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Disruptive Equity Education Project

Type:

For-profit DEI Consultant
Founded:

2016
CEO:

Darnisa Amante-Jackson

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The Disruptive Equity Education Project is a race-based consulting organization that is led by president and CEO Darnisa Amante-Jackson. 1 The New York Times called Amante-Jackson “another important black voice” in the race-consultant industry 2 and reported she wants to move away “from capitalist, Western” ideals. 3

Amante-Jackson was accused of telling New York City public school educators to favor black children over white children during bias training in 2019 and that “racial equity” meant favoring black children regardless of their socio-economic background, according to the New York Post. 4 She was also accused of telling white educators during training that they would have to “name their privilege.” 5

Amante-Jackson was a facilitator at an October 2020 workshop in Massachusetts that taught “people of color cannot be racist” and there is no “reverse racism,” 6 and that “in almost every case” people of color are severely punished for acting on any prejudices they may have, according to the workshop literature. The force of the police and the courts “or a gang of whites getting even” will come “crashing down” on those people of color, according to the workshop literature. 7

Amante-Jackson was recorded in a January 2019 training session saying that 88 percent of the world’s population are “people of color” but 96 percent of the “world’s historical content is white” and stated that a characteristic of “whiteness” is an obsession with the written word. 8 She also said that an aspect of white supremacy is that people are trained to believe that only people with multiple degrees can be experts, according to the New York Times. 9

Background

The Disruptive Equity Education Project was co-founded by Amante-Jackson and Daisy Han in 2016. 10 As of 2020, it has been hired by school districts and charter schools in 15 states and has attracted corporate clients as well. 11

Amante-Jackson was born in Brooklyn and was a fourth-grade teacher. 12 She received a master’s degree in anthropology from Brandeis University and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2016. She ran her own tutoring and test preparation company for six years and then left to become a long-term substitute teacher in the New York City Public Schools. 13

The Four I’s of Oppression

The Disruptive Equity Education Project facilitated workshops in October 2020 for the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association that referenced material called, “The Four I’s Of Oppression.” 14 Amante-Jackson also was a speaker in November 2021 at the State University of New York on the same topic. 15

The four forms of oppression cited in the material are ideological oppression, institutional oppression, interpersonal oppression, and internalized oppression. 16

Ideological oppression, according to the literature, promotes one group over another because the dominant group is “somehow better” and “more intelligent, harder working, stronger, more capable.” 17

Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the right-of-center Heritage Foundation, called Amante-Jackson a “leading proponent” of identity politics and criticized the rationale behind “ideological oppression” in a column. 18 Gonzalez said that her trainings demonize habits “such as punctuality, love of the written word, the use of reason, and hard work.” 19

New York City Schools

The Disruptive Equity Education Project was hired in 2019 by the city of New York public school system for $175,000 as a consultant to work with new teachers as part of “implicit bias” training, according to the New York Post. 20

Amante-Jackson was hired as the consultant despite criticism that her training created “hate and division” and made whiteness “toxic,” according to the New York Post. 21 Amante-Jackson stated during the training that a middle-class Black student would have less access and less opportunities during their lifetime than a poor white classmate and stated in a training session that white educators would have to “talk about your power and your privilege. You will need to name your privilege.” 22

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science chief operating officer Christine Simmons said the Academy hired Amante-Jackson to train its board and branch executive committees. 23 Simmons said Amante-Jackson teaches that bias is institutionalized and based on the dominant culture, “which is usually quite male, cis-gendered.” 24

Staff

Daisy Han was a co-founder of Disruptive Equity Education Project but became a contractor as of 2019. 25 She was the director of equity curriculum and education and created the organization’s curriculum and program content. 26 She went to work at Embracing Equity, a race-based consulting company in Austin, Texas that works with educators. 27

Max Jean-Paul is listed as a contractor for the Disruptive Equity Education Project. 28 In 2014, Jean-Paul was fined $2,400 while he was a principal at Brooklyn Bridge Academy for forcing his personal assistants to do personal chores for him, including shopping and bank trips and to buy alcohol, according to the New York Daily News. 29 Jean-Paul made three employees pick up his dry cleaning, go shopping at a wholesale club, and get him breakfast and lunch. 30

