White Reprieves and Black Rage: The Augmentation of Educational Policy and Racial Protests in the Era of COVID-19.

Abstract

COVID-19 imploded the notion of educational equity, as school closures forced educational institutions to grapple with the equity of specific policies, subsequently reigniting a national and international discourse on systemic racism. Due to the uncertainty and debilitating impact of COVID-19 on schools, testing facilities, students, and the American economy, educational institutions temporarily suspended, staunch rules and institutional norms. Entry and exit exams that would otherwise serve as systemic barricades, historically precluding Black Americans from gaining entrance into the bastions of white privilege, became subject to white reprieves.