Just Southern: Navigating the Social Construction of a Rural Community in the Press for Educational Equity

Rural communities in the Southern US are shaped by a legacy of racial oppression carried out through educational systems, tandem with contemporary policies that perpetuate marginalization minoritized students. In this qualitative, revelatory case study, we examine experiences rural, southern school leaders who tasked ensuring equity. Using critical place-based leadership and bonding/bridging theory, social construction belonging rural community, implications for equity-centered leadership. We find community maintains tight-knit bonding capital is rooted land ownership exclusion, which conceptualized as southernness. Educational develop bridging were best positioned to shift perceptions necessary enact