16th Annual AERA Brown Lecture in Education Research “A Shade Less Offensive”: School Integration as Radical Inclusion in the Pursuit of Educational Equity

Abstract

The historical record reveals that in the final opinion of the landmark school segregation case Cooper v. Aaron, the U.S. Supreme Court justices intentionally used the term “desegregation” rather than “integration” to soften the ire of those opposed to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The justices believed that Southern resisters to integrations would find the former term “a shade less offensive” than the latter. In this lecture, education scholar and sociologist Prudence Carter reverses that logic and discusses why educational practices of “radical inclusion” are “a shade less offensive” today than mere desegregation in light of persistent educational disparities by race, ethnicity, and class. Carter draws on her original research and other social science evidence to show why societies marred by social and economic divides continue to struggle with the realization of integration in schools and communities. In her commentary on multiple dimensions of educational inequality, she highlights policies and evidence-based practices that have the potential to bring us closer to equity in schools and society.