No Choice Is the “Right” Choice: Black Parents’ Educational Decision-Making in Their Search for a “Good” School

Abstract

In this article, Linn Posey-Maddox, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Alea R. Holman, Raquel M. Rall, and Rachel A. Johnson examine Black parents’ educational decision-making in the racial and educational contexts of predominantly white suburban districts, majority-Black urban schools with an Afrocentric focus, and racially diverse urban public and private schools. Undertaking a qualitative meta-analysis, they ask, How and why is anti-Black racism salient in Black parents’ educational decision-making around schooling? Their findings reveal that race and anti-Black racism are central to Black parents’ school choice decisions. Specifically, they shape the trade-offs parents made in choosing a school for their child(ren), their ongoing risk assessments regarding the potential for racialized harm in their child(ren)’s schooling, and their continuous decision-making about whether to keep their child enrolled or move them to a different school. Regardless of geography, school type, grade level, and/or social class, race and anti-Black racism shape Black parents’ educational decision-making as they work to ensure that their child(ren) receive a high-quality education within highly racialized schooling contexts.

Racial Preferences for Schools: Evidence from an Experiment with White, Black, Latinx, and Asian Parents and Students

“…These patterns may also reflect respondents’ desires to maintain or elevate their status via school selection and beliefs that friends, colleges, and employers hold negative cultural stereotypes about black and Latinx educational spaces (Holme 2002; Roda and Wells 2013; Sikkink and Emerson 2008). Race-based vulnerabilities in the racial-educational structure, fear of racial exclusion in social interactions with white peers, and potential discrimination in academic and disciplinary practices could underlie black and Latinx families’ avoidance of the white school (Brown 2021; Cooper 2005; Posey-Maddox et al 2021).…”

“…Families make school choices within this racial-educational structure (Lareau and Goyette 2014;Posey-Maddox et al 2021). Cooper's (2005) term ''positioned choice'' is useful for understanding heterogeneity in racialized school preferences within this structure.…”

“…Prior research demonstrates that families are more likely to choose schools with larger proportions of their racial group, but it is unclear whether these patterns reflect racial preferences or desires for school characteristics related to racial demographics. Some scholars propose that individuals’ preferences may be guided by their affinity toward or devaluing of people and places by virtue of their race or racial composition, by cultural stereotypes about racial groups and their associated social contexts, or by desires to avoid racial discrimination (Bobo and Zubrinsky 1996; Posey-Maddox et al 2021; Saporito and Lareau 1999). Other scholars argue that race-associated structural factors underlie families’ observed racialized school choices (Harris 2001).…”

“…Third, racial preference heterogeneity could emerge from variance in students’ vulnerability to racial discrimination. Black and Latinx families express apprehension at attending majority white schools because of potential racially biased interactions and policies (Brown 2021; Posey-Maddox et al 2021). Despite the importance of racial hostility to black and Latinx families’ preferences, it is unlikely their avoidance of white schools is stronger than white and Asian families’ racial preferences.…”

“…Despite the importance of racial hostility to black and Latinx families’ preferences, it is unlikely their avoidance of white schools is stronger than white and Asian families’ racial preferences. Black and Latinx families often trade off between priorities for social mobility via education and their desires to avoid racism (Brown 2021; Cooper 2005; Lewis-McCoy 2014; Posey-Maddox et al 2021).…”