The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Arts and Architecture A CRITICAL EXPLORATION OF THE BOONDOCKS FOR ART EDUCATION: A PHILOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF BLACK VISUAL CULTURE THROUGH THE LENS OF DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS A Thesis in Art Education by Alphonso Walter Grant © 2013 Alphonso Walter Grant Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science August 2013 The thesis of Alphonso Walter Grant was reviewed and approved* by the following: B. Stephen Carpenter, II Professor of Art Education Professor in Charge of Art Education Program Thesis Adviser Charles Garoian Professor of Art Education Paul C. Taylor Associate Professor of Philosophy and African American Studies Head, Department of African American Studies Christine Marme` Thompson Professor of Art Education Chair of Art Education Graduate Program *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT The intricacies and the complexities within Black visual culture in general and in the animated television series The Boondocks specifically have been disarticulated and not recognized sufficiently in relationship to curriculum theory in the field of art education. While some scholars have examined curriculum in art education, (Carpenter & Tavin 2010; Rolling 2010), or in curriculum studies (Pinar 2004), neither field has sufficiently applied non-dominant Eurocentric White American cultural ideologies to interpret or theorize Black visual culture. Furthermore, this thesis assumes art education as an academic discipline to advance the scholarship of W.E.B. Du Bois’s (1903) concept of double consciousness, a multi-dimensional incessant awareness of the lived experience of some Black people, as curriculum theory. With that said, authors have offered persuasive arguments about the salience of curriculum theory and the education system (Carpenter & Tavin 2010; Rolling 2010); however, Du Bois’s (1903) concept of double consciousness remains a relatively underexplored concept when it pertains to curriculum theory. This thesis augments considerations for exploring the complicated conversation (Pinar, 2004) of adapting double consciousness as curriculum theory in the field of Art Education. Drawing on sources from the academic disciples of Art Education, African American Studies, Visual Culture, and Curriculum Theory, this thesis builds a conversation about the interpretation of Black visual culture looking through the paired lenses of the three dimensions of double consciousness—sociological, phenomenological, and epistemological (Grant, 2013; Taylor, 2010)—and three threads of visual culture— substantial, phenomenological, and pedagogical (Tavin, 2003). iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figure................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 ...................................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................ 1 Jim Crow ....................................................................................................... 7 Civil Rights Movement ................................................................................. 8 Black Power Movement ................................................................................ 9 Black Arts Movement…………………………………………………11 The Boondocks .............................................................................................. 155 Situating the Problem .................................................................................... 188 Significance of the Study ............................................................................... 232 Design of the Study ....................................................................................... 233 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 25 Delimitations ................................................................................................. 255 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 255 Overview ....................................................................................................... 265 Chapter 2 ...................................................................................................................... 277 Literature Review ................................................................................................. 277 Signifying Du Bois as a Scholar .................................................................... 28 The Souls of Black Folk: The Veil and Double Consciousness .................... 30 The Controversial Discourse of Double Consciousness and the Veil ........... 39 Visual Culture ................................................................................................ 45 Visual Culture and Art Education ................................................................. 50 The Boondocks .............................................................................................. 56 Curriculum Theory and Art Education .......................................................... 61 Chapter 3 ...................................................................................................................... 67 Approach ............................................................................................................... 67 Methodology .................................................................................................. 67 Chapter 4 ...................................................................................................................... 77 Analysis of The Boondocks .................................................................................. 77 Sociological Dimension and Substantial Thread ........................................... 77 Phenomenological Dimension and Phenomenological Thread ..................... 89 v Epistemological Dimension and Pedagogical Thread……...…………107 Summary ........................................................................................................ 120 Chapter 5 ...................................................................................................................... 128 Implications of This Study and Recommendations for Future Research ............. 128 Summary of the Study ................................................................................... 128 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 132 Implications for Art Education……………………………………………...145 Implications for Future Research……………………………………………151 Closing Statement…………………………………………………………...156 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 158 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: The Boondocks .......................................................................................... 155 Figure 1.2: The Freeman Family ................................................................................. 166 Figure 1.3: Huey and Riley .......................................................................................... 188 Figure 2.1: Huey and Riley and shadows .................................................................... 577 Figure 2.2: Huey Freeman, two images ....................................................................... 588 Figure 2.3: Riley Freeman, two images ....................................................................... 59 Figure 3.1 Riley throwing a chair at Santa .................................................................. 711 Figure 3.2 Riley swinging a golf club to hit Santa ...................................................... 722 Figure 3.3 Santa after getting hit with a golf club by Riley ......................................... 722 Figure 3.4 Riley writing Santa a letter ......................................................................... 733 Figure 4.1: Riley “Pause” ............................................................................................ 80 Figure 4.2: Robert Freeman - Granddad ...................................................................... 81 Figure 4.3: Winston ..................................................................................................... 82 Figure 4.4: The Kiss ..................................................................................................... 83 Figure 4.5: Tom in the shower ..................................................................................... 90 Figure 4.6: The dropped soap ...................................................................................... 90 Figure 4.7: Inmate aka The Health Inspector…………………………………………90 Figure 4.8: Mr. Uberwitz ............................................................................................. 108 Figure 4.9: Huey .......................................................................................................... 108 Figure 4.10 The Adventures of Black Jesus ................................................................ 110 Figure 4.11: