Generations of Criminalization: Resistance to Desegregation and School Punishment

Objectives: In this paper we refocus discussions of criminalization of students on structural racial inequality. We help explain racially disproportionate school punishments, while demonstrating the necessity for criminologists to examine how a historic legacy of racial oppression shapes contemporary punishments. More specifically, we explore the extent to which contemporary school punishment reflects a legacy of racial oppression and educational exclusion of Black students. Methods: Using nationwide data from multiple sources, we analyze how resistance to school desegregation, measured by the number of court cases contesting school segregation from 1952 − 2002, relates to suspensions from school and days missed due to suspension. Results: Our analyses show that schools in districts marked by resistance to school desegregation have significantly and substantially higher rates of suspensions for Black students and days missed by Black students due to suspension. Conclusions: Contemporary school suspension is shaped by a legacy of racial oppression and educational exclusion. Our results confirm the importance of using a racialized social systems approach to understand and begin to remedy the criminalization of Black students.