Is That Racist?: One White Family Interrogating Whiteness
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IS THAT RACIST?: ONE WHITE FAMILY INTERROGATING WHITENESS AND CONSTRUCTING ANTIRACIST CURRICULUM A DISSERTATION IN Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Leadership Policy and Foundations Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by RHIANNA KAY THOMAS M.A., University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2008 B.A., Avila University, 2003 Kansas City, Missouri 2019 IS THAT RACIST? ONE WHITE FAMILY INTERROGATING WHITENESS AND CONSTRUCTING ANTIRACIST CURRICULUM Rhianna Kay Thomas, Candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2019 ABSTRACT Despite attempts by white teachers and families to avoid talk about race (Apfelbaum, Paulker, Ambady, Sommers, & Norton, 2008; Bartoli, Michael, Bentley- Edwards, Stevenson, Shor, & McClain, 2016; Boutte, López-Robertson, & Powers- Costello, 2011; Lesane-Brown, Brown, Tanner-Smith, & Bruce, 2010; Pahlke, Bigler, & Suizzo, 2012; Vittrup & Holden, 2010), children learn race and racism at a young age (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; Miller, 2015; Park, 2011; Van Ausdale & Feagin, 2001). While there is a limited body of literature on racial socialization in schools (Park, 2011; Priest, Walton, White, Kowal, Baker, & Paradies, 2016; Van Ausdale & Feagin, 2001) and white racial socialization in the home (Bartoli et al., 2016; Miller, 2015; Vittrup & Holden, 2011), this study examines the ways white children come to understand race in the context of an emergent antiracist home curriculum. Using a critical sociocultural orientation, this study employs parent child autoethnography and poetic inquiry to demonstrate how two white children used race words, metaphor, analogy, and political action to construct understandings of race. iii APPROVAL PAGE The faculty listed below, appointed by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, have examined a dissertation entitled “Is That Racist? One White Family Interrogating Whiteness and Constructing Antiracist Curriculum” presented by Rhianna K. Thomas, candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, and certify that it is worthy of acceptance. Supervisory Committee Kindel Nash, Ph.D., Primary Discipline Co-Chair Division of Teacher Education University of Maryland Baltimore County Ekaterina Strekalova-Hughes, Ph.D., Primary Discipline Co-Chair Division of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies Early Childhood Program University of Missouri Kansas City Loyce Caruthers, Ph.D., Cooperative Discipline Chair Division of Education Leadership Policy and Foundations University of Missouri Kansas City Candace Schlein, Ph.D. Division of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies University of Missouri Kansas City Rodney Smith, Ed.D. Division of Educational Leadership Policy and Foundations University of Missouri Kansas City iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ...................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................ 2 Research Purpose and Question ....................................................................... 4 Significance of the Study .................................................................................. 4 Definitions of Terms ......................................................................................... 6 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 14 This Dissertation ............................................................................................. 36 An Invitation ................................................................................................... 36 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................. 39 Studies with a Cognitive Developmentalist Framework ................................ 39 Learning to be white: white Racial Socialization in the Home ...................... 47 Racial Discourse at School ............................................................................. 59 School Curriculum Designed to Counter Racism .......................................... 73 The Need for a Critical, Antiracist Perspective in Home and School History Curriculum ...................................................................................................... 81 An Urgent Need: Interrogating whiteness in Home Settings ......................... 84 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES .................................................................................... 89 Rationale: Methodological Stance .............................................................................. 89 v Parent Child Autoethnography ................................................................................... 90 Poetic Inquiry ............................................................................................................. 94 Participants ............................................................................................................... 103 Contexts .................................................................................................................... 124 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 153 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 154 Ethical Consideration ............................................................................................... 164 Positionality and Limitations .................................................................................... 169 Moving Forward to Paint a Broader Picture ............................................................. 174 4. POETIC TRANSCRIPTIONS AND MEMOS ................................................................ 176 Race Labels .............................................................................................................. 177 That’s Racist ............................................................................................................. 201 The N Word .............................................................................................................. 216 God Metaphors ......................................................................................................... 235 National Politics ....................................................................................................... 245 5. FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................... 278 Using Race Words .................................................................................................... 279 Using Race Labels to Talk about People of Color ....................................... 281 Using Race Labels to Talk about Self .......................................................... 296 Using Dangerous Race Words ...................................................................... 321 Using Metaphor and Analogy .................................................................................. 348 Designing and Implementing Political Actions ........................................................ 373 Imagining the Practical Possibilities ........................................................................ 391 vi 6. IMPLICATIONS .............................................................................................................. 393 Implication for Antiracist Home and School Curriculum ........................................ 394 Implications for Further Research ............................................................................ 406 Hope is Braveness and Kindness .............................................................................. 408 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 410 VITA ..................................................................................................................................... 430 vii ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1.1 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................... 17 3.1 Contexts ........................................................................................................................... 125 3.2 Heart Flag I Later Hung in our Window ......................................................................... 143 5.1 Major Findings of the Study ............................................................................................ 278 5.2 You’re the Color of Peach ............................................................................................... 301 5.3 Jesus and God on a Cloud ............................................................................................... 358 5.4 My Son’s Human Enslavement Analogy .......................................................................