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The real colors of coloniality: the open veins of the achievement gap : a dissertation in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
Dissertation   Open access

The real colors of coloniality: the open veins of the achievement gap : a dissertation in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Pedro Reis
Doctor of Philosophy (PHD), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
2017
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62791/19906

Abstract

Racism in education. Neoliberalism. Educational indicators. Academic achievement. Educational equalization.
How does one explain the existence of the biggest symptom of a racist educational system - the Achievement Gap? I am positioning the achievement gap as a fabricated mechanism to control common-sense in that respect.The purpose of this research is to establish that the achievement gap conception between Blacks and Whites in education is one of the impulses of neoliberalism's practices. The achievement gap is a racial construct that intentionally produces and reproduces the stigmatization of Blacks. It evokes the old eugenic narrative of degrading Blacks without having to name it. It does it so by presenting us with multiple metrics data intentionally interpreted to the eugenic narrative. It is a meritocratic notion that posits that each individual is at where s/he is supposed to be. The achievement gap discourse has been used to suit a white supremacist agenda.I will examine the social construction of institutional racism in schools. I will contextualize schools within the matrix of coloniality dynamics, the normalization of racism, due to its invisibility in instructional relations to people, encouraging an unspoken validity for itself. I also will examine achievement gap impulses within the framework of neoliberal policies that hegemonically colonize societies in schools; in this context, I will describe neoliberalism historically, in order to understand its consequence in education in claiming the achievement gap as one of the symptoms of such neoliberal policies; Finally, I am conceiving racism as an issue of skin color because it is the issue most prevalent in the United States. It is not my intent to expand its scope into gender, class, or sexuality; although, these components are crucial for understanding the true fabric of the society in the United States. My intent is to establish a link of racism based on black skin color to ancient world. Do we have to wait until the 19th century for the words "race" and "racism" to begin to assume the biological meanings that we give to them today?
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