Confronting Institutionalized Racism in Higher Education

Ramdeholl and Jones cast their text as a truth telling project. In actuality it is a truth experiencing project. The narratives not only strike an emotional chord but also speak to the rich and nuanced experiences of racialized faculty that are often invisibilized. With each chapter, readers are ushered into a deeper level of understanding the spaces these faculty occupy. The text offers a necessary indictment against DEI efforts that fail to focus on justice-centered, structural transformation. Confronting Institutionalized Racism in Higher Education: Counternarratives for Racial Justice is a necessary read for higher education administrators and faculty committed to creating and maintaining a socially just liberatory academic workspace.

Lisa R. Merriweather, Professor of Adult Education and Co-founder & Senior Editor: Dialogues in Social Justice: An Adult Education Journal

"In Predominantly White Institutions of every kind we see a status quo of White normativity and White supremacy that goes largely unchallenged. There are examples of performative commitments to inclusion, equity and diversity but the presence of anti-Blackness and anti-Brownness is ubiquitous. This remarkable book pays powerful testimony to the pain, terror and complete dysfunctionality of this reality. It is a must read for anyone of any racial identity committed to creating genuinely antiracist higher education institutions"

Stephen Brookfield, Distinguished Scholar, Antioch University

Dianne Ramdeholl and Jaye Jones have drawn on their own experiences, as well as those of faculty whom they have interviewed, to create an informative and powerful book describing the lived experiences of racialized faculty in predominately white higher education institutions (PWI) within North America. Chapters examine a range of important topics, including navigating tenure and promotion processes, incidents of racism (e.g. microaggressions, bullying, and gaslighting) in teaching and organizational spaces, self-care in toxic environments, and working toward systemic change. The book will be invaluable both to racialized faculty and to faculty and administrator accomplices genuinely committed to combatting inequality to create truly inclusive academic environments.

Jovita M. Ross-Gordon, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Texas State University and Co-Editor-in-Chief, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education