Blacklisted: Racial Bias in Schools Today and What YOU Can Do About It

Dr. Diane Kern, Associate Professor, Education, and URI and Rhode Island School Activists. Alarmed by perceived increases in weapons, drugs, and gang activity in the 1980’s, educators began incorporating zero tolerance policies to send a message that certain behaviors would not be tolerated. Implicitly targeted at certain groups, zero tolerance in the schools seeks to severely punish major and minor infractions through the disproportionate use of out‐of‐class suspensions. Nationally, research indicates that blacks and Latinos receive considerably more out‐of‐class suspensions than whites at all levels from preschool to high school; tend to be judged more severely for the same class of infractions; and are more likely to be impacted by policies that funnel children from school to prison. Yet research also demonstrates that zero tolerance policies do not increase in school safety. In Rhode Island, black and Latino students comprised 30% of the student population in 2013, but received over 50% of the suspensions. As black students were suspended at the While white students were inclined to be suspended for serious infractions, students of color were subjectively suspended for excessive noise, insubordination, disrespect, and disorderly conduct. This workshop presents activist perspectives on the racial disparities in the school system and proposes strategies for correction