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The Urban Review

, Volume 47, Issue 2, pp 293–316 | Cite as

Whiteness as Property: Innocence and Ability in Teacher Education

  • Subini Ancy Annamma
Article
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Abstract

In this article, I empirically examined the dispositions of teachers in juvenile justice surrounding young women of color with disabilities to inform what improvements can be made in teacher education. I utilized Critical Race Theory (CRT) and focused on the tenet of whiteness as property as a lens to provide a robust racial analysis of the dispositions of teachers. Findings indicated that instead of a status that elicited support, ability became another thing to surveil, perpetuating a commitment to whiteness as property. An implication that arose directly from these findings was that teachers need training in understanding theories of race, racism, and inequities that recognize the historical legacy of whiteness as property. This training could lead to a change in teacher dispositions and practices that may disrupt the School to Prison Pipeline.

Keywords

School to Prison Pipeline Critical Race Theory Disability Critical Race Theory 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

I would like to take the time to thank each of the readers who has offered support in the development of this paper. Thank you to Janette Klingner, Christina Paguyo, and Darrell Jackson. Your expertise and feedback strengthened this paper. Additionally, thank you to the guest editors of the Urban Review, Daniella Cook and Rema Reynolds, who organized this needed special issue on CRT & teacher education. I appreciate the time each of you committed in order for to grow the concepts presented in this paper. Finally, thanks to the AERA Minority Fellowship in Education Research Program, which made this research possible through the Minority Dissertation Fellowship Award.

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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Interdisciplinary Research Incubator for the Study of (In)Equality (IRISE)University of DenverDenverUSA

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