Working Towards Ending Racism

Jennifer Harvey's: "Raising White Kids:  Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America is a book that parents and non-parents should both read!    Harvey clearly explains why: "I don't see race.   I look at everyone equally" is a belief that supports continued systemic racism most effectively. She also clearly explains that while an approach seeking and supporting diversity is also not effective in ending racism.   "But nonracism is not the same thing as antiracism.  It is important to combat stereotypes and biases.  But in any context where racism and racial injustice already run rampant, nonracism isn't enough to create equity or justice." (p.19) Harvey gives numerous, effective examples, often from her parenting her two daughters, to show both effective and ineffective strategies.   She talks a lot about Children of Color and their parents and how commonly they lack the choices that white parents have.   Their children face racism all th

This book should be particularly of interest to Chicago Area readers, because the "Riverview" High School is clearly Evanston Township High School.   The book is excellent and well-worth reading Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools , by Amanda E. Lewis and John B. Diamond, Oxford University Press, $27.95, ISBN: 978-0-19-534272-7 This case study of black and white students at an affluent suburban high school examines a range of critical issues in race and education, revealing insights that can be further explored in subsequent studies. While hardly the final word on these questions, it also highlights issues that can be useful for practicing educators. Despite the attention devoted to high-poverty schools, only about one in five African American secondary students attend such institutions. The rest are in schools with varying degrees of integration and affluence, with one in eight attending low-poverty high schools. Lewis and Diamo