Brown Plus 50 Counter-Storytelling: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of the “Majoritarian Achievement Gap” Story

Abstract

This essay provides a Critical Race Theory (CRT) analysis of current discussions of the “achievement gap” as the latest incarnation of the “white intellectual superiority/African American intellectual inferiority” notion that is a mainstay of “majoritarian storytelling” in U.S. culture. A critical race counter-story chronicles both the historical development and maintenance of the “achievement gap,” along with efforts of African Americans to secure access to education. The process by which the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision was subverted as a historical intervener in systemic access to equity in educational opportunity for African Americans is discussed. This essay concludes with principles to promote successful academic achievement of African American children.

Notes

1. All references to cases pages in the text are to the official reporter, for example all U.S. Supreme Court cases are cited to pages in the U.S. Reports.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Barbara J. Love

Barbara J. Love is associate professor of Social Justice Education in the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Love's research examines issues of equity in access to organizational participation with an emphasis on educational opportunity.