Improving Race Relations in Schools: From Theory and Research to Practice

Editors' introduction: James A. Banks was born in the racially segregated Arkansas delta the year that Pearl Harbor was attacked and the United States entered World War II. The justifications of war as a means to promote democracy abroad contradicted with the lived realities at home. His childhood and early teenage years were marked by private ruminations about the racial inequalities he confronted in the public—at schools, churches, water fountains, and more. The stereotypical racist images in textbooks were contrasted with what and who he knew of people in his family and community. These experiences and his early contemplations about "why were the slaves represented as being happy in textbooks?" ( Banks, 2006 , p. 2), set the stage for Banks' indelible legacy to intergroup relations. He is widely renowned as the "father of multicultural education" in the United States. In his commentary, Banks draws on this long-standing, unwavering, and deep commitment to education, equity, and justice. He explores ways in which theory and basic research can inform programs in schools to improve race relations. He shows how the articles contained in this issue, more than the majority of the existing research, grapple with the complexity of intergroup interventions. Banks stresses that interventions must take into account the diversity of participants or students; what may work for one group, say the majority group, may not necessarily work for minority groups.