The disproportionate discipline of Black students remains a civil rights issue. While researchers often focus on contemporary aspects of this issue, its origins extend to earlier historical eras. Using the concept of the afterlife of school segregation , this article presents themes derived from a review of key historical reports published during the early 1970s about the use of school discipline during large-scale school desegregation. Doing so illuminates the historical patterns of pushout that followed the Brown decision. Four themes were identified, including: (1) widespread disproportionate suspension and expulsion of Black students, (2) changes to conduct codes in previously all-white schools to target Black students culturally and to enforce segregationist norms, (3) the frequent use of discipline to suppress Black students’ efforts to challenge racial injustice, and (4) white educators’ use of discretion to enact disparate discipline. These themes showcase the afterlife of school segregation in the proliferation of exclusionary discipline post-Brown and connect to continued sources of disparities today. Recommendations for ending anti-Black discipline are included .
Kathryn Wiley (Thu,) studied this question.