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Equity and Education in the Age of New Racism: Issues for Educators

The author articulates her perceptions of the state of equity, especially from the position of an educator. Wong Fillmore argues that biological, racially based theories have returned to the main stage of public discourse in the form of Herrnstein and Murray’s Bell Curve. She argues that in documentaries such as “School Colors,” segregation and tracking remain enduring practices in the public schools. She looks at ability groupings and IQ tests as justification for differential treatment. The author sees multiculturalists offering culturally and internationally distinct alternatives to such inequitable educational policies. She considers the challenges in racially based initiatives like California’s 187 and 209, which scapegoat the victims of economic transnational shifts, and argues that the US democratic project must be a multicultural and equitable one in order for it to be realized.

education, racism, sociobiological theories, tracking and IQ testing

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 24, No. 2 (1997): 119-132