“What Does Injustice Have to Do with Me?”: Engaging Privileged White Students with Social Justice

Why should we care about the education of privileged white students? Conversations about education in America focus near-exclusively on underprivileged, majority-minority schools for many important reasons. What Does Injustice Have to Do With Me? , however, argues that such efforts cannot succeed in creating a more just and equitable society without also addressing the students who benefit from America’s educational, economic and racial inequities. These young people grow up to wield disproportionate power and influence, yet emerge undereducated and poorly prepared to navigate, let alone shape, our increasingly diverse country. David Nurenberg weaves together narrative from his twenty years of suburban teaching with relevant research in education and critical race theory to provide practical, hands-on strategies for educators dealing with challenges unique to high-powered suburban, urban and independent schools: affluent myopia, white fragility, the empathy gap, overinvolved parents, overcautious administrators and an if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it mentality. Despite high test scores and college acceptances, many schools serving affluent white students are indeed broken. Social justice education for privileged white students is not only critical for our society, but also for helping those students themselves emerge from a culture of anxiety and cynicism to find meaning, purpose and self-confidence as activist allies.