Enrique Alemán

Bio: Enrique Alemán is an academic researcher from University of Texas at San Antonio. The author has contributed to research in topics: Critical race theory & Racism. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 19 publications receiving 519 citations. Previous affiliations of Enrique Alemán include University of Utah & University of Texas at Austin.

Situating Texas School Finance Policy in a CRT Framework: How “Substantially Equal” Yields Racial Inequity

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this article is to conduct a critical race policy analysis of Texas school finance policy. This empirical article examines three chapters of the Texas education code (TEC) and identifies the racial effects that the school funding system has on seven majority-Mexican American school districts.Methodology: Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Latina/o Critical (LatCrit) theoretical frameworks are employed in this article in which race and property are highlighted as concepts central to the analysis. The methodology allows for a critical perspective on history and the racial effects of policy to be outlined. First, a historical analysis of race and racism, schooling, and politics in Texas contextualizes the debate over school finance equity. Second, an analysis of the effects that the school finance system has on communities of color is completed.Analysis and Findings:An examination of primarily 2002—2003 school finance data, Texas Supreme Court opinions, and TEC indicates that majority-Mex...

‘Do Latin@ interests always have to “converge” with White interests?’: (Re)claiming racial realism and interest‐convergence in critical race theory praxis

Abstract: The interest‐convergence principle proposes that change benefitting people and communities of color only occurs when those interests also benefit Whites. As newly transplanted Chicano/a residents of a state facing exponential growth of its Latino immigrant population, we have attempted to counter the efforts criminalizing members of our Latino/a community, and have witnessed attempts to do so through an alignment of interests between Latinos/as and Whites. In this article, we examine the current scholarship regarding interest‐convergence and present a counterstory of educational leadership and politics affecting our own community. We use the counterstory to particularize and problematize how critical race theory concepts operate in real‐world situations. Ultimately, the counterstory reveals that using interest‐convergences as a political strategy divorces activism from the foundational tenets of critical race theory, preventing discussions that center race and racism and distorting Bell's original notion ...

Latcrit Educational Leadership and Advocacy: Struggling Over Whiteness as Property in Texas School Finance

Abstract: In this article, the author seeks to re-imagine the political and policy roles of educational leaders of color, offering an alternative method for educational leadership, advocacy, and policy analysis. The author uses critical race theory (CRT) and Latina/o critical (LatCrit) theory to problematize the way politically-active Mexican American educational leaders used personal and professional experiences to conceptualize racism and organize politically in the context of the debate over school finance equity in Texas. The findings suggest that a prevalent negation of critical raced leadership, analysis, and advocacy among the participants disadvantages Latina/o communities and de-legitimizes Latina/o political voices. The author envisions an alternative educational leadership framework centered on LatCrit theory's call for contextualized, historical, and critical analysis.

Latina/o Undergraduate Students Mentoring Latina/o Elementary Students: A Borderlands Analysis of Shifting Identities and First-Year Experiences

Abstract: This article examines the experiences of first-year Latina/o undergraduates at a predominantly white institution. Through a borderlands analysis, the authors explore how these students describe their experiences participating in an ethnic studies course and mentoring Latina/o elementary schoolchildren. The authors find that these experiences served as sitios y lenguas (decolonizing spaces and discourses; Perez, 1998) in which the undergraduate students were able to reflect on the ongoing transformation of their social and political identities, revealing the complex and fluid latinidades (Latina/o identities; Latina Feminist Group, 2001) that exist among the Latina/o university students. This article explores the physical and metaphorical borders (Anzaldua, 1987) the undergraduates occupy, navigate, and challenge while they work simultaneously as mentors in a mostly Latina/o setting and as college students on a mostly white campus.

Through the Prism of Critical Race Theory: "Niceness" and Latina/o Leadership in the Politics of Education.

Abstract: Utilizing a critical race theory (CRT) framework, I conduct a rhetorical and discursive analysis of data from a study of Utah Latino/a educational and political leaders. In analyzing how participants advocate closing the achievement gaps that affect Latina/o and Chicana/o students, I find that participants' political discourse is shaped by concepts such as “niceness,” “respect,” and “decorum,” which ultimately limits their critique and silences the experiences of students in their communities. I argue that CRT scholarship and practice frameworks play a vital role in enacting socially just policies and preparing educational leaders to engage critically in the politics of education.

Democracy and Its Critics

Abstract: The course is focused on historical texts, most of them philosophical. Context for understanding the texts and the course of democratic development will be provided in lecture and discussions, and by some background readings (Dunn). We begin with the remarkable Athenian democracy, and its frequent enemy the Spartan oligarchy. In Athens legislation was passed directly by an assembly of all citizens, and executive officials were selected by lot rather than by competitive election. Athenian oligarchs such as Plato more admired Sparta, and their disdain for the democracy became the judgment of the ages, until well after the modern democratic revolutions. Marsilius of Padua in the early Middle Ages argued for popular sovereignty. The Italian citystates of the Middle Ages did without kings, and looked back to Rome and Greece for republican models. During the English Civil War republicans debated whether the few or the many should be full citizens of the regime. The English, French, and American revolutions struggled with justifying and establishing a representative democracy suitable for a large state, and relied on election rather than lot to select officials. The English established a constitutional monarchy, admired in Europe, and adapted by the Americans in their republican constitution. The American Revolution helped inspire the French, and the French inspired republican and democratic revolution throughout Europe during the 19 century.

Democracy in America: An Appreciation On the Occasion of the Centennial of Tocqueville's Death

Abstract: more impressive with each exposure to it. Everything has changed and nothing has changed since Democracy in America was published in the 1830’s. Its author grasped with remarkable perception both the mutable and the immutable qualities of man. There could be nothing more salutary for us today than to assimilate his fine sense of what was permanent in a world which, like ours, was undergoing deep convulsions. Committed to the classical economics of Adam Smith, Tocqueville did not share Smith’s illusions about the eternal nature of the market. On the contrary, as Albert Salomon has emphasized, his point of view

Culturally Responsive School Leadership

Abstract: Culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) has become important to research on culturally responsive education, reform, and social justice education. This comprehensive review provides a framework for the expanding body of literature that seeks to make not only teaching, but rather the entire school environment, responsive to the schooling needs of minoritized students. Based on the literature, we frame the discussion around clarifying strands—critical self-awareness, CRSL and teacher preparation, CRSL and school environments, and CRSL and community advocacy. We then outline specific CRSL behaviors that center inclusion, equity, advocacy, and social justice in school. Pulling from literature on leadership, social justice, culturally relevant schooling, and students/communities of color, we describe five specific expressions of CRSL found in unique communities. Finally, we reflect on the continued promise and implications of CRSL.