African American College Students' Perceptions of African American Agency During the Civil War
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Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2018 Victims, Victors, or Bystanders? African American College Students' Perceptions of African American Agency During the Civil War Stephanie L. Hooks Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5503 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VICTIMS, VICTORS, OR BYSTANDERS? AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AGENCY DURING THE CIVIL WAR A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. by Stephanie Hooks B.S., Virginia Union University, 1999 M.A., Virginia State University, 2004 Director: Gabriel Reich, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning School of Education Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank Dr. Gabriel Reich, my dissertation chair, for all of the support that you have given me over the years. Thank you for helping refine and narrow my focus. Without your support I would not have been able to finish. I am forever indebted to you. I would also like to thank the other committee members, Dr. Jesse Senechal, Dr. Adam Ewing, and Dr. Hillary Parkhouse, for all of your expertise and guidance. Thank you to the students who participated in this study and gave up their time to be interviewed. The honest discussions that we had really helped me better understand the changes that need to be made and how I can begin to help be a part of this change. I am forever grateful to all of my family and friends who supported me, watched the kids, woke me up at 4am to work, listened to me complain, listened to me cry, and listened to my mock presentations. I could not have done this without you. To my daughters, Brooke and Shelby, you served as my major motivation for finishing. I pray that one day, you look back on my arduous journey and draw inspiration from my commitment to persevere. I am grateful to my husband Everett Kidd whose support, love and assistance helped get me over the finish line. To my mother Gail Hooks, all that I am and all that I will ever be is owed to you. I know being a single mom was never easy, but you always showed me through your love and example that thriving in this world meant that you have to hustle. Lastly, to my great grandparents and all of the ancestors, I pray that you are looking down and recognize that I made good on your investment. I hope that when you see me you know that scrubbing White folks floors on your knees for a living and working odd jobs to make ends meet was not in vain. It laid the foundation for this Brooklyn girl to get “all the learnin” that Papa told me I needed to get. Know that I recognize that my accomplishments are the answers to Nana and Papa’s prayers. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………….vi List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………...vii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..viii 1. INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem………………………………………………………………...3 Significance of the Study………………………………………………………………..5 Rational for the Study………..………………………………………………………….5 Research Questions………………………………………………………………….......6 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………….7 Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………………...8 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Methodology of the Research……………………………………………………………10 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………………..11 CRT Rationale…………………………………………………………………...14 Agency…………………………………………………………………………………...15 Agentic Theory…………………………………………………………………..15 Historical Agency…………..……………………………………………………15 Three Approaches to Righting Wrongs Multicultural Education………………. ………………………………………...20 Afrocentric Education…………….……………………………………………..22 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Culturally Responsive Teaching..…………..23 Virginia’s Social Studies Standards of Learning…………………. …………………….26 Civil War History and Collective Memory………………………. ……………………..29 African American Civil War Memory…………………………………………...35 African American Students’ Perspective of American History……………………….…37 Literature Gap……………………………………………………………………………41 iii 3. METHODOLOGY Research Design………………………………………………………………………….43 Case Study Methods….……………………………....…………………….........45 Critical Case Study……………………………………………………….45 Population………………………………………………………………………...............46 Access…………………………………………………………………………… 46 Setting…………………………………………………………………………………….47 Participants……………………………………………………………………….48 Instrumentation…………………………………………………………………………...52 Procedure……………………………………………………………………………….....53 Data Collection……………………………………………………………………54 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………...54 VCU IRB………………………………………………………………………………….56 4. FINDINGS Impression of the Civil War Today………………………………………………………57 Perceptions of Abraham Lincoln…………………………………………………………58 Ancestors Enslavement…………………………………………………………………...58 Civil War Era Films………………………………………………………………………59 Research Question 1………………………………………………………………………61 African Americans In The Civil War……………………………………………..61 Civil War Actors…………………………………………………………………..63 The Origin of Knowledge of African American Involvement…………………… 66 Research Question 2……………………………………………………………………… 69 African American Agency During the War………………………………………..69 Identify African American Agency in the Standards of Learning………………... 72 Actions……………………………………………………………………..74 Decision Makers……………………………………………………………74 Sources of Power………………………………………………………… ..76 Impact on Action………………………………………………………….. 78 5. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Theoretical Discussion of Findings……………………………………………………….82 African American Agency…………………………………………………………83 Miseducation of the Civil War…………………………………………………….85 Knowledge of Ancestors and Emancipation……………………………………….87 Implications…………………………………………………………………………………88 Black Representation Matters………………………………………………………88 The Role of the HBCU……………………………………………………………..89 Virginia Standards of Learning…………………………………………………….90 Limitations………………………………………………………………………………….91 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………91 References…………………………………………………………………………….. ……93 iv Appendices………………………………………………………………………………100 A. University Initial Contact Email/Letter………………………………………………101 B. Research Subject Information and Consent Form……………………………………104 C. Interview Protocol……………………………………………………………………109 D. Survey………………………………………………………………………………..112 E. Agency Rubric………………………………………………………………………..116 F. Interview Agency Rubric Completed…………………………………………………118 VITA…………………………………………………………………………………….121 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Rubin & Rubin Steps toward Data Analysis…………………………………………46 2. Interview Participants Descriptive Statistics and Survey Responses………………...50 3. Interview Participants – Recent Films Viewed………………………………………60 4. Perceptions of African American Participation in the Civil War……………………61 5. Stories of Emancipation……………………………………………………………...67 6. Participants Perceptions of African American Involvement in the Civil War…...…..71 7. Standards of Learning Objectives – Virginia and US History……………………….73 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Survey Participants – Recent Civil War Films Viewed...................................................59 2. Were there stories about the Emancipation of African Americans handed down in your family?...................................................................................................................................67 3. Were there stories about the Civil War handed down in your family?.............................68 vii ABSTRACT VICTIMS, VICTORS OR BYSTANDERS? AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AGENCY DURING THE CIVIL WAR By Stephanie Hooks A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016 Major Director: Gabriel Reich, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning School of Education This dissertation examines African American students’ perspectives of African American agency during the Civil War. It also seeks to understand where their knowledge of African Americans during the Civil War comes from. The topic fits within the Critical Race Theory framework and utilized a mixed methods approach to understand the study findings. The methodology included an online survey completed by forty-two participants at a Historically Black university and 3 semi-structured interviews using the interview protocol. Descriptive statistical demographic data, open-ended responses and interview transcripts were analyzed using the agency rubric developed by the researcher. The themes that emerged from the study included the limited agency of African Americans during the Civil War, silenced voices of African American women, students’ limited knowledge of ancestors’ emancipation and viii emancipation narratives, and little specific knowledge of African Americans involvement in the Civil War Key Words: African American college students, Agency, Critical Race Theory, Civil War, Historical Actors. ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Kathy is a fourth grade classroom teacher in Virginia. She is teaching