An expanding body of literature demonstrates that Asheville suffers from the largest opportunity gap in North Carolina (Reardon, Kalogrides, and Shores 2018). The concentration of socially and economically disadvantaged students in segregated neighborhoods results in attending a segregated school system and contributes to the growing opportunity gap in the United States (Rothstein 2015). This research is grounded in theory which discusses white habitus, the socialization process of residential and social segregation of whites from Blacks (Bonilla-Silva 2007) and opportunity hoarding, an action which posits that group behaviors result in restricting some individuals’ or groups’ access to desirable goods, services, or privileges (Sattin-Bajaj and Roda 2018). The purpose of this study is to evaluate white parents’ perceptions of the opportunity gap in Asheville and identify the unconscious contributions to educational inequities. Prior research evidence shows that white students fare better than their Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) peers in the context of academic attainment both during traditional school enrollment and the shift to online learning as a result of COVID-19. Findings conclude that white parents in Asheville exhibit socially and residentially segregated behavior, with minimal knowledge of the presence of the opportunity gap which disproportionately affects Black students. In addition, this paper makes recommendations that leaders could draw on to address the issues within the Asheville school system.
