In the Name of Diversity: Education and the Commoditization and Consumption of Race in the United States

In exploring the relationship between cultural capital, symbolic violence and the diversification of the curriculum the notion of commoditization of race in higher education is developed. The term first and foremost emphasizes how students from “disadvantaged” racialized communities remain significantly under-represented at selective universities and colleges. Commoditization of race in higher education is also concerned with the potentially unequal terms of exchange between racialized communities, whose experiences and collective struggles are increasingly embodied in novels, poetry, non-fictional works, ethnographies, academic discourses, and programs of study, and the educational benefits associated with diversity at 4-year institutions accorded predominantly to white student bodies. In doing so, the paper demonstrates that race-based segregation initiated at the neighborhood and public school levels continues to inhibit racialized students from receiving quality higher education opportunities. Based on an analysis of the economic obstacles disproportionately affecting Black communities, the paper concludes by reiterating that unless selective universities and colleges are prepared to significantly enhance quality educational opportunities for students of color, even the most sincere expressions of support for affirmative action, multiculturalism and diversity will likely legitimate, rather than challenge, racial inequality in the foreseeable future. Gregory M. Anderson is an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Teachers College at the Columbia University.