Gender, Race, Class, and the Politics of Schooling in the Inner City

Abstract

The politics of gender, race, and class are present within and outside of schools, and are pivotal issues raised in the policies and practices of schooling. This article focuses on the ways in which gender, race, and class are addressed within institutional practices and politics, both historically and in contemporary inner-city schooling. I examine gender, race, and class as integrated or intersectional identities, rather than as isolated status categories. The discussion highlights experiences and perspectives of African American youth who identify as girls to depict the complex intersectional dynamics of gender, race, and class; and argues that these dynamics influence, if not dictate, the quality of their in-school and life experiences. I then identify new directions for research and practice that recognize and build upon inner-city students’ intersectional identities, urging policy initiatives that promote educational success while advancing equal educational opportunity.

The Complex Dynamics of Trust and Legitimacy: Understanding Interactions between the Police and Poor Black Neighborhood Residents

“…Poverty is indeed a primary culprit. But so are the divisions of race and class that create isolation (see also Gadsden, this volume).…”

It's Just the Wilson Way: Investigating the Extended Impact of an Elementary Full-Service Community School Initiative on Middle School STEM-Related Outcomes

“…While educational equity should be a foremost goal of policy and practice, governmental systems often fail to provide a sense of stability (OCED, 2012). In the U.S., Gadsden (2017) explained that schools across high-poverty, racially, and ethnically diverse urban communities are affected by limited financial and human resources. In this way, “not unlike society itself, students’ gender, race, and class identities give them access to opportunities or serve as barriers to academic success” (Gadsden, 2017, pp.…”

Towards a More Critical Consciousness: Race-Making, Affect, and Counter-Knowledges

“…This is increasingly complicated when accounting for racialization in the Canadian context. It is well documented that disengagement from academia 35 hinders job opportunities for Black youth, often resulting in job precarity (Gadsen 2017;Block and Galabuzi 2011;Hango and De Broucker 2007).…”

“…For Black people living in Canada in particular, they have never had equal accesses to resources (see Saney 1998;Backhouse 1999;Maynard 2017;Walcott 2018), which points to the effects of multicultural rhetoric as an apparatus of governance. Black youths' needs are often disregarded within the Canadian education system (Dei 1994), which has produced unstable involvement within the Canadian labour market, and an inability to properly understand their racialized experiences within the Canadian context, which ultimately places constraints on their participation in Canadian life (Gadsen 2017). For the youth within my study, this framework often left them with little hope for an alternative way of living together.…”