Resisting racialized organizational practices: A case study of Black community-centered engagement

Black community members often express frustrations with engagement within school board meetings through continuous advocacy for systemic change. While scholarship has identified the racial tensions between Black community members and school board members, few studies have explored how school board meeting spaces and their practices influence Black community members’ participation and the possibilities for authentic engagement. Drawing from work on authentic participation and theory of racialized organizations, I examine how organizational practices associated with engagement in school board meetings are racialized and therefore impact where authentic engagement is possible. I identify that it is through both Black community members’ resistance to racialized organizational practices within decision-making spaces, and the community-centered approaches they take despite the racialized practices encountered, that authentic engagement exists. The study offers implications for how education leaders can acknowledge and support community-centered approaches to engagement.