Capitalism, the Reproduction of Racial Difference in American Education, and Black Student Resistance

The research and analysis of Capitalism, The Reproduction of Racial Difference in American Education, and Black Student Resistance comes from my experiences working for a dropout prevention nonprofit organization in Title 1 public schools with Black middle school and high school students. I observed many conflicts between Black students and school staff that were resolved by convincing students that the cultural norms and rules of the school system were objective and morally right, and therefore Black students needed to accept and obey them. From these interactions, I could see that more than academic skills were being taught in schools. The messages of success being proposed were exerting violence on the mind, body, and spirit of Black youth. I could also see that many of the ways that Black students expressed themselves in schools was not rooted in defiance or an inability to obey but in protest to the socialization that was being imposed on them. My observations of Black students reactions to school culture and the insistence on achievement has fueled my work