Theorizing Racist Ableism in Higher Education

Background/Context: Although research on the experiences of multiply-marginalized Black and Brown students with dis/abilities in higher education is limited, this growing body of work indicates that these students navigate racialized perceptions of ability, which impact their experiences on college and university campuses. This research highlights the need for intersectional frameworks that consider students' multiple identities and the limitations of single-identity-focused frameworks. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Centering the counternarratives of 10 Black and Brown undergraduate students with dis/abilities across five college and university campuses, this article uses critical race theory (CRT), disability critical race theory (DisCrit), and racist nativism to develop a conceptual framework of racist ableism. Racist ableism bridges CRT, DisCrit, and racist nativism to describe how particular forms of ableism, informed by racist attitudes and beliefs, oppress and dehumanize Black and Brown people based on actual or perceived (or, inversely, lack of perceived) dis/ability, thereby reinforcing the relationship between whiteness and ability. Research Design: I examined the counternarratives of 10 Black and Brown undergraduate students who identified or have the lived experience of dis/ability. Counternarratives allowed me to center the stories of students. I identify three overarching findings: (1) Black and Brown dis/abled students navigated racialized perceptions of intelligence, productivity, and academic capability; (2) Black and Brown dis/abled students were pathologized as lazy and/or deviant, which minimized or erased their access needs; and (3) Black and Brown dis/abled students resisted racist ableist discourses. Conclusions/Recommendations: The counternarratives of students reveal how racialized perceptions of ability shaped their experiences interacting with staff and their ability to access institutional supports such as accommodations. They also reveal the critical raced-disabled epistemologies of Black and Brown students who identify or have been labeled as dis/abled. Their counternarratives highlight the need for: (1) intersectional frameworks that account for the ways in which racism and ableism are interconnected, and (2) race-conscious policies and practices that consider their multidimensional identities.