Th e Race Controversy in American Education is the second two-volume col-
lection to be published in Praeger Publisher’s series, Racism in American
Institutions (RAI). Th e RAI series focuses on the ways in which racism has
become, and remains, a part of the fabric of many American institutions.
For example, while the United States may have done away with overtly rac-
ist acts such as extralegal lynching, racism still aff ects many of America’s
established institutions from public schools to corporate offi ces. While the
media discarded many of its most racist practices and characters years ago,
stereotypical depictions of people of color remain with us. Schools were
supposed to be integrated aft er 1954, yet today many American schools
remain one-race schools. Th is open-ended series of one-volume works ex-
amines the problem of racism in established American institutions. Each
book in the RAI Series traces the prevalence of racism within a particular
institution throughout the history of the U.S. and explores the problem
in that institution today, looking at ways in which the institution has at-
tempted to rectify racism, but also the ways in which it has not.
Th e Race Controversy in American Education explores the critically im-
portant subject of racism in American schools. Institutional racism within
schools should surprise no one, given the long history of school segrega-
tion and educational inequities in the U.S. Th e multiple scholars in 33 well
craft ed, analytical chapters expand our viewpoint by looking at many of
the historic and contemporary manifestations of racism in education. Take
for instance zero tolerance policies, which unfortunately tend to target
and aff ect students of color, debilitating young learners and, in some ugly
cases, criminalizing them for relatively minor infractions. Th ose zero toler-
ance policies have also led to another problem in American education, the
school or cradle to prison pipeline. In an oddly reminiscent policy move,
Series Foreword
Brian D. Behnken
