When equity leadership keeps white leaders in control: A whiteness as property analysis of district equity work

Abstract

Globally, schools continue to espouse commitments to equity and racial justice, yet racialized opportunity gaps continue to exist in schools, especially schools located in urban communities. In this research, we offer an empirically based explanation for this phenomenon by demonstrating how white district leaders resist enacting meaningful district improvement when it could require them to relinquish white peoples’ control of leadership. Specifically, we draw on critical race theory’s tenet of whiteness as property to reveal the ways white leaders work to maintain their propertied interest in leadership and the related benefits as opposed to engaging in the types of deep practice-changing equity work required to shift organizational practices in ways to generate equitable learning opportunities for youth of color. Implications of this research call for researchers and leadership preparation programs to invest in preparing leaders who are able to center shifting professional practices over maintaining access to the benefits of leadership.