The price of post-racialism: Educational genocide vs. culture-affirming methodology

Christopher A Warren, Purdue University

Abstract

The proliferation of post-racial theory (PRT) in both social and political spheres of dominant American hegemony has illustrated a desire among academic circles to move past race and racial categories in social analysis. However, absent within post-racial rhetoric is critical language on how to abolish racism and racial inequality. (Samad 2009) It is my contention that the application of post-racial theory in social and legislative arenas will fail to eliminate many of the economic or curriculum based inequities within public school education. Furthermore, I contend that the aim of post-racial theory to deconstruct race as a tool for social analysis will exacerbate current achievement gaps and guarantee that equity in terms of school funding and quality of non-racist teacher instruction for non-white students may not be achieved or even addressed. Designed to combat and eliminate the relevance of attempts to demonize poor, urban, youth of color, are the Culture Affirming Charters (CAC's) and independent schools. The success of the CAC's represent the transformative potential of a truly post-racial mechanism as they are doing the critical work of bridging race-based academic achievement gaps by creating environments where non-Whites are educated as equal in culturally affirming environments. Research into the schools and the various applications of culture-affirming pedagogy within them should serve to broaden the post-race canon to include such mechanisms designed to counteract the effects of racism.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Jaramillo, Purdue University.

Subject Area

African American Studies|American studies|Black studies|Educational sociology

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