https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1563-6776
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Abstract
This is a study of moral disengagement in the political discourse of the 2015 state takeover of Little Rock School District. The purpose of this study was to propose and describe a framework through which institutionalized racism could be understood as the effect of individuals’ actions justified through policy discourse. Moral disengagement is a social psychological framework that focuses on the role of individual agency in maintaining a system of social values in contradiction with the societal circumstances those values bring about. In a critical discourse analysis of the policy rhetoric of white elite policy actors, we identified broad use of every mechanism of moral disengagement. White policy actors sought self-exoneration for racially stratifying outcomes through various means of rationalization of the takeover. Implications for educational leaders and researchers are discussed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 There is, of course, evidence that charters have an effect on enrollment proportionality by race in school districts (Bifulco & Ladd, Citation2007; Scott & Quinn, Citation2014).
2 Indeed, the current boundaries of PCSSD were the result of court- ordered integration, and the impact of this boundary on the racial makeup of LRSD has been the subject of litigation since the 1970s (Baer, Citation2008; Jordan, Citation2017; Shukur & Walker, Citation2017).
3 This effort at reassurance suffers from presentism, or dismissal of past harms in order to “move forward” or “get beyond” the negative outcomes (Bonilla-Silva, Citation2014).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Davis Clement
Davis Clement is assistant professor in the College of Education at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI.
Jason A. Chen
Jason A. Chen is associate professor in the William & Mary School of Education in Williamsburg, VA.