Chartering Exploitation: 21st Century Black Schooling and the (Re)making of a Southern City

In this talk, Rachel Williams draws upon qualitative and spatial methods to examine how new modes of segregation, such as exploitative housing policies and county secession, shape the trajectory of charter growth from 2002 to 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee, a majority Black city following the post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans model. By exploring the present-day implications of Jim Crow era segregation, education policy, and unequal political and economic power, this case study explores the local processes shaping how charters take root in new places, while illuminating the structural conditions shaping Black politics in a majority Black city in the U.S. South.