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This article places the problem of disproportionate representation of African American students in special education in the context of the White privilege and racism that exist in American society as a whole. The author discusses how educational resource allocation, inappropriate curriculum and pedagogy, and inadequate teacher preparation have contributed to the problem of disproportionate representation. More important, she argues that remedies designed to address the disproportionality challenge must place the aforementioned structural forces at the center of education research, policy, and practice.
Although the field of special education was formed on the heels of the Brown decision and applied rhetoric and tactics from the Civil Rights Movement, the disproportionate referral and placement of African American students in special education has become a discursive tool for exercising White privilege and racism. First, African American students are disproportionately referred to and placed in the high-incidence special education categories of mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders, and learning disabilities (Zhang & Katsiyannis, 2002). Second, once labeled as having disabilities and placed in special education, African American students make achievement gains and exit special education at rates considerably lower than those of White students identified as having disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Third, although the field of special education has moved toward more equitable treatment of students with disabilities by advocating for inclusive general education placement as common practice, many African American students who are placed in the less subjective, low-incidence categories of developmental disabilities are educated in segregated, self-contained settings with little or absolutely no exposure or access to their nondisabled peers or to the general education curriculum (Fierros & Conroy, 2002). These realities suggest that "race matters," both in educators' initial decisions to refer students for special education and in their subsequent placement decisions for students identified and labeled as having disabilities (Coutinho, Oswald, & Best, 2002). Moreover, the persistent state of African Americans in special education seems to suggest that even in a system that was supposed to serve some of the most marginalized students in the American educational system, the White privilege and racism that are ingrained in the fabric of American history and society are equally prevalent (Shealey, Lue, Brooks, & McCray, 2005).
"White privilege" as it exists in American society...