SLOW VIOLENCE

A sociologist describes the subtle ways that teachers victimize schoolchildren and undermine their self-esteem.

This book confronts a depressing truth—that many children suffer in school, and that Black and brown children receive an additional layer of misery. Ray, a sociologist at the University of New Mexico, observes the goings-on in a Las Vegas school district where white students are in the minority. The bulk of her account takes place in fourth-grade classrooms, with follow-up reporting through sixth grade. Ray focuses on several individual students, describing their behavior, their academic prowess, and their reaction to comments or disciplining by their teachers. One child is suspected of being on the spectrum, another is a bubbly class cutup, and a third is an eager people-pleaser. Ray joins the fourth-grade teachers—three white women who have been trained in culturally sensitive and antiracist pedagogy—on breaks and reports how they talk about themselves, their students, and their students’ families. Scene by scene, the author recounts how a child’s misstep in class can result in casual labeling of a student as a “lost cause,” the kind of kid who might become a school shooter, or one of those who “could become sexual predators.” She shares examples of seemingly minor incidents that are explained away for white students but stick to nonwhite students as fundamental flaws. She describes the disengagement of targeted students—one is talkative and funny at the start of the school year, but soon sits with his head down on his desk. It’s an eyewitness account of the crushing of the human spirit, and it’s heartbreaking. Yet as Ray tells these stories, she only sporadically zooms out to put her observations into broader sociological context. When she does, it’s great; when she doesn’t, readers may scratch their heads wondering what her point is.

An unvarnished look at the troubling ways in which schools can harm students.