Exposing the Color-Evasive/Tolerance Framing Tactics of Educational Actors amidst Anti-CRT/LGBTQ+ Rhetoric and Policy
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| Title: | Exposing the Color-Evasive/Tolerance Framing Tactics of Educational Actors amidst Anti-CRT/LGBTQ+ Rhetoric and Policy |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Bryan J. Duarte (ORCID |
| Source: | Educational Administration Quarterly. 2025 61(4):586-625. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 40 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, LGBTQ People, Critical Race Theory, Racism, Social Bias, Political Issues, Educational Policy, Censorship, Civil Rights, Boards of Education, Superintendents, Principals |
| Geographic Terms: | Indiana, Ohio |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0013161X251327407 |
| ISSN: | 0013-161X 1552-3519 |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Divisive politics have quickly led to debates about "divisive" topics in schools and their regulation through state and district-level policy. We apply a lens of color-evasiveness -- which we extend to include notions of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) -- and critical policy analysis, to nuance how educational actors' engaged with anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + rhetoric and policy. Data/Methods: We gathered data from a range of sources including local news articles, school board meeting minutes, and school board meetings to deconstruct and then ultimately reconstruct the localized anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + context. We then used this data to construct two composite contexts that capture educational actors' tensions and framing tactics within their localized anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + contexts. Findings: Our composite contexts reveal how the color-evasive/tolerance frames of abstract liberalism and the minimization of racism/cisheteronormativity were leveraged by educational actors to attack and censor DEI initiatives. This suggests that educational actors frequently centered their rights and economic freedom of choice when responding to anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + rhetoric and policy. As such, educational actors simultaneously preserved and maintained white and cisherteronormative rights while minimizing and evading racism and SOGI. These framing tactics may be/are likely employed because they provide educational actors the illusion that they are responding in "neutral" and "objective" ways. Implications: Our color-evasive/tolerance framework provided the lens to call out the covert and insidious ways that educational actors framed anti-CRT/LGBTQ + rhetoric and policy. Our framework allowed us to see the deceptive making of racism and cisheteronormativity through abstract liberalism. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1482730 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Divisive politics have quickly led to debates about "divisive" topics in schools and their regulation through state and district-level policy. We apply a lens of color-evasiveness -- which we extend to include notions of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) -- and critical policy analysis, to nuance how educational actors' engaged with anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + rhetoric and policy. Data/Methods: We gathered data from a range of sources including local news articles, school board meeting minutes, and school board meetings to deconstruct and then ultimately reconstruct the localized anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + context. We then used this data to construct two composite contexts that capture educational actors' tensions and framing tactics within their localized anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + contexts. Findings: Our composite contexts reveal how the color-evasive/tolerance frames of abstract liberalism and the minimization of racism/cisheteronormativity were leveraged by educational actors to attack and censor DEI initiatives. This suggests that educational actors frequently centered their rights and economic freedom of choice when responding to anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ + rhetoric and policy. As such, educational actors simultaneously preserved and maintained white and cisherteronormative rights while minimizing and evading racism and SOGI. These framing tactics may be/are likely employed because they provide educational actors the illusion that they are responding in "neutral" and "objective" ways. Implications: Our color-evasive/tolerance framework provided the lens to call out the covert and insidious ways that educational actors framed anti-CRT/LGBTQ + rhetoric and policy. Our framework allowed us to see the deceptive making of racism and cisheteronormativity through abstract liberalism. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0013-161X 1552-3519 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0013161X251327407 |
