Being Black in America's Schools: A Student-Educator-Reformers Call for Change

by Brian Rashad Fuller

A leading educator, writer, and strategist sheds a timely and powerful light on American public schools, their miseducation of marginalized students of color and the action required to make tangible changes and reforms to a failing and racialized educational system.

In a polarizing and racially divided America, what do children of color learn about themselves before they even go to school? How do they see themselves and is that image only exacerbated by spending twelve years in a public education system that perpetrates negative stereotypes? Brian Rashad Fuller personally knows that the impact of low expectations can be devastating, as proved by the “school to prison” pipeline that so many students have experienced. He aims to make a difference in this humanizing and very personal portrayal of what it means to be Black in America’s schools.

As a Black man who has spent his life as a student and educator, Brian shares his own story of navigating the world, overcoming his family struggles, and eventually entering an educational system that he believes is inherently racist, damaging, and disserving. He exposes the challenges Black students face in elite and predominantly white universities and spaces, dissects “Black exceptionalism” in the schooling experience, and offers a firsthand account of the emotional and psychological impact made by teachers, administrators, policies, practices, lessons, and student interactions. Most Americans are looking for answers on how to improve our education system—as illustrated by the critical race theory debate—but have not fully understood the lived
Black experience, until now.

With powerful insight into a thoroughly American institution, Brian offers present-day solutions, and liberating hope, for a centuries-long issue, as well as a galvanizing and radical step forward. It is a book essential to our challenging times.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published July 23, 2024

Reviews

[Books Amongst Friends · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book/Overall: 4/5
Narration/Audiobook: 4/5

Being Black in America’s Schools is an intensely retrospective and, simultaneously, introspective presentation of the young black minds who are not only affected by our education system, but also those who educate within it. In so many pages I saw a lot of my own experiences echoed in the sentiments of this author. I felt immensely seen and heard in the genuine passion, questions asked, and suggested resolutions the author expresses towards a better future. Surely many readers will relate and appreciate the authors intimate and interconnected approach as I did. Although, I’m well aware that there will be readers who don’t recognize these experiences as their own, ultimately finding it harder to identify with the information and connections that the author is presenting.

I personally enjoyed this book and found myself marking up so many pages with “IKTR”! It is a quick read that I recognized as resonant and engaging. Though frankly, I did go into this read hoping for even more information alongside a stronger historical account to support the personal narrative— instead of the other way around. Outside the fact that the book is validating, frustrating, and hopeful, it better aligns to the writing style seen in a memoir. I believe the reading experience could’ve only been strengthened by incorporating further research and history. Some readers will appreciate the author’s transparency while still craving a deeper historical exploration.

Undoubtedly, the book remains invaluable, resilient, and educational. It’s not only a collection of experiences in an education system that targets and fails black and brown children, teachers, and parents— but a passionate and curious reflection that challenges the basis for such a system and its deep echoes throughout society. The author excels in holding a mirror to America as well as our own community. There will be so many readers who see themselves or their children in this book. You’ll definitely want to check it out.

Thank you deeply to Dafina & Kensington for this review copy! All thoughts are my own🙌🏾!

[Ashley : bostieslovebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEING BLACK IN AMERICA’S SCHOOLS is a must-read for educators, people with a role in a child’s life, and anyone who has interest in improving the American education system (which ideally is everyone in the US). Beyond his own story of being a Black student and educator, Fuller provides insight into the experiences of marginalized students of color and impacts of being in predominantly white educational spaces. The systemic racism of the education system mimics the systemic racism of society as a whole. Fuller provides solutions on reforming today’s failing education system, offering hope for the future. I highly recommend this book.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did NOT like this book. Supposedly part memoir and part academic consideration of race in schools, it felt more anecdotal than I had expected. I'm sure the things that happened to the author happened, but the conclusions reached via those experiences seem stretched. I'd be willing to buy into them with more depth and consideration (and many of the things have been considered well elsewhere), but this isn't the book that makes a compelling argument about how to address inequities in schools.

