Noelle Witherspoon Arnold – författare

Racism and ignorance churn on college campuses as surely as they do in society at large. Over the past fifteen years there have been many discussions regarding racism and higher education. Some of these focus on formal policies and dynamics such as Affirmative Action or The Dream Act, while many more discussions are happening in classrooms, dorm rooms and in campus communities. Of course, corollary to these conversations, some of which are generative and some of which are degenerative, is a deafening silence around how individuals and institutions can actually understand, engage and change issues related to racism in higher education. This lack of dialogue and action speaks volumes about individuals and organizations, and suggests a complicit acceptance, tolerance or even support for institutional and individual racism. There is much work to be done if we are to improve the situation around race and race relation in institutions of higher education.

There is still much work to be done in unpacking and addressing the educational realities of those who are economically, socially, and politically underserved and oppressed by implicit and overt racism. These realities manifest in ways such as lack of access to and within higher education, in equitable outcomes and in a disparity of the quality of education as a student matriculates through the system. While there are occasional diversity and inclusion efforts made in higher education, institutions still largely address them as quotas, and not as paradigmatic changes. This focus on “counting toward equity rather” than “creating a culture of equity” is basically a form of white privilege that allows administrators and policymakers to show incremental “progress” and avoid more substantive action toward real equity that changes the culture(s) of institutions with longstanding racial histories that marginalize some and privilege others.

Issues in higher education are still raced from white perspectives and suffer from a view that race and racism occur in a vacuum. Some literature suggests that racism begins very early in the student experience and continues all the way to college (Berlak & Moyenda). This mis-education, mislabeling and mistreatment based on race often develops as early as five to ten years old and “follows” them to postgraduate education and beyond.

Since the passing of Brown versus Board of Education to the election of the first Black president of the United States, there has been much discussion on how far we have come as a nation on issues of race. Some continue to assert that Barack Obama’s election ushered in a new era—making the US a post-racial society. But this argument is either a political contrivance, borne of ignorance or a bold-faced lie. There is no recent data on school inequities, or inequity in society for that matter, that suggests we have arrived at Dr. King’s dream that his “four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Children today are instead still judged by the color of their skin, and this inequitable practice is manifest in today’s schools for students of color in the form of: disproportionate student discipline referrals, achievement and opportunity gaps, pushout rates, overrepresentation in special education and underrepresentation in advanced coursework, among other indicators (Brooks, 2012). Though issues of race in the public education system may take an overt or covert form; racial injustice in public schools is still pervasive, complex and cumulative. For example, many students of color, year after year, do not have access to “good” teachers, experience low staff expectations, and are subject to “new and improved” forms of tracking (Brooks, Arnold & Brooks, in press).

The authors in this book explore various ways that racism are manifest in the American school system. Through a plurality of perspectives, they deconstruct, challenge and reconstruct an educational leadership committed to equity and excellence for marginalized students and educators.

While nation engages in debates concerning central issues of religion and religious diversity in education, the historic saliency of religion and spirituality in the Black community and in the education of its children continues to be largely ignored. Historically, religion and spirituality were foundational to the development and understanding of social justice issues, including, but not limited to, issues of protest, community up-lift, notions of care, and anti-oppression. Taking into account the historical significance of religion and spirituality in the Black community, it is essential for education scholars to cultivate these long-standing connections as a means for advancing contemporary struggles for social justice, religiosity in education, and counter-hegemonic praxis. The purpose of this book is to expand our understanding of spirituality and religion as related to the p-20 schooling of Blacks students.

Educational scholarship continues to explore the workings of social justice to ameliorate inequities for those who have not been well served in schools. Although the concept of social justice remains a somewhat inchoate term in educational literature, this book seeks to explore the historicity of religion and spirituality while offering a scaffold that links ordinary everyday acts of justice, religion, and spirituality in education to a culture that systematically and institutionally assaults the worth of Black students. It is important to note that this book is grounded in a broad concept of religion and spirituality and the editors seek to be inclusive of all types, styles, and traditions of religiosity and spirituality.