Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in So You Want to Talk About Race, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism, Privilege, and White Supremacy
Confronting Racial Pain
Intersectionality, Oppression, and Social Justice
Cultural Appropriation
Summary
Analysis
Oluo discusses a woman named Natasha and her son Sagan. Natasha was called into school because Sagan apparently assaulted two teachers and mimicked a gun with his hand, and the school board wants to file charges against him. Then, Oluo learns that Sagan is five years old. Natasha is “still reeling” several days later. As the mother of two boys, Oluo knows that five-year-olds can become unruly if they haven’t slept or feel ill. She’s been hit by five-year-olds and knows that they usually need a time out when this happens. She never thinks this is “assault.” Nobody asked Sagan how he was feeling that day, they simply suspended him—five months into his kindergarten education.
Oluo uses the “school-to-prison pipeline” to illustrate a tangible example of the oppression that children of color face in education. Oluo’s anecdote about Natasha and Sagan illustrates a case of a black child who’s labelled as violent and dangerous on his academic record (through his suspension) from the outset of his schooling, despite his young age. Natasha’s “reeling” reaction highlights once again the emotional pain of experiencing racism in the U.S.
Themes
Oluo thinks that the public-school system in the U.S. labels black and brown children as “violent, disruptive, unpredictable future criminals.” Only 16 percent of school students are black, yet 40 percent of expelled students are black, and black students are three times more likely to be suspended than white students. Seventy percent of students who are arrested in school are black. Oluo says that there are two ways to look at this data: either black and brown students are “violent, disruptive, unpredictable future criminals,” or the school system is criminalizing the majority of black and brown students. This criminalization process is called the school-to-prison-pipeline.
Oluo draws upon statistics for suspension, expulsion, and arrest rates broken down by race to show that the oppression of children of color isn’t random or occasional but pervasive in U.S. education—meaning that it’s a systemic issue. The statistics suggest that children of color are disproportionately labeled as “violent” or dangerous in school than white children. Such labels stay on record and follow children throughout their schooling into adulthood.
Themes
The school-to-prison pipeline describes the high number of black and brown children who are funneled from schools into prisons, leading to mass incarceration that incriminates one in three black men and one in six Latino men. Oluo says that the pipeline starts with higher suspensions and expulsions for black and brown students. Students who are suspended or expelled are more likely to repeat years or drop out. Students who are arrested are more likely to be re-arrested. Schools flag boys whose fathers served jail time and watch them for extra disciplining needs, which perpetuates the cycle.
Children with suspensions or expulsions on their records face greater risk of incarceration as adults. This means that the school system disproportionately singles out black and brown children and limits their opportunities in life. To Oluo, this is exactly how systemic racism functions: the systems of society (here, schools and prisons) are used to funnel people of color away from opportunity so that others can have more. She’s going to defend this claim more fully in the rest of this chapter.
Themes
Oluo knows teachers aren’t “evil racists who hate black and brown children.” Teachers are often “underpaid, underappreciated, overworked, and overwhelmed,” which doesn’t help. Moreover, school administrators and teachers can be influenced—like everyone—by cultural images of black and brown youths as violent. Oluo says that many teachers are white females whose training doesn’t prepare them for handling disadvantaged children of color. Many underfunded and understaffed schools also disproportionately label interpersonal or disciplinary issues among black students as learning disabilities, which segregates and isolates them in special education programs. Black and brown children are also disproportionately targeted by zero-tolerance policies about weapons (which can include forks and finger-gun gestures). An increased police presence in schools also results in more arrests.
As with police brutality, Oluo stresses that the problem is not specific educators who just happen to be “evil racists.” The problem is a society that conditions all Americans—including educators—to think that black and brown youths are inherently more dangerous than white youths (for example, through movies and newsreels that depict people of color as thugs). U.S. society effectively teaches Americans to fear people of color and then gives institutions (like schools) power to act on that fear. All this implies that changing the system should be the goal of anti-racists.
Themes
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Oluo provides some tips for addressing the school-to-prison pipeline in conversation. She suggests including the topic in broader conversations about race, because it’s relevant to many issues, including police brutality, mass incarceration, and wage discrepancies. Oluo also recommends talking to schools and school boards. Even in schools without black and brown children, parents should be aware of disciplinary measures, suspension and expulsion rates, and measures to reduce barriers to opportunity for black and brown students. Oluo thinks it can also help to recognize black and brown children’s achievements using positive reinforcement.
Oluo offers concrete suggestions about how to change the system and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Once again, it’s clear that Oluo’s aim is not to shame or berate individual racists, especially teachers who are already underpaid and overworked. Rather, her aim is to show how parents can use their privilege (or their power) to request transparency about disciplinary measures and call out discrimination in schools. That way, those within the system can be held accountable for how they use that system.
Themes
Oluo continues, arguing that it’s important to normalize the experiences of black and brown children. Depictions of everyday childhood (such as children playing together)—in television, memes, and movies, for example—usually center on white children. She also advocates criticizing language that stereotypes black and brown kids as criminals based on how they act or dress. When discussing unique problems faced by black and brown kids, Oluo thinks that the focus should shift to the needs of these children (rather than depicting them as the problem). She urges readers not to forget about disabled children of color, who are most vulnerable to punitive measures. Finally, Oluo recommends challenging white-centered education and pushing for more diverse curricula.
Oluo also thinks that educators can challenge the pervasive effects of social conditioning (from media representations that depict black and brown youths as thugs). Rather than reflecting the media’s racist framing of children of color, the school system can provide a powerful counter-narrative through educational content that depicts black and brown youths as normal children rather than future thugs. Oluo reminds the reader that oppression in schools is intersectional: differently abled and neuro-atypical children are also disproportionately vulnerable to punitive measures, and their oppression also needs to be addressed.
Themes
The damage of the school-to-prison pipeline is profound, but the worst thing to Oluo is the way it steals childhood joy. It tells black and brown students that they can’t be exuberant, rebellious, or defiant (or they will be disciplined, pathologized, or incarcerated). She implores the reader to help people of color save their children.
Oluo concludes her discussion of oppression in schools by stressing the profound and lasting emotional trauma that marginalized American children face. In doing so, Oluo aims to foster empathy in her readers to encourage them to take action.
Themes