[Sabrina Brawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being Black in America's Schools is Brian Rashad Fuller's personal experience of the education system in the United States, from preschool to graduate school, right into Fuller's career in the educational system. Fuller attended public schools in South Carolina, received a bachelor's degree from Emory University in Georgia, a master's degree from Harvard, and eventually began working for charter schools, various educational organizations, and the New York City DOE. With this in mind, Fuller's experience should be widely varied. One would think a public school experience in rural South Carolina would be vastly different from that of New York City schools, but Fuller found the same challenges, racism, and inequities followed him everywhere.

Fuller shines a light on the critical role educators play in the success of each and every child and how easily they can demean or destroy a child's aspirations through careless or biased interactions. While he was excelling in his schoolwork, he was internalizing the shame of having a father in prison, living in poverty, and watching other students who looked like him be consistently demoralized and face harsh consequences simply because they weren't conforming to the often arbitrary definition of academic success mandated by the educator or authority in place at the time. Despite his "Black Exceptionalism", he also found himself being jerked around at the whims of an indifferent administrator at various times. These inequalities followed him whether he was at a majority white school or a majority Black school, and no matter where he found himself, the administration was usually overwhelmingly white.

Fuller asserts that anyone who has been through the educational system in the United States has been exposed to these injustices and it's time to actively make efforts to overhaul the system. But this is going to require rejection of antiquated ideas about what constitutes success from those who quite often benefited from these racist ideals. Fuller rightly notes that the educational system is simply a microcosm of the American society at large and these tenets of bigotry exist in larger context once a student leaves school.

I wanted to read this book because I wanted to understand my children's experiences as they navigate the American school system and was lucky enough to win a copy from the publisher in a Goodreads giveaway. Many of Fuller's negative experiences are based on tenets so tightly woven into our educational system that any observant person who's been through the system could vouch that they are universal challenges, which reinforces Fuller's observations.

What's both heartbreaking and hopeful is a child's school experience can determine that path they take in life and we have the ability to use that critical time to help them realize their full potential. Yet, too often we allow this opportunity to shame and demoralize individuals into self-doubt and unrealized dreams. In Fuller's words, "My best and worst memories all came at the hands of my educators."

To become better as a society and reinforce a healthy democracy, we must start with the foundation, and that means a complete restructure of our educational system to value every being who enters the fold and ensure they develop into independent, creative thinkers who can approach the complex challenges we face. This is a massive undertaking and I wouldn't even know where to begin to enact such change, but I trust that with leaders like Fuller at the helm, we can transform a broken institution into a tool for self-actualization that embraces individuality and diversity.

[Maileen Hamto · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that ended segregation in U.S. public schools. While schools are technically integrated, racism continues to affect the experiences and outcomes of Black people in the educational system. In "Being Black in America’s Schools," educator Brian Rashad Fuller shares his personal journey as a Black student navigating American institutions and the lessons he learned that solidified his advocacy for actual change and reform.

Throughout the book, the author bolsters his arguments with data about the consequences of discriminatory policies and practices and offers concrete solutions to disrupt a racialized system. Fuller shares his narrative through the lens of an equity strategist who experienced K-12 education firsthand in Sumter, South Carolina. His college days at Emory offered eye-opening revelations about racial harm. Teaching in New York City, Fuller advanced his understanding of the impacts of overt interpersonal and systemic racial discrimination against students of color.

Educators and administrators will learn much from Fuller’s honest account of his lived experiences and observations about the invalidating and confidence-crushing experiences among his Black peers. "Being Black in America’s Schools" is a timely and relevant read for all well-meaning educators who want to improve their practices and create an environment where Black and Brown students are valued and supported.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of important ideas, compellingly discussed. I would rate it higher if not for my one big complaint: I wish the ending had been the beginning. The last section of the book offered a brief exploration of the history of public education in America, which I found fascinating and eye-opening. One takeaway I got was that the emergence of common expectations for American schooling essentially represented a desire for there to be one "right" way to be American, thereby ignoring (at best) or (more often) vilifying differences. But, like I said, I wish this historical lens had been presented as the book's introduction (and/or that there had been more of it throughout the book, instead of feeling mostly confined to this one section). Instead, the first 90% of the book felt a lot more like personal memoir. Now, I like memoirs -- in fact, I am generally much more interested in memoirs than in other nonfiction genres such as history or sociology. But I came into this book expecting history and sociology, and then was a little disappointed not to have more of it, and THEN reached the end of the book and realized that the history lesson I'd been expecting actually was there, just buried at the end... and so I was a bit frustrated overall! But I'm glad I read it (or rather listened to it), and I learned a lot from Fuller's personal narrative as well as from the conclusion; so I would still recommend this book, especially to other white educators like myself.

