundamental Oversights
A Bitter End: Weaponizing White Fragility and Enacting White Rage
A Way Forward: Changing the Paradigm
Truth and Reconciliation

Chapter 7. “We Aren’t Going There Today!”: Unpacking and Challenging White Liberalism, Racial Silence, and What Kids Are “Ready” for in the Early Childhood Classroom by Andréa C. Minkoff and Katherine Wood
White Liberalism, White Fragility, and Racial Silence
White Liberal Racial Silencing in the Early Childhood Classroom
Challenging White Liberalism, Racial Silence, and What Kids Are “Ready” for in the Early Childhood Classroom

Part III: White Liberalism in Curriculum and Instruction

8. White Teachers’ Black Historical Consciousness: Can We Teach Black History? by Brianne Pitts, Daniel Tulino, and Gregory Simmons
Can “Good” White Liberals Teach Black History?
Purpose and Definitions
Examples in Practice
From BHM to BHC
Enacting the BHC Framework
Conclusion

9. Overpromising and Underdelivering: White Liberal Narratives in Arts Education by Alina Campana and Amelia M. Kraehe
A Vignette
The “Arts Teach Social-Emotional Skills Narrative”
“The Arts Bridge Differences” Narrative
Recommendations

10. White Liberalism in the U.S. History Curriculum: Issues of Diversity and Accountability by Chris Seeger and Maria Gabriela Paz
Introduction
The Diversity Problem
Individual Versus Group Representation
The Privilege of Individuality
Avoiding Accountability
Teaching US History Through a Racial Justice Lens

Part IV: White Liberalism in Popular Programs and Initiatives

11. Liberalism to Liberation: Reimagining Montessori Education by Daisy Han and Katie Kitchens
Introduction
Dr. Maria Montessori: The Hero, Legend, and Racist
Demystifying the Deity
The White Liberal Montessori Practice
The Montessori Approach to Social Emotional Learning: An Assimilationist Tool and Weapon to Silence Discontent
White Saviorism
Co-opting Antiracism and Upholding White Supremacy
What Is Liberation?
Conclusion

12. White Liberalism, Racism, and Restorative Justice by Crystena Parker-Shandal
How RJE Reproduces Racism Through White Liberal Ideologies
Principles to Guide Antiracist RJE
Moving Forward With Authentic Efforts for Racial Justice Through Restorative Justice

13. Seeing Systems: The Case for Systemically Trauma-Informed Practice Instead of White Saviorism by Debi Khasnabis, Simona Goldin, and Addison Duane
Introduction
Understanding Systems and Trauma-Informed Practice
White Liberalism and Trauma-Informed Practice
From Savior to SysTIP
Conclusion

14. Interrupting the White Liberalism of Social Emotional Learning by Jennifer C. Dauphinais and Jenna Kamrass Morvay
Introduction
Letters
Recommendations
Conclusion

15. White Liberalism, Positive Behavior Supports, and Black, Indigenous, Students of Color: “We’re Teaching Them to Do School” by Jeanne Connelly
Whiteness and White Liberalism in Schools
Case Study: Culturally Responsive Practices and Positive Behavior Supports
Tensions Between PBIS and Culturally Responsive Practices (CRPS)
Transformative Practices: BISOC
Transformative Opportunities in Disability Critical Race Theory
Conclusion

Endnotes

Index

About the Editors and Contributors

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In this volume, Matias, Gorski, and their contributors take to task the intellectual alibi of conservatism in education. Not only is liberal bourgeois white ideology not the solution to our racial strife, but part of the problem. Eschewing analysis of white supremacy, liberal whiteness continues its missionary zeal to alleviate suffering while being an agent of it. The Other Elephant in the (Class)room challenges liberal white educators to question our deeply held beliefs in progress and freedom rooted in individual, incremental improvements. It is time for another vision of education worth the name.”
—Zeus Leonardo, author, Race Frameworks: A Multidimensional Theory of Racism and Education

“The Other Elephant in the (Class)room is the book white liberals need. Matias and Gorski challenge white liberal activists to carefully scrutinize the difference between a commitment to equity and one to equality, and to actively confront white supremacy. Savor each essay; dissect and embrace the outpouring of knowledge that guides the reader toward honest transformation and active social change.”
—Eddie Moore, Jr., founder and executive director, The Privilege Institute

“Editors Matias and Gorski, along with the contributors in this volume, make it clear: K–12 education must address the insidiousness of racism. The challenge is ensuring these efforts go beyond performative and superficial attempts and target racism at its institutional and structural core. This powerful, timely text provides a bird's-eye view of how liberal approaches to addressing racism reinforce and fail to disrupt whiteness, and offers a way forward to more authentically transformative and just practice. This book is a must-read for educators who want to understand how whiteness can undermine racial remedy, especially among those well intentioned who are most excited to undertake racial justice work. At a time when addressing racism is under attack in our nation’s schools, those of us committed to this work cannot afford to miss the mark.”
—Keffrelyn D. Brown, professor, The University of Texas at Austin and author, After the “At-Risk” Label: Reorienting Educational Policy and Practice