Why Race Still Matters in Urban Education: Critical Race Theory and Urban Education

This chapter will argue the need for theorizing and analyzing educational inequity as a by-product of race and racializing processes. Drawing on a number of contemporary examples of educational policies aimed at addressing educational inequity, this chapter will use Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an analytical tool to argue that contrary to the popular belief that with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, racism and the need for race were eradicated. We argue that Obama’s election ushered in an era of retrenchment that has led to not only growing income and wealth inequality, but has ushered in unprecedented destruction of public education that impacts not only children of color, but also teachers and communities of color with pronounced racially disproportionate outcomes.