Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
ISSN
8755-6847
Publisher
Georgia State University
Language
en-US
Abstract
Civil rights advocates have long viewed litigation as an essential, if insufficient, catalyst of social change. In part, it is. But in critical respects that remain underexplored in legal scholarship, civil rights litigation can hinder short- and long-term projects of racial justice.
Specifically, certain civil rights doctrines reward plaintiffs for emphasizing community deficits—or what I term a “deficit frame.” Legal doctrine, in other words, invites legal narratives that track, activate, and reinforce pernicious racial stereotypes. This dynamic, even in the context of well-intended litigation, risks entrenching conditions that drive racial inequality—including the conditions that litigation is often intended to address. To concretize the theory, this Article explores how deficit frames can influence the behavior of four key constituencies who impact—and often undermine—the pursuit of educational equality.
Recommended Citation
Jonathan Feingold,
Deficit Frame Dangers
,
in
37
Georgia State University Law Review
1235
(2021).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/1190
