In this provocative guidebook, Dr. Bay Jones challenges an enduring lesson taught in U.S. schools: The false idea that students of Color are responsible for the inequities they experience. Drawing from her own school experience and now as an educator herself, Dr. Jones reveals how schools teach youth to internalize the belief that success is the birthright of some, while others must be fixed and managed. What appears to be a natural hierarchy in ability based on innate or cultural differences is actually systemic. The design of schooling reinforces the belief that disparities in outcome are the result of individual failure, rather than a system that reproduces and sustains them. By contrasting her experiences as a Black woman with those of Dr. Robin DiAngelo's, a White woman, Dr. Jones demonstrates that race fundamentally shapes how effort is interpreted, behavior is judged, and who is seen as exceptional or deficient. Individuals within the system may be well meaning, but their efforts are undermined by a system that separates and divides us. This book is an affirmation and a call to action, honoring young people while challenging adults to confront the deeper systems at work. Our children are not the problem! Library of Congress Control Number: 2026941984 Bay Jones, PhD, draws from her own childhood as a student in California public schools, her experiences as a parent, and over three decades as an educator and researcher. Robin DiAngelo, PhD, is a former professor of education, researcher, and New York Times bestselling author. Her contribution helps illuminate how race and class operate differently within the same broader context.
