When I was just starting out as a college professor almost 15 years ago, there was one piece of advice I received from almost every older colleague: 鈥淧ublish or perish.鈥�
So, with fear in each keystroke, I wrote. I was interested in researching the educational experiences of students of color, and there was a word I endlessly came across that consumed the field of education at the time and to this day鈥斺�済ap.鈥� Each research article I read told me that there was some type of disparity between Black and white students resulting in an achievement gap, learning gap, income gap, and funding gap.
I read research report after research report that never seemed to explain why white students were 鈥渙utperforming鈥� Black and brown students, but using the word 鈥済ap鈥� somehow justified the separation. The word was ever-present yet nebulous.
Articles and filled with data forecast racial disparities in achievement because of a host of socioeconomic factors, language barriers, and public-health issues. One 91直播 reporter wrote, 鈥淢any experts have since asserted that achievement gaps are the result of more subtle environmental factors and 鈥榦pportunity gaps鈥� in the resources available to poor versus wealthy children.鈥� Those 鈥渆xperts鈥� rarely mention racial prejudice or discrimination.
Research reports on 鈥済aps鈥� typically fail to recognize racism, anti-Blackness, discrimination, or capitalism as an explanation for these differences. Eminent scholar writes that opportunity gaps 鈥渟how inequities in systems, structures and practices, among other factors, that can prevent children from reaching their potential.鈥� Explanations like Milner鈥檚 are needed and a breath of fresh air in such a polluted space of downplaying harm against Black and brown students.
And I would add that, at its core, the 鈥渙pportunity gap鈥� shows this nation鈥檚 racist practices of maintaining inequality through systematically denying opportunities to students of color (e.g., the end of affirmative action and denying Advanced Placement classes).
Similar to how they use 鈥済ap,鈥� researchers also use the verbiage 鈥渃ultural mismatch鈥� to explain away why mostly white teachers lack the cultural knowledge of their students鈥� home, community, or language to relate to their students of color. These 鈥渃ultural mismatches鈥� often lead white teachers to have negative assumptions about their Black and brown students. The unchallenging and innocent language of a 鈥渃ultural mismatch鈥� reinforces the notion that white teachers and Black students鈥� relationships often exist without a power dynamic, implicit bias, racism, white privilege, and domination.
When I started writing for publication lest I perish, I followed right along placing that blame for the failures of our education system on the faceless, unindictable but infamous arbitrator of educational injustice: the 鈥済ap.鈥�
However, over the years, I have learned that the word obscures the harm of racism and anti-Blackness, which are the root causes of the so-called 鈥済ap.鈥� To use 鈥済ap鈥� implies that white students 鈥渙utperforming鈥� Black students on standardized tests just somehow happened or is the failure of Black children and their families themselves. Invoking the word 鈥済ap鈥� when discussing racial inequality in our education system makes racism illegible. Calling this nation鈥檚 failure to adequately and equitably fund Black students鈥� education a 鈥渇unding gap鈥� removes the intent of white supremacy to remain in power by underfunding students of color.
The word 鈥済ap鈥� also fails to acknowledge the power dynamic that is maintained by withholding and hoarding resources from Black and brown students. It would be easy to think, then, that 鈥済aps鈥� could be closed without any fundamental redistribution of power and resources. But working on eliminating these differences without an anti-racist aim perpetuates racism by pretending it doesn鈥檛 exist.
Language is one of our most powerful tools in fighting injustice. If our language does not describe the actual harm and root causes of racial disparities, then we will never address the issues to advance racial justice in education.
Students of color are not experiencing a 鈥済ap鈥�; they are experiencing harm, racism, and anti-Blackness.