[Katrina McLellan]

Thanks to libro fm for the free educator audio book copy. (I didn’t care for the author’s way of reading his book.) I found this book to be more autobiographical than solution-oriented. It wasn’t really until the last half of the last chapter where ideas were shared and I felt they were removed by that point. I think it would’ve been more impactful to share ideas as he shared his heartfelt firsthand experiences. I also feel I’m within the target audience (educator) and during that last chapter I felt that wasn’t in mind as he wrote his perspective; he was either preaching to the choir (Covid experiences) or writing against the educators that are trying their best in the system he’s (rightfully) writing against.

[Holly Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this, I simply did not understand. I didn't feel like I was being hateful, but hate and anger are not the same. You can hate someone without being angry. You can cheerfully hate them. You can pleasantly hate them. You just treat them like ghosts. Always happen to choose someone else.

I have just finished To Kill A Mockingbird, Raisin in the Sun, The Hate U Give, and I'm in the middle of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In each period, racism evolved... but this book showed me what it looks like today and what my part is in it. As an educator I resolve to do better.

[Sally Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would say this book is 2/3 memoir, 1/3 data and suggestions for bettering our schools for Black learners. I personally liked the balance because it balanced the history and data to the student experience of today in a unique way that made the whole book flow together nicely. Specifically at the end, there was information I did not know about our education system in the US and how various components were quite literally funded and built by white supremacists. I think this is a great book for all educators to read.

[Jake Willems · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is right up my alley on topics, but I just didn’t love it. I appreciate Brian’s writing analyses of issues in school, but some of his anecdotes of his personal experiences struck me wrong. I wished he shared stories that didn’t always cast him as a victim: I choose to believe they are true but sharing some other systemic issues outside of his own would have been more impactful and made the book seem less like settling scores, especially in his chapters about high school and undergrad.

[Sarah Easton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a Goodreads Giveaway winner so thanks to Kensington and Goodreads for selecting me.

This book was devastating!! I applaud the author for sharing important stats and personal anecdotes to inform about a problematic educational system. I am equally motivated and distraught. Definitely recommend this as a must-read!! 👏🏾 👏🏾 👏🏾

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and Goodreads for my copy.
Disheartening!
I wish you well in finding a way to get equality in the schools.

[Kara Cecchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every educator should read this.

[RACHEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important voice on the state of our public education.

My copy was a gift from Goodreads First Reads.

[Gabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great memoir about the experience of being Black in schools in America. Great final chapter - good solutions that are in line with the work of Freire and Giroux, but not cited as such.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use books such as this one to keep myself up to date as to what is going on in race and education since I left college in the early 2000's. My college experience in Oklahoma was not a great one. My male professors boastly brags that females rarely pass their classes with a grade higher than a "C".
I made it out with "B's". My major was Finance with a minor of Economics; the hardest classload in the business college. I easily outscored many of my white classmates, but I could not possibly be smarter than the white students because I was "black or inferior." The fact that I had just left the military made little to no difference.
It is sad that in this day and time, some people think the author "stretched" some of the information in this book. Because you did not live the way someone else lived, does not make their story false. Unless you walk in someone else's shoes, don't discount their account of facts. I have watched as my daughter fended off questions about living in the "ghetto" from someone whose father was black and passing. His son did not know until my daughter returned to school the next day and told the boy to ask his father about living in the ghetto. She also asked him, what does it feel like to know your family members are ashamed of who they are? While she was bullied as the only black in the honors program, many of the other students did not attend/finished college. My daughter completed her program in four years; it was suppose to take 5.