ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates how the ideology of White supremacy created and used mis/disinformation about Black people in general and Black students as readers to inform reading research and state reading retention laws. A review of state reading retention laws denies equal educational access in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The narratives and research in support of the laws are filled with dog-whistle messages that project change and suggest improved outcomes, nine or more years later in the life of a student, wishful thinking that cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, a review of reading research conducted by Black scholars but dismissed, ignored, or minimalized by reading researchers is examined to highlight their existence and alternative conceptual and epistemological points of view. The chapter concludes with a close review of federal grants to support improved reading.
