Critical Race Theory Summary

This article focused on the concerns of parents of color and how to build a relationship within the school and community.” It is important that school personnel work with parents as educational partners to create an environment where children can thrive and achieve academically” (Yull, Blitz &Murray, 2014). The study showed how parents of culture feels disengaged and disconnected from their community and schools. With out the support of the schools and community the child’s success will always be a result of failure. This study used the Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the framework to examine the experiences of black middle class families with their children schools. “CRT provides the analytical power to explain the persistence of racism in …show more content…
The themes included the following: (a) lack of cultural enrichment for families of color, (b) isolation in the community, and (c) experiences of colorblind racism and cultural ignorance. For lack of cultural enrichment for families of color the parents found that the community they lived in did not offered any enrichment opportunities such as museums and live theater that focused on the African-American culture and none of the programs are ready existing addressed any of the culture needs. The parents are forced to teach them about their culture themselves and have no support from the community. In order for their children to learn about their culture the parents created and provided culturally relevant experiences, however the concern that the parents had was the fact that some parents may not have the means to create these experiences if it not offered with their …show more content…
The parents had an overall positive attitude toward their children schools. They shared how they felt that the curriculum was strong and how some teachers and other school personnel provided great support to students and their families.
On the negative side of things, parents did express how they felt that the schools were not culturally competent. “According to these families, the schools did not seem to understand the population of the students that they are educating” (Yull, Blitz &Murray, 2014). An example was given about a boy who was of Muslim faith and not being allowed by the teacher to find a private space to go to and pray. Another example given by a parent was a teacher telling her students that slavery had to happen in order to raise up the foundation of America.
Stereotyping also came back up in the results as it relates to the schools and school district. Parents felt as though school personnel stereotyped children of color which in turn set them up for failure. Parents expressed how teachers would lower academic expectations due to the fact their student was of color. The suspension rate for students of color was higher when compared to other students and they were given harsher punishment. Parents felt that they were also being stereotyped because of the color of their skin. A lot of times they were being viewed as uneducated and treated with hostility.

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