Good Neighborhoods, Good Schools: Race and the "Good Choices" of White Families

Abstract

Draws on 1998/99 interviews with 75 white families in Boston, St. Louis, & Los Angeles to explore white parents' choice of neighborhood to live in & schools for their children, focusing on the role of race in the decision. It is asserted that the community & school choices of white parents are important facets of the reproduction of race & class stratification. Interview excerpts demonstrate how white parents, enabled by their race & class privilege, define "good" neighborhoods & "good" schools in terms of race. Attention is given to the in-depth interview techniques & methodological studies employed in the study, arguing that the approach fostered candid revelations on the part of the participants to reveal the degree of their racialized actions. J. Zendejas