Expanding the Frame: Building Transnational Alliances for Racial and Educational Justice

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U.S. educational policymakers and equity advocates often frame the negative ramifications of racial inequality in schools in terms of worries about the nation's future global economic competitiveness. This article draws on frame theory (Snow & Benford, 1988) and education organizing theory (Warren & Mapp, 2011) to argue that educational policymakers and advocates must expand this national competitiveness frame to advance racial and educational justice. By outlining the emergence and reification of the national competitiveness frame in contemporary U.S. education policy, this article demonstrates how the national competitiveness frame can successfully build domestic alliances and create urgency for education reform. However, it can also risk co-opting racial justice goals. Further, this U.S.-centric frame ignores the global experience of racialization and educational injustice shared by marginalized groups around the world. The article closes by suggesting that educational equity advocates build on these transnational connections and use a collaborative frame to build collective power among historically marginalized groups worldwide to advance racial and educational justice in both the United States and abroad.