While some state and local education agencies may raise concerns over shifting legal principles and political apprehension in pursuing strategies that integrate students across race, socioeconomic status, and other factors, the changing demographics warrant serious inquiry into integration opportunities. This paper surveys the landscape of K-12…

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of racial change through the landmark appointment of the Black social scientist, Allison Davis, to the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1942. As archival materials make clear, the appointment came to fruition through the collaboration of powerful White liberals at the Julius Rosenwald…

After decades in the political wilderness, school integration seems poised to make a serious comeback as an education reform strategy. A growing number of parents, university officials, and employers want elementary and secondary schools to better prepare students for the increasingly racially and ethnically diverse society and the global economy.…

Drawing on recent theories of boundary processes, status and ethnicity, I investigate processes of group-making in the post-Civil War era (1865-1905) when Americans were faced with two daunting political projects: rebuilding the nation, and creating a new racial order to replace the abolished system of bond slavery. Although scholars have…

Suburban schools have traditionally remained homogenous enclaves for White middle class families. On the surface, these racially integrated spaces reflect the dream of Brown v. Board of Education--to have students of all races learning and developing together. A closer look at these racially mixed environments unveils the systemic problems…

Multiracial undergraduates are coming of age when assertions of a post-racial era claim the post-civil rights multiracial population as its proof, which is part of the socio-historical context of the campus racial climate. Given that campus racial climate research has been silent about multiracial students, the purpose of this study is to explore…

American demographics are shifting, most notably among the student population (G. Orfield, 2009). The proportion of white student enrollment has steadily decreased since the 1960s, from approximately 80% of students to 56% today (G. Orfield, 2009). In the South and the West--two of the most populous regions in the country--schools report nonwhite…

This paper examines student cross-group relationships in a comprehensive high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, between 1985 and 2000. The findings of this research, situated at the intersections of three lenses of inquiry--oral historical analysis, ethnography, and critical studies--bring to light how institutional norms, broader demographic…

This article highlights the many challenges and obstacles that limit and undermine higher education's capacity to eradicate the negative consequences associated with race. Before discussing these challenges, the author addresses why it makes sense for colleges and universities to play a central role in addressing problems associated with race. The…

This article explores the legacies of the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" Supreme Court decision within the historical context of race relations in the United States. The pursuit by African Americans to exercise their rights of citizenship is described as influenced by the changing face of fear. The Supreme Court decisions that…

Background/Context: The United States is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, and increasingly racially isolated across race-ethnic boundaries. Researchers have argued that both diversity and racial isolation serve to undermine the social cohesion needed to bind American citizens to one another and to society at large. Focus of…

Background/Context: Perpetuation theory predicts that attending a racially segregated school paves the way for a lifetime of segregated experiences in neighborhoods, schools, and jobs. Research conducted in the 1970s and 1980s linked racial isolation in high schools with later racial isolation in many social settings among African-American…

Considers the way in which White teachers and students make sense of "race" in a multiracial college. Argues that there are two ways of comprehending race within White cultural forms, "nationalistic" and "liberal." States that both are interrelated and that the liberal form serves to sustain White racism. (Author/GEA)