Expelling Public Schools: How Antiracist Politics Enable School Privatization in Newark
English
By (author): John Arena
Exploring the role of identitarian politics in the privatization of Newarks public school system
In Expelling Public Schools, John Arena explores the more than two-decade struggle to privatize public schools in Newark, New Jerseya conflict that is raging in cities across the countryfrom the vantage point of elites advancing the pro-privatization agenda and their grassroots challengers.
Analyzing the unsuccessful effort of Cory BookerNewarks leading pro-privatization activist and mayorto generate popular support for the agenda, and Bookers rival and ultimate successor Ras Barakas eventual galvanization of the charter movement, Arena argues that Barakas black radical politics cloaked a revanchist agenda of privatization.
Expelling Public Schools reveals the political rise of Booker and Baraka, their one-time rivalry and subsequent alliance, and what this particular case study illuminates about contemporary postcivil rights Black politics. Ultimately, Expelling Public Schools is a critique of Black urban regime politics and the way in which antiracist messaging obscures real class divisions, interests, and ideological diversity.
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