ABSTRACT
The American people have this to learn: that where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither person nor property is safe. The term structural racism is used to draw attention to the ways in which the history of racial domination has influenced the organization and structure of society. Structural racism is also evident in public policies that place communities of color at disadvantage, in the character of local and regional economies which marginalize certain communities and populations and relegate them to a status of permanent disadvantage, and in the practices utilized by institutions such as schools and universities that reinforce racial hierarchies. Any endeavor to understand the unique needs and challenges of urban education must begin with a proper interrogation of what is meant by the term, urban.
