Yes, There is Racism in International Schools: A Discussion about the Black Experience in American International Schools

Abstract

American International Schools (AIS) have complex sociopolitical landscapes. In addition to educating an array of expatriate students from around the world, AIS also educate host country students who aspire for a post-secondary education in the Americas. Unfortunately, an AIS’s multicultural population often acts as a cloak, masking social injustice because it confuses diversity for anti-racism. This discussion chapter calls attention to the Black experience in AIS as well as takes this opportunity to expand the conversation on how comparative and international education (CIE) scholars can play a role shaping AIS as emancipators. Expatriate teachers and students who identify as African American or Black must navigate both foreign and domestic forms of racism in international schools. Racism is amplified in these spaces as many countries adopt Western hegemonic racial ideology as an attempt to mirror Western cultural attitudes toward African Americans or the host country has accepted racist ideology as part of its culture. Additionally, educational staff may unwittingly espouse Western racist agendas. Moreover, this chapter postulates that AIS fail to dispel entrenched beliefs about race or create safe spaces for Black students and teachers. Anecdotes from Black students and teachers in AIS will interrogate the intersection of race and hegemony situated within a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework. CRT seeks a liberatory goal to end racial discrimination and AIS are positioned to be a transformational ally. This chapter calls upon CIE scholars to consider a CRT framework thus expanding and promulgating anti-discriminatory scholarship.

Citation

Taylor, T.A. (2021), "Yes, There is Racism in International Schools: A Discussion about the Black Experience in American International Schools", Wiseman, A.W. (Ed.) Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2020 (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 40), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920210000040003