African American Students and Gifted Education: The Politics of Race and Culture

There is a relatively good understanding of how school processes such as the overreliance on standardized measures and incomplete identification and nomination processes impede African American students' placement in gifted education programs. There is little discourse, however, regarding how race and culture, as structural forces, affect the extent to which African American students are equitably represented in the field of gifted education. Moving beyond the myriad statistics that speak to the underrepresentation of African American students in gifted education, this article examines the politics of race and culture in the field. The author suggests that one of the first steps toward creating more equitable education for all gifted and talented students is to closely examine the racial and cultural assumptions upon which the field of gifted education operates.