References

  1. Disruptive Equity Education Project website. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://digdeepforequity.org/team/
  2. Daniel Bergner. “’White Fragility’ Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work?” New York Times. July 15, 2020. Accessed Nov. 13, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html
  3. Daniel Bergner. “’White Fragility’ Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work?” New York Times. July 15, 2020. Accessed Nov. 13, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html
  4. Susan Edelman. “Teachers Allegedly Told To Favor Black Students In ‘Racial Equity’ Training”; May 25, 2019. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://nypost.com/2019/05/25/teachers-allegedly-told-to-treat-black-students-as-victims-punish-whites/
  5. Susan Edelman. “Teachers Allegedly Told To Favor Black Students In ‘Racial Equity’ Training”; May 25, 2019. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://nypost.com/2019/05/25/teachers-allegedly-told-to-treat-black-students-as-victims-punish-whites/
  6. Massachusetts Charter Public School Association agenda. Oct. 21, 2020. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://masscharterschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Diversity-Belonging-Inclusion-Equity-Agenda-10.21-10.29.pdf
  7. Grand Rapids Community College website. The Four I’s Of Oppression. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://www.grcc.edu/sites/default/files/docs/diversity/the_four_is_of_oppression.pdf
  8. Daniel Bergner. “’White Fragility’ Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work?” New York Times. July 15, 2020. Accessed Nov. 13, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html
  9. Daniel Bergner. “’White Fragility’ Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work?” New York Times. July 15, 2020. Accessed Nov. 13, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html
  10. Alexis Morgan. McKinlee Covey. “Diving DEEP” Harvard Graduate School Of Education. June 6, 2017. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/17/06/diving-deep
  11. Daniel Bergner. “’White Fragility’ Is Everywhere. But Does Antiracism Training Work?” New York Times. July 15, 2020. Accessed Nov. 13, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html
  12. EdTechTeacher.org. Episode 23. “So We’ve Been Thinking: Episode 23 – Darnisa Amante – A Commitment To Equity”; Nov. 25, 2019. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://edtechteacher.org/so-weve-been-thinking-episode-23-darnisaamante-a-commitment-to-equity/?fbclid=IwAR2eurpHawy1iB6EPPVyiN2I9CnmsM6B058AX0YHtqpDwYC9VAhJO-33UeQ
  13. Alexis Morgan. McKinlee Covey. “Diving DEEP” Harvard Graduate School Of Education. June 6, 2017. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/17/06/diving-deep
  14. Massachusetts Charter Public School Association agenda. Oct. 21, 2020. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://masscharterschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Diversity-Belonging-Inclusion-Equity-Agenda-10.21-10.29.pdf
  15. State University of New York New Paltz website. “Creating And Manifesting Belonging: A Distinguished Speaker Series Event With Darnisa Amante-Jackson, Nov. 10”; Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://sites.newpaltz.edu/news/2021/10/creating-and-manifesting-belonging-fall-2021-dss/
  16. Massachusetts Charter Public School Association agenda. Oct. 21, 2020. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://masscharterschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Diversity-Belonging-Inclusion-Equity-Agenda-10.21-10.29.pdf
  17. Grand Rapids Community College website. The Four I’s Of Oppression. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://www.grcc.edu/sites/default/files/docs/diversity/the_four_is_of_oppression.pdf
  18. Mike Gonzalez. “The Long Shadow Of The Identity Politics ‘Constitution’”; Dec. 18. 2020. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://www.heritage.org/civil-society/commentary/the-long-shadow-the-identity-politics-constitution
  19. Mike Gonzalez. “The Long Shadow Of The Identity Politics ‘Constitution’”; Dec. 18. 2020. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://www.heritage.org/civil-society/commentary/the-long-shadow-the-identity-politics-constitution
  20.  Susan Edelman. “Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza Accused Of Demoting Admins Because They Were White”; May 18, 2019. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://nypost.com/2019/05/18/nyc-schools-chancellor-richard-carranza-has-made-whiteness-toxic-doe-insiders-claim/
  21. Susan Edelman. “Teachers Allegedly Told To Favor Black Students In ‘Racial Equity’ Training”; May 25, 2019. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://nypost.com/2019/05/25/teachers-allegedly-told-to-treat-black-students-as-victims-punish-whites/
  22. [1] Susan Edelman. “Teachers Allegedly Told To Favor Black Students In ‘Racial Equity’ Training”; May 25, 2019. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://nypost.com/2019/05/25/teachers-allegedly-told-to-treat-black-students-as-victims-punish-whites/
  23. Aramide Tinubu. “Doing The Work: The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Six Years After #OscarsSoWhite”; Essence. March 26, 2021. Accessed Nov. 13, 2021. https://www.essence.com/entertainment/the-academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences-six-years-after-oscarssowhite/
  24. Aramide Tinubu. “Doing The Work: The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Six Years After #OscarsSoWhite”; Essence. March 26, 2021. Accessed Nov. 13, 2021. https://www.essence.com/entertainment/the-academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences-six-years-after-oscarssowhite/
  25. Disruptive Equity Education Project website. Accessed Nov. 16, 2021. https://digdeepforequity.org/team/
  26. Daisy Han LinkedIn Account. Accessed Nov. 16,2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinedaisyhan/
  27. Daisy Han LinkedIn Account. Accessed Nov. 16,2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinedaisyhan/
  28. Disruptive Equity Education Project website. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://digdeepforequity.org/team/
  29. Ben Chapman. Jennifer Fermino. “Brooklyn Principal Fined For Forcing Workers To Do His Personal Errands – Like Fetching Lunch And Buying Alcohol”; New York Daily News. Aug. 24, 2014. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/brooklyn-principal-fined-workers-personal-assistants-article-1.1921052
  30. Ben Chapman. Jennifer Fermino. “Brooklyn Principal Fined For Forcing Workers To Do His Personal Errands – Like Fetching Lunch And Buying Alcohol”; New York Daily News. Aug. 24, 2014. Accessed Nov. 15, 2021. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/brooklyn-principal-fined-workers-personal-assistants-article-1.1921052
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