Countering common-sense understandings of ‘good parenting:’ women of color advocating for their children

Abstract

Commonsense understandings of school practices have historically painted parents of color as inattentive and non-participatory actors in public school settings. Racist implementations of policy and individual actions, based on teacher ideology and deficit paradigms of race, force parents of color to take an oppositional stance in public school settings. The commonsense notion of “good” parenting is countered by descriptions of how parents of color, particularly mothers, remain involved and active leaders in the lives of their children by pursuing schooling options and opposing enactments of school policies and practices that further marginalize their children. Using data from two studies in different countries, the authors explore how women of color enact racial justice by advocating for their children and preparing them to face racism in public school settings.

Keywords:

• parents
• critical race theory
• intersectionality

Notes

1. Under the construction of ‘black women’ we include women of British Indian and Black African Caribbean heritages in the UK and African American women in the US.

2. Black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds was the term used to describe British Indian and Black African Caribbean women in the UK study. Because scant research has been published on these groups separately, the experiences of these groups are included with the experiences of all BME groups. In the UK, the term ‘BME’ functions much the way the term ‘women of color’ serves as an inclusive term to describe women who are racial minorities with histories of oppression that stem from European colonization and racial oppression.

3. There is little research that has explored this group in the UK. Much of the experiences of this group are included with the experiences of all BME groups.