Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools takes a look at a suburban public high school that appears to be the utopia of racial equity to understand the disconnect between good intentions and real world outcomes for minority students. Chapters 1-6 are original to the book’s first edition, published in 2015, while Chapters 7 and 8 are updates and lessons learned. This is a book most will want to read slowly, with breaks for reflection and consideration.
Two phrases that the authors reference often in the book are ostensive aspect, a routine’s ideal version, and performative aspect, the actual way a routine is carried out. The book’s premise is that schools, even racial equity focused ones, unconsciously create opportunity gaps, formerly called academic gaps, when the actual processes contradict the explicitly stated school rules and procedures. The authors highlight two areas where racial inequality originates: discipline and academic outcomes.
The data compiled from discipline records and higher level courses like honors and AP classes tell a disappointing story. They reveal that despite good intentions, minority students are overrepresented in discipline referrals and lower level courses. This finding led Lewis and Diamond to the conclusion that organizational routines within schools, such as academic tracking of certain students into high-level classes, have perpetuated opportunity gaps for minority students.
If this book is required reading for you as a social work student, I highly recommend a highlighter and use of the “Reading Guide” on page 219 with some like-minded friends. You are likely to feel everything from grief and anger to hopefulness as you move from Chapter 2 where the authors disprove common narratives about why minority students might fail to Chapter 8 where the authors provide guidance and next steps to reduce the inequalities.
If you are working in a social work field, like school social work or child welfare, please know that this book is your call to action. You will also need a highlighter and an ounce of patience, because change is tedious and often challenged by those benefiting from current school procedures and policies. Focus on the last chapter, “What To Do Now,” for solutions and words of advice. This chapter will be your roadmap to orchestrate change within the monolithic education system using evidence-based ideas from the authors’ research.
Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools makes it clear that as a whole, society struggles less with overt racism, but our educational systems are constructed in a way that benefits White students. As social workers, we are trained to recognize patterns of inequality and strategize ways forward. This book can be your guide along the way.
Reviewed by Christine Brown, LMSW, a school social worker in northwest Georgia public schools.