Representations of Black Characters in Children's Literature: a Product Of
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Gardner-Webb University Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University Education Dissertations and Projects School of Education 5-2018 Representations of Black Characters in Children’s Literature: A Product of Histories, Ideologies, Narratives, Depictions, Politics, and Laws Annie Calloway Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Calloway, Annie, "Representations of Black Characters in Children’s Literature: A Product of Histories, Ideologies, Narratives, Depictions, Politics, and Laws" (2018). Education Dissertations and Projects. 298. https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/298 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Education Dissertations and Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Gardner-Webb University. For more information, please see Copyright and Publishing Info. Representations of Black Characters in Children’s Literature: A Product of Histories, Ideologies, Narratives, Depictions, Politics, and Laws By Annie Elizabeth Calloway A Dissertation Submitted to the Gardner-Webb University School of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Gardner-Webb University 2018 Approval Page This dissertation was submitted by Annie Elizabeth Calloway under the direction of the persons listed below. It was submitted to the Gardner-Webb University School of Education and was approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Gardner-Webb University. ________________________________ _________________ Mary Beth Roth, Ed.D. Date Committee Chair ________________________________ _________________ Kelly Clark, Ed.D. Date Committee Member ________________________________ _________________ Trinette Atri, M.A. Date Committee Member ________________________________ _________________ Jeff Rogers, Ph.D. Date Dean of the Gayle Bolt Price School of Graduate Studies ii Abstract Representations of Black Characters in Children’s Literature: A Product of Histories, Ideologies, Narratives, Depictions, Politics, and Laws. Calloway, Annie Elizabeth, 2018: Dissertation, Gardner-Webb University, Black Characters/Children’s Literature/ Histories/Ideologies/Narratives/Depictions/Politics/Laws This qualitative, directed content analysis examined fiction and nonfiction children’s literature published between 2015 and 2017. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory, the study describes the ways in which Black characters are represented in early readers. Using books located in community libraries, school media centers and retail outlets, the study concludes that Black characters are represented less frequently and in ways that often do not take into account cultural, political, and legal manifestations of White privilege. This discussion of race, identity, power structures, and education aims to create and promote thought and discussions surrounding the genealogies of racial oppressions. The study is also meant as a challenge to rethink perceptions of race and equality and dignity. As educators charged with balancing the scale of equality and fair practice, there are many questions: Who determines what counts as knowledge? Who represents and who is represented? What stories will be remembered? Whose voices will be heard? Such questions go to the heart of children’s literature and how the history of race and equity is interpreted and validated. iii Table of Contents Page Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................................2 Significance of the Study .....................................................................................................3 Setting and Audience ...........................................................................................................5 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................5 Conceptual Base...................................................................................................................6 Overview of the Methodology ............................................................................................8 Research Questions ..............................................................................................................9 Limitations of the Study.......................................................................................................9 Delimitations of the Study ................................................................................................10 Definition of Key Terms ....................................................................................................10 Note about Term Selection ................................................................................................12 Organization of the Dissertation ........................................................................................12 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................15 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................16 Introduction ........................................................................................................................16 A Genealogy of Racial Thinking: Histories, Ideologies, and Narratives .........................17 Philosophical and Scientific Racism ..................................................................................22 Slavery in the American South ..........................................................................................33 Reconstruction ..................................................................................................................39 Jim Crow ............................................................................................................................40 The Civil Rights Movement...............................................................................................44 School Segregation ............................................................................................................48 Race in the Age of Accountability .....................................................................................53 CRT ....................................................................................................................................59 Permanence of Racism: Depictions of Race ......................................................................62 Microaggressions ..............................................................................................................62 Macroaggressions ..............................................................................................................63 Individual and Institutional Forms of Racism ...................................................................64 Conscious and Unconscious Elements of Racism .............................................................68 Cumulative Effects of Racism: Crime, Punishment, and the Law ....................................70 Counterstorytelling: Chronicles in Pop Culture ................................................................74 Politics and the Judiciary ..................................................................................................89 Ideologies: Whiteness as Property and Blackness as Status in Multicultural Education .98 Race in the Age of Accountability ...................................................................................123 The Study: Directed Qualitative Content Analysis ..........................................................140 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................141 Chapter 3: Methodology ..................................................................................................143 Introduction ......................................................................................................................143 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................143 Design of the Study ..........................................................................................................144 The Settings .....................................................................................................................145 Data Collection and Instruments ......................................................................................146 Procedures .......................................................................................................................147 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................148 iv Managing Data .................................................................................................................149 Role of the Researcher .....................................................................................................149 Verification of Validity and Reliability ...........................................................................149