Literature Review #3

Leonardo, Zeus, and Warner Norton Grubb. Education and Racism: a Primer on Issues and Dilemmas. Routledge, 2013.

Summary 
This book focuses on the relationship between education and racism which is closely accessible for students to the field of race and education. Each chapter provides a main issue or dilemma in the research on racial inequality, education and the methods that can be offered to address them. The main argument of this book is the education theme where it points out the systematic nature of racism. It surveys multiple approaches to racism and education and places them in conversation with one another, putting classical and contemporary theories together. 

Author
Zeus Leonardo is Associate Professor of Education and Affiliated Faculty of the Critical Theory Designated Emphasis at the University of California, Berkeley. Much of his work is interdisciplinary and draws insights from sociology, contemporary philosophy, and cultural studies. He engages critical theories to inform his analysis of the relationship between schooling and social relations, such as race, class, culture, and gender.



W. Norton Grubb is Professor Emeritus, David Gardner Chair in Higher Education Emeritus, and Program Coordinator, Principal Leadership Institute, at the University of California, Berkeley. His academic focus was inequality in society, particularly institutional sources of inequality. In this book, he focuses on educational themes or aspects that offer descriptions of how racism appears in discrete areas of schooling as well as specific explanations about why these areas develop the way they do.

Key Terms:" Racial inequality" : 

the social advantages and disparities that affect different races

"Funds of knowledge": 

the skills and knowledge that have been historically and culturally developed to enable an individual or household to function within a given culture

"Two-school phenomenon"

"Deserving or not deserving" 

Three Quotes

→ "As a “social construction,” race is ultimately not about people’s biological or genetic make-up, but how physical markers, such as skin color, are interpreted to mean something about human worth, intelligence, and respect. That is, skin color is transformed into a symbol that associates racial groups with characteristics that have little to do with the tone of their skin" (17).
→ "Its extreme form is summed up with the label of “uneducable,” or when students of color are deemed near impossible to educate. This is not only about an individual student’s perceived failures, but a way of constructing the racial community in which he or she belongs through an impoverished lens. The student becomes the target of competencies to which he or she must be provided access, such as valuing education, de-emphasizing immediate gratification, and respecting authority, making the situation ripe with paternalism. It is the students who must change, not the schools" (59).

→ "Modern schools are not the informal places of the 18th century, and they demand teachers, administrators, materials, and increasingly elaborate facilities. These all require money, especially as we integrate special education students, create programs for English Language Learners, install computers and multi-media centers, and provide other resources unknown even two decades ago. But such spending provides only access to schooling, not necessarily enhanced outcomes" (109).

Value 
I think this book is useful to relate the problem with international student's depression and anxiety. Racism in education plays a huge role that may cause international students to be less engaged in class or become segregated into a certain group. It would be interesting to dig into the topic and find out why and how racism is made.