Antiracism Education Activism: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding and Promoting Racial Equity

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

Explores how antiracism activism operates across and beyond schools, addressing the lack of research that theorizes its manifestation in varied contexts. Presents a theoretical framework identifying four interrelated domains of activism—policy, community, leadership, and teaching and learning—through which activists work to promote racial equity in education. Argues that effective antiracist education activism must be understood holistically and systemically to dismantle racism embedded throughout educational systems.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Antiracism education activism and the research gap

Four domains of activism: policy, community, leadership, teaching and learning

AERA Open January-December 2022, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1–14 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584221126518 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2022. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Antiracism Education Activism: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding and Promoting Racial Equity Sarah Diem University of Missouri Anjalé D. Welton University of Wisconsin-Madison Jeffrey S. Brooks Curtin University Although antiracism activism has contributed to substantive progress under certain circumstances and in certain contexts, little research attempts to theorize how antiracism activism is manifest across contexts. In this article, we explore individual and collective antiracist actions within and outside schools. We introduce a theoretical framework that identifies four domains of activism—policy, community, leadership, and teaching and learning—in which activists operate to make a positive difference in promoting racial equity and antiracism in education. The framework offers a systemic way of thinking about antiracist activism in education and the importance of recognizing that several aspects of antiracist activism usually conceived as distinct are interrelated within and across domains. Indeed, antiracist education activism must be understood holistically and systemically if we seek to dismantle the racism that is woven into every piece of the education system. Keywords: activism, antiracism, community, educational policy, equity, leadership, racial inequalities, social context, teaching and learning Racism is a deep and persistent problem in education. Researchers from across the social sciences have shown that educational policies and practices in the United States have institutionalized racism (Brooks & Theoharis, 2018), creating an inequitable and hostile system that normalizes whiteness 1 and disadvantages people and communities of color (Horsford, 2011; Ladson-Billings, 2004) . Racism compromises the quality of teaching and learning, undermines the fairness of academic assessments, and erodes the quality of relationships in schools. It is evident through opportunity gaps, inequities in disciplinary referrals, school (re)segregation, disparate graduation rates, postgraduate educational and employment outcomes, and the disproportionate number of students of color tracked into lower-quality educational experiences (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Leonardo, 2009) . Yet racism is more than measurable outcomes—racism is when an individual or group of people oppresses another by creating physical, psychological, socioeconomic, cultural, and political conditions and consequences that manifest as exclusion, inequity, and/or violence at individual and institutional levels of society (Fluehr-Lobban, 2006; Fordham, 1996) . Racism in education is overt and covert. Students are confronted with visible and explicit acts of bigotry that reinforce inequity and a hidden curriculum from school, peers, authorities, media, and society in the form of microaggressions and implicit racism (King, 2015) . These interpersonal and institutional dynamics combine to form a unified and systemic oppression that privileges white students and educators while simultaneously excluding students, educators, and communities of color from an equitable opportunity fora high-quality education (Brooks, 2012) . Despite these daunting challenges, a strong and growing tradition of antiracism activism in education has resulted in changed practices and policies that address racial inequalities (Diem & Welton, 2017) . This activism often comes from within a school or school system—committed teachers, administrators, and students who seek to effect positive change by challenging the status quo (DeCuir & Dixson, Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commo

FAQs

What does the article aim to do?

It examines individual and collective antiracist actions in and outside schools and introduces a theoretical framework to understand how activism promotes racial equity in education.

What four domains of activism are identified in the framework?

The framework identifies policy, community, leadership, and teaching and learning as four interrelated domains where activists operate.

Why does the article emphasize a holistic, systemic understanding of antiracism activism?

Because aspects of activism are interrelated within and across domains, and racism is embedded across every part of the education system, requiring systemic dismantling rather than isolated efforts.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam