Advocacy Stories: Equity Literacy Practices of White Low Income Mothers Navigating School Reform

Abstract

This article, based on collaborative ethnography, describes five low income white mothers’ equity literacy practices as they advocated for their children's diverse “failing” school during a state takeover. Mothers used both hard and soft advocacy. They promoted equity by reinforcing positive aspects of the school community, and resisting and reframing negative stories perpetuated about the school based on stigma at the intersection of race, class, and standardized educational attainment. They shared the ideal of exposing their children to “real life” by staying loyal to their school. However, their advocacy can also be understood as subtly reifying whiteness. These mothers’ stories present possibilities, and challenges, for realizing interracial solidarity that fosters and sustains equitable schooling in the United States long term.