Naming race, downplaying class: evading socioeconomic inequality in an affluent suburb

Abstract Previous research has investigated how race is discussed in diverse schools, but how diverse suburban schools engage socioeconomic inequality remains underexplored. I draw on interviews and observations from an ethnographic study of Kirkwood, a predominantly white and affluent but racially and socioeconomically diverse suburban high school, to examine how class inequalities are discussed. I find that members of the Kirkwood High School community are race conscious, speaking openly about racial demographics and disparities, experiences with discrimination, and race as a key axis of inequality. However, I find that students, adults, and school policies are “class evasive,” tending to ignore socioeconomic disparities. They achieve this by displacing class onto race and downplaying socioeconomic inequalities. These findings highlight how even amidst shifting norms around talking about race, material inequalities can persist and go undiscussed. Building on existing research on the emergence of “diversity” discourses, this evidence of “class evasiveness” in the presence of race consciousness further illuminates how even a seemingly more progressive race-conscious ideology can, nonetheless, fall short of reducing inequalities.