‘Sometimes I feel like the problems started with desegregation’: exploring Black superintendent perspectives on desegregation policy

Abstract

This paper is drawn from a larger qualitative study that explores the perspectives of eight retired Black school superintendents who personally experienced segregated schools as students and subsequent desegregation efforts as administrators. Unlike much of the mainstream literature that extols the virtues of desegregation for Black children, their accounts tell a very different story. Their reflections suggest that although they ‘got what they fought for,’ they ‘lost what they had’ and that many of the problems attributed to Black education today ‘started with desegregation.’ This study adds to the growing literature that interrogates the widely accepted assumptions that desegregation resulted in significant educational progress for Black children. Further, the perspectives of Black superintendents, which are often missing or forgotten in education research, can help inform our understanding of race‐conscious education policies and the role they play in promoting and/or realizing racial equality and social justice in education.

Keywords:

• desegregation
• superintendents
• Black education

Notes

1. This collaborative authorship was developed under the UCEA Barbara L. Jackson Scholars mentorship program and consists of the lead author, who served as the researcher for this study, and the second author, who served as the researcher’s mentor.

2. Pseudonyms were used to ensure the anonymity of study participants.