“They don’t speak English”: Interrogating (racist) ideologies and perceptions of school personnel in a Midwestern state, 10(29)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the attitudes and perceptions of school administrators, teachers, and other school personnel in a Latino-impacted school district in a Midwestern state. As this district struggles to meet the educational needs of a growing number of Latino students, this research finds that school officials increasingly employ assimilationist ideologies that not only privilege the English language, but view Latino students and their families as intellectually and culturally inferior. In this paper we make the argument that these practices reinforce a subtle, but powerful, form of benevolent racism: where “good intentions” and compassionate altruism reproduce and reify a highly racialized discourse.