A Model of Performative Racial Ally Behavior: Implications for School Psychology

Abstract

Over the last several years, the field of school psychology as a whole has become increasingly focused on racism and antiracism. With this focus, many white school psychologists have turned their attention to the foundational research, practice, and advocacy work that School Psychologists of Color have been building for over a century; however, given white people’s inevitable complicity in racism, their engagement in these efforts presents opportunities for them to cause further harm. The purpose of this paper is to describe performative racial allyship (PRA) and its implications for school psychologists. Drawing from existing work by various Scholars of Color, we define, deconstruct, and interrogate PRA as a corrosive, counterproductive, and pervasive phenomenon in this field. We also introduce a model of PRA which locates, identifies, and compares performative and authentic ally behavior. We urge scholars and practitioners–primarily those who are white–to deeply introspect, authentically listen to Scholars and Activists of Color, and demand systemic change in service of racial liberation.

Impact Statement

In recent years, the field of school psychology as a whole has become increasingly focused on racism in schools. Building on the seminal works of many Scholars of Color, this article describes the nature of performative racial allyship (PRA) and its implications for disrupting progress toward racial justice in the profession and K-12 settings. Particular emphasis is placed on white school psychologists’ engagement in PRA, given their long history of inflicting racial harm in the U.S.

Keywords:

• social justice
• diversity
• inclusion
• professional issues in school psychology

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:

• Pamela Fenning

DISCLOSURE

The authors confirm they have no relevant financial or nonfinancial competing interests to report.

Notes

1 Based on the guidance of Scholars of Color, we capitalize Black (and other racial and ethnic identifiers such as Indigenous) based on shared culture and history among Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. We do not capitalize white, as doing so might itself reinforce white supremacy (see Buchanan et al., 2021; Laws, 2020).

2 From our perspective, these people cannot reasonably be called activists, but we used this term to match the authors’ language.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding sources to report.

Notes on contributors

Sally L. Grapin

Sally L. Grapin, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Montclair State University. Her research focuses on the intersection of social justice and school psychology. Email address: [email protected]

Peter D. Goldie

Peter D. Goldie, MSEd, MA is a student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Montclair State University. His research is focused on dismantling systemic oppressions (e.g., racism, queerphobia).