In this article, we study a diverse suburban high school to illustrate how racial inequality is embedded in school disciplinary routines. Focusing primarily on the experiences of Black and White students, we theorize about the relationship between race and students’ experiences with school discipline. Drawing on organizational theory, contemporary race theory, and status construction theory, we argue that in carrying out the school’s disciplinary routines, school adults are influenced by broader cultural narratives that associate blackness with criminality and whiteness with innocence. These beliefs shape how students’ behavior is responded to and leads to racial differences in students’ disciplinary experiences and outcomes.
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