Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash
Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash is a timely and urgent examination of the contested landscape of contemporary education. Situated within a period marked by intensified political and cultural resistance to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the book explores how schools have become central battlegrounds in broader struggles over identity, knowledge, and democracy.
The book is grounded in the premise that education is never neutral; it either reinforces systems of oppression or serves as a vehicle for liberation. Drawing on this foundation, Rick Rantz skillfully analyzes the historical and contemporary forces that shape resistance to equity in education, including legislative bans, curriculum censorship, attacks on culturally responsive pedagogy, and the politicization of schooling. Through a critical examination of these dynamics, the text reveals how organized backlash seeks to restrict whose histories, languages, and identities are recognized within educational spaces.
Ultimately, the book is both a scholarly and practical contribution, offering critical insights and actionable strategies for educators, leaders, and advocates committed to equity. It calls on readers to recognize the stakes of this historical moment and to actively participate in shaping an educational system that affirms all students and sustains democratic possibility.
"Rick Rantz has written a timely account of the political forces reshaping education today.Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlashsituates current debates within a longer history of organized resistance to inclusion and makes a compelling case that schools are never neutral spaces. Drawing on historical insight and contemporary analysis, Rantz shows both what is at stake for minoritized students and what educators can do to sustain equity in increasingly constrained environments. This is a thoughtful, grounded book that challenges readers to remain committed to justice even when the climate makes that work difficult.”
—Marybeth GasmanSamuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education
& Distinguished ProfessorGraduate School of EducationRutgers University - New Brunswick
Shipping: $4.25
What Scholars Are Saying…
“In an era when educators face increasing pressure to silence discussions of race, culture, and identity, Rick Rantz offers both intellectual clarity and moral courage. This book provides educators with the historical perspective, theoretical grounding, and practical strategies needed to sustain equity-centered teaching even in hostile policy environments.”
—Adrianna Kezar, Ph.D.
Wilbur Kieffer Endowed Professor and Dean's Professor of Leadership; Director of the Pullias Center
University of Southern California
Executive Editor, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning
_______________________________________________
“This book arrives at a critical moment for educators, policymakers, and communities committed to democratic schooling. Rantz documents the political forces reshaping educational discourse while affirming the importance of centering minoritized students in our classrooms and institutions. Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash is both a scholarly contribution and a call to action.”
—Rhonda Jeffries, Ph.D.
Professor, Curriculum Studies,
University of South Carolina
Co-Editor in Chief, Impacting Education:
Journal on Transforming Professional Practice
_______________________________________________
“This book arrives at a critical moment for educators navigating an increasingly polarized policy environment. Rantz offers both historical perspective and practical insight, demonstrating why culturally responsive and equity-centered approaches remain essential to supporting minoritized students.”
—Fabienne Doucet, Ph.D.
Professor of Education; Executive Director,
Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
New York University
_______________________________________________
“Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash by Rick Rantz is a thoughtful and well-researched work that explores the complexities of education in a time of the unknown in terms of shifts in governmental policies and practices. It offers practical pedagogical applications as well as perspectives that place students at the center for creating and sustaining successful schools in partnership with communities, educators, and students’ families.”
—Yolanda Abel, Ed.D.
Associate Professor and Immediate Past Chair,
Department of Advanced Studies in Education
Johns Hopkins University
_______________________________________________
"Rick Rantz has written a necessary book for this moment in educational history. At a time when equity initiatives are under sustained attack, Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash provides a powerful reminder that schools are not neutral spaces. Rantz offers educators a deeply informed analysis of organized resistance while also providing pathways for sustaining culturally responsive and justice-centered education."
—James Earl Davis, Ph.D.
Professor and the Bernard C. Watson Endowed Chair in Urban Education
Temple University
_______________________________________________
“A timely and urgent intervention, Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash confronts the escalating assault on equity in education with clarity, courage, and purpose. Grounded in the conviction that education is never neutral, it offers indispensable tools for defending minoritized students and reimagining schools as sites of justice and belonging. At a moment when histories are erased and voices silenced, this work is both a guide and a call to action for those committed to sustaining democracy through education.”
—Henry Armand Giroux, Ph.D.
Professor, English & Cultural Studies,
University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest
McMaster University
_______________________________________________
“Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash is a timely and compelling guide for educators, families, and communities committed to supporting minoritized students in a hostile political climate. Rick Rantz examines how attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, ethnic studies, bilingual education, and LGBTQ+ visibility are part of a broader backlash against justice in schools. Moving beyond critique, he offers practical, research-informed strategies for creating affirming classrooms, sustaining student well-being, and building coalitions for change. This book is an essential resource for anyone committed to equity, belonging, and democracy in education.”
—Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy and Department of Curriculum & Instruction
The University of Texas at Austin
_______________________________________________
“Rick Rantz has written a courageous and necessary book for this moment in educational history. At a time when equity initiatives are under sustained attack, Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash provides a powerful reminder that schools are not neutral spaces. By connecting past struggles—from desegregation to bilingual education—to today’s attacks on diversity initiatives, this book illuminates the enduring importance of affirming the dignity and potential of all minoritized students. Rantz’s deeply informed analysis of organized resistance arrives at just the right time, providing pathways for sustaining culturally responsive and justice-centered education with intellectual clarity and moral courage.”
—Victoria F. Trinder, Ph.D.
Clinical Associate Professor,
Coordinator, Bachelor of Arts in Urban Education,
Co-Program Director, Undergraduate Studies in Elementary Education, Curriculum & Instruction
University of Illinois Chicago
_______________________________________________
“At a time when many educators feel constrained by an ever-shifting political landscape, where diversity, equity, and inclusion are under sustained attack, Rick Rantz offers a courageous and deeply needed intervention. He centers the students, families, and communities most impacted by these shifts and reminds us that our responsibility as educators is ongoing, relational, and rooted in care. This work calls us to remain anchored in equity and to enact what I call critical decolonial love, a commitment to humanizing, affirming, and transforming our pedagogies and practices in the face of injustice. With both urgency and hope, this book serves as a steady compass for educators seeking to navigate this moment with integrity, compassion, and critical consciousness.”
—Sarina Chugani Molina, Ed.D.
Associate Dean & Professor,
School of Leadership and Education Sciences
University of San Diego
_______________________________________________
“Educating for Equity in an Era of Backlash trenchantly analyzes how contemporary schools are deeply shaped by the long history and current resurgence of organized white resistance to racial and other equalities. Drawing on a systemic racism framework, Rantz details how culture wars, curriculum bans, and attacks on equity initiatives police whose histories and identities appear in classrooms, and how educators, students, and communities can carve out liberatory spaces for minoritized youth in institutions built to exclude them.”
—Joe Feagin, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Sociology
College of Arts and Sciences
Texas A&M University
