The Case For An Anti-Racist Stance Toward Paying Off Higher Education’s Racial Debt

There is no shortage of documentation that racial inequality is coursing freely through every artery of higher education. We are endlessly studying data reports that show Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students stuck at the lowest percentile of representation and achievement, from admissions to elite institutions to low graduation rates at the broad access colleges that represent their only hope in a highly stratified higher education system. A focus on the "achievement gap" does little more than perpetuate theories that associate academic achievement with individual effort, motivation, and drive. To combat racial inequality we have to focus on the ways in which higher education policy can result in racist outcomes. To avoid racism in policies, this article provides four criteria to construct anti-racist higher education policy. This article contains a brief guide that can be used by colleges and universities, systemic-level leaders, advocacy organizations, and philanthropic organizations wishing to craft racial equity agendas.