CHAPTER 4: An Ironic Alliance: A Case Study Approach to the Conflict Between Charity and Solidarity in an Urban Public School

This chapter will explore the tensions between irony, solidarity, and humanization in the context of “College Prep”, a public school in Brooklyn, New York. The school created its own in-house nonprofit organization in 2008, which I call “the Foundation,” in order to solicit private sector funds. Through a case study of the head of the Foundation, a White male whom I call Mr. Thomas, I illuminate the conflict between alleviating and perpetuating inequity in education.