A Tale of Two Pandemics: Interrogating Discrimination Against Black Students in Gifted Education and Other Programs for Advanced Learners

Black students are casualties of two significant pandemics (i.e., racism and COVID-19), both wreaking havoc on their overall well-being—academically, mentally, socioemotionally, and psychologically. Moreover, the academic experiences of Black students are often fraught with denied access to P–12 schools’ most elite, privileged, and White programs—gifted and talented education (GATE), Advanced Placement (AP), dual enrollment, International Baccalaureate (IB), and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) academies. In this article, the authors discuss the curriculum violence that persisted during COVID, with little signs of abating and offered specific recommendations for educators to proactively engage Black students, and advocate for their educational needs while being culturally responsive. The authors will explain how educators can be anti-racist allies and gate openers for Black students.