BLACKLIVESMATTER: Access and Equity in the Arts and Education

• Published in: Art education (Reston) 2018, Vol.71 (1), p.20-23
• Main Author: Wexler, Alice
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African American Students; African Americans; Art Education; Art galleries & museums; Art Teachers; Barriers; Children & youth; Classrooms; Creative Activities; Cultural Activities; Cultural capital; Cultural Centers; Culturally Relevant Education; Educational Development; Equal Education; Families & family life; Higher Education; Inequality; Low Achievement; Low income groups; Low Income Students; Middle class; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Group Students; Race; Racial Bias; Racial Segregation; School boards; School Closing; Segregation; Social Behavior; Social Bias; Social Class; Social Experience; Social Justice; Social Networks; Student Recruitment; Students; Taste; Teaching (Occupation); Visual arts; White Students; Working class; Young Adults
• ISSN: 0004-3125; 2325-5161
• DOI: 10.1080/00043125.2018.1389588

This article looks at barriers that exist for recruiting and admitting students of color and low-income students into the art teaching profession. It also examines barriers to the arts in general, such as education in public schools, higher education, and places where the arts are enjoyed in life, including the art museum/gallery, all prominent locations in which people of color have limited access. It centers on the experiences of two authors of color as parents who seek to redress the inequalities their children face in education and cultural institutions. After discussing one author's confrontation with disproportionate social and cultural capital, the inevitable effect of segregation, it looks at the barriers of race and class embedded in White hegemonic cultural institutions and how they are passed down to the next generation. He demonstrates how people of color will unconsciously avoid situations where marginalization might occur, and therefore perpetuate injustice, suggesting that Black children need to see themselves reflected in the mainstream and, equally important, that White children see themselves as having color. The paper concludes that by making visible the taken-for-granted White space, art and museum educators can make possible an equitable interchange of ideas, the best of human productivity and agency.