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The book meticulously of “natural slaves” and continues to
Jefferson’s ideal that “all men are created
documents the cultural and equal.” They argue that neither No
Child Left Behind or nor even Plessy
societal programs that have vs. Ferguson caused the achievement

maintained The Color of Mind gap; but rather the view that there is a
natural hierarchy is deeply embedded
so that it permeates every aspect in our culture and our history. All men
may be created equal but that equal-
of our society, and nowhere so ity depends on how you define a man
or a person. “Qualified egalitarianism
glaringly or so profoundly as our thus is a useful conceptual framework
for making sense of the long-standing
educational system. socially and legally constructed racial
patterns of unequal treatment and
opportunity in America” (32).
With this kind of historical depth and
The book meticulously documents that all these statistics taken together
the cultural and societal programs that are the real measure of the black/white societal foundation it is easy to wonder
have maintained The Color of Mind achievement gap. It is nothing short if anything can be done. Darby and
so that it permeates every aspect of our of frightening. Rury present The Color of Mind Index
society, and nowhere so glaringly or so I once went with another student, (150), an accountability tool that asks
profoundly as our educational system. Luis, and his mom to a disciplinary educators to measure the number of
To understand the achievement gap black students expelled, placed in spe-
between white students and black stu- meeting. Luis had gotten into a fight on cial education, or tracked into remedial
the playground. I don’t know whether
dents in this country, Darby and Rury he started the fight or not, but he classes. The higher the ratio of black to
argue that it is necessary to understand definitely hit another child. Luis’ mom white students in these areas, the higher
that current educational failings are was upset. She lashed out at the school the indignity to these children. In the
deeply rooted in the philosophical and end it is dignitary justice that The Color
political history of the United States. psychologist, saying that her son needed of Mind argues for, and it is dignitary
support, that he wasn’t a bad person—
Racial bias and white dismissiveness of everything a mother would say to justice that we as educators must cham-
black intellectual ability are part of our defend her child. After the meeting pion. The authors bring their unique
origin story and drive the programs we the school psychologist looked at me blend of historical and philosophical
utilize today to educate our children. viewpoints to the fore as they examine
and said, “Apple, tree – what can you with skill and readability the past and
The achievement gap traditionally expect from that kind of background.” present of education.
measures the difference between black I thought of that story as I read Darby
and white student academic achieve- and Rury’s discussion of “No Child Student names are replaced with pseudonyms
ment. Darby and Rury cite data from Left Behind,” “Zero Tolerance” and in this review to protect the privacy of those
the National Assessment of Educational other flawed and failed programs. Luis mentioned.
Progress (NAEP), commonly known was expelled for three days – three days
as “The Nations Report Card.” NAEP without instruction, three days to fuel
measures student achievement in math, his anger and three days that would
reading, and science at ages 9, 13, and remain in his academic file and label
17. The overall academic achievement him. All for a two-minute playground
gap between black and white students event when he was ten years old.
is approximately 30 percentage points Understanding that racism was justi-
(19). The Color of Mind goes beyond fied by the Ancient Greeks, secured
academic performance to include the in European culture, and planted and
alarming statistics that black students cultivated in our country is sober-
are three times more likely to be sus- ing. Darby and Rury review and retell Jeanne Ingle is Assistant Professor in the
pended from school than white students this history of qualified egalitarian- Department of Elementary and Early
and are twice as likely to drop out than ism which began with Aristotle’s view Childhood Education.
white students. I agree with the authors

38 Bridgewater Review