Revealing Racial Purity Ideology

Abstract

Purpose: In this article, I explore White racial purity desire as an underexamined ideology that might help us understand the compulsion of disciplinary violence against Black boys in U.S. public schools. By pointing to the dearth of research on sexual desire as a site of racial conflict and through revisiting Civil Rights–era fears about interracial intimacy between Black men and White women, I encourage readers to consider if and to what extent fears about sexual desires remain in the fabric of our school and social lives. Proposed Conceptual Argument: I argue that in schools, White-supremacist patriarchy reproduces normative Whiteness through the continual surveillance, punishment, distancing, and removal of primarily heteronormative Black male bodies, locating its justification in protecting the bodily safety and academic achievement of heteronormative White girls. I suggest that in predominantly White desegregated schools, disciplining heteronormative Black boys represents a new policy-based campaign of institutionalized violence and intimidation that reflects a subtle, but nonetheless pernicious, White male segregationist agenda. Implications: Considering fear/desire of interracial intimacy as a lens, alongside economic and political explanations of resistance to desegregation, provides a more complete analytical framework to comprehend racial conflict and segregationism in contemporary school settings. Our collective failure to acknowledge and interrogate the ways schools produce Whiteness by seeking to protect White girls from Black boys ensures Black boys’ bodies and minds will continue to be unfairly subjected to the violence of harsh and disproportionate disciplinary measures.

Mo’ Data, Mo’ Problems: Making Sense of Racial Discipline Disparities in a Large Diversifying Suburban High School

“…She reframed her colleagues’ liberal White thinking as low expectations for Black children. She challenged White solidarity when she identified herself as a mother to bi-racial children, a move that signaled the precarious state of White racial solidarity (DiAngelo, 2011; Irby, 2014a). Her disclosure was also a performative tool of Whiteness that sexualized antiracism and therefore positioned her was adamant about the success of Black children (Picower, 2009).…”

“…These practices include thinking and proclaiming “I never owned a slave,” “racism is out of my control,” “I just want to help them,” and proposing personal remedies to structural inequities in the vein of “just be nice” (Picower, 2009) or helping others understand how to be just (Yoon, 2012). Whiteness as cultural practice is also reflected in White folks’ silence in the face of racial discomfort, avoidance of racial dilemmas, and withdrawal from situations where they feel subjected to racially motivated “attacks” (DiAngelo, 2011) or “threats” (Irby, 2014a).…”

Gendered racial boundary maintenance: Social penalties for White women in interracial relationships.

“…Limited existing evidence suggests there is a gendered disparity in Whites’ attitudes toward interracial couples as a unit, or dyadic prejudice (Lewandowski & Jackson, 2001). For example, historical records suggest that romantic relations between White women and non-White men have faced greater stigma and even violent backlash among Whites, compared with relationships between White men and non-White women (Davis, 2011; Ferber, 1999; Irby, 2014; Kaba, 2011; Kendi, 2016; Romano, 2009). At the same time, hypersexual stereotypes about African Americans have long been used to justify White men’s sexual exploitation of Black women, and violence toward Black men accused of involvement with White women (Babbitt, 2013; Davis, 2011; Harris-Perry, 2011).…”

Edifying the Body: Troubling Notions of Impact When Discussing EAQ's Intellectual Structure

“…However, this is not meant to be an exhaustive or definitive catalog of work, just some examples. Papers in EAQ have utilized socially frames to discuss; the experiences of diverse school and district administrators (Bass, 2020; Gooden, 2005; Liou & Liang, 2021; Murtadha & Watts, 2005; Rodela & Rodriguez-Mojica, 2020), practices that promote change and transformation in schools and communities (Cooper 2009; DeMatthews et al, 2021; Green, 2017; Ishimaru, 2013; Khalifa, 2012; Rivera-McCutchen, 2021; Santamaria, 2014; Tillman, 2005; Wang, 2019), critiques of law and policy (Gooden & Thompson Dorsey, 2014; Horsford, 2010; Irby, 2014; Lopez & Burciaga, 2014), and research methodology (Bertrand, 2018). All the above papers explore some nuanced dimensions of social justice and equity work, and as stated before, this is not even an exhaustive list of all the work printed in EAQ.…”