This article presents a reconceptualization of the role of culture in the attainment of equality of educational opportunity, and a discussion of how the use of culture in education can be a vehicle of either liberation or oppression.
It shifts the focus of educational problem solving from that of victim analysis or the analysis of minority deficits to an examination of the forces of racism and oppression as they have been and are reflected in education.

The use of culture as a tool for liberation is discussed.