C1 Cover_S06.qxd - Penn GSE - University of Pennsylvania

CANDACE DICARLO
N O T E W O R T H Y
The Myth of a Colorblind America
Margaret Beale Spencer delivered the American
Educational Research Association’s Brown Lecture
in Education Research on October 18.
6 | Penn GSE | Fall 2007
Butler Granted Tenure
As this year’s Brown Lecturer in
Education Research, GSE Professor
Margaret Beale-Spencer challenged the
myth of America as a colorblind society.
Her remarks, which were delivered on
October 18 in Washington, DC, were titled
“Lessons Learned and Opportunities Ignored
Post-Brown v. Board: Youth Development and
the Myth of a Colorblind Society.” The Brown
Lecture is sponsored by the American
Educational Research Association.
Invoking research cited in the Supreme
Court’s landmark Brown v. Board decision,
Spencer pointed to the persistence of the
color line in America’s educational system.
In 1954, that research spoke about the pernicious
impact of segregation. Back then, it
was argued that the context needed changing,
that integrated schools would bolster
the self-esteem of young African-American
students.
Of course, the individual-context link wasn’t
exactly news, but applying it to black children
and their experiences of systemic racism was.
What was novel about this line of thought, said
Spencer, was that it extended the understanding
of normal human development to black
children.
Recent studies affirm the importance of
context, particularly when taking into
The Provost’s Staff Conference announced this spring that Yuko Goto Butler has
been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor. Butler, who joined
the GSE faculty in 2001, focuses her research on second language and bilingual
language acquisition and learning. She is currently working on English-language
learning and instruction in a number of Asian countries. In 2004-05, she
was the recipient of a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral
Fellowship.
account the disappointing school achievement
outcomes of many urban youth attending
desegregated schools. The 50 years
since Brown v. Board have made evident the
significant under-estimates about how
assumptions about inferiority and superiority
are communicated.
In her remarks, Spencer explored the
question of how the social construction of
race is experienced by young people. With
skin color bias continuing to be unacknowledged
and “untreated,” Spencer argued that
assumptions of privilege might best be seen
as a health hazard. The need to confront
stereotypes requires coping strategies that
youth are typically left to learn on their own.
As Spencer pointed out, teacher training
rarely attends to issues of how children
become aware of bias.
In her view, the myth of America as a
colorblind society is counter-productive.
Hampered by this notion, policymakers
miss the opportunity to create servicelinked
training opportunities and other programs
that might in fact serve to protect
young people from the baleful impact of
racism. Moreover, private and federally
funded “social supports” that are not actually
supportive of young people merely end
up wasting resources.
CANDACE DICARLO
Butler