A Tale of Two Logics: School Discipline and Racial Disparities in a “Mostly White” Middle School

Abstract

In this article, I use ethnographic data to theorize about the causes of Black-White racial disparities in discipline at a “mostly White” middle school. Using critical race and institutional theories, I identify two racial discipline logics: criminalized sequestering and racial exemption. These logics differently governed how school leaders and teachers administered discipline among Black and White students and created a dual system that generated disparate outcomes. Overall, my analysis aids in understanding the organizational processes that produce Black-White racial discipline disparities, introduces new theoretical concepts for future research, and brings to the fore largely unexamined punitive, in-school discipline practices.