School Choice, Racism, and the Quest for Equality

Abstract

Recent findings show that racism, as defined by biased attitudes toward blacks or members of other minority groups, has declined, at least in the USA. Concomitantly, school achievement differentials by race are less likely to be attributed to genetically inherited capabilities. Yet, despite this decline in racist attitudes, protests against racism have reached unprecedented levels. The reason for this paradox is that while racist attitudes have diminished, income and social inequality have not, and, indeed, have actually increased. Consequently, underlying racial grievances are aimed at inequality far more than racism. The key to understanding this paradox of rising inequality in the face of declining racism lies in the fact that inequality is structural, ingrained in social and economic institutions, schools in particular. In most countries, schools give wealthier children an unfair advantage, thus exacerbating inequalities rather than providing an equal opportunity to succeed on the basis of merit alone. Several countries have addressed this dilemma by providing tuition vouchers and scholarships to poorer students, allowing parents greater resources with which to choose better schools for their children. This policy of expanding school choice generally seems to be effective in addressing racial disparities.

Citation

Epstein, E.H. (2022), "School Choice, Racism, and the Quest for Equality", Wiseman, A.W. (Ed.) Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2021 (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 42A), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 135-138. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-36792022000042A011