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MIAMI UNIVERSITY the Graduate School MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School CERTIFICATE FOR APPROVING THE DISSERTATION We hereby approve the Dissertation Of Carl L. Robinson Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Richard A. Quantz, Co-Director Raymond Terrell, Co-Director Dennis Carlson, Reader Michael Dantley, Reader Cheryl Burgan Evans Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT RECONCEPTUALIZING THE IMPLICATIONS OF EUROCENTRIC DISCOURSE VIS-À-VIS THE EDUCATIONAL REALITIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS WITH SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION by Carl L. Robinson This is a conceptual study that uses Afrocentric, racial contract, racial formation, and social censure theories to perform a critical philosophical interrogation of certain historical and contemporary aspects of White supremacy and Eurocentrism. Collectively, the theories that inform this study brings into focus the marginalization of African American students as it pertains to their overrepresentation in special education. This study examines how White supremacy and Eurocentrism impacts the social and political realities of African Americans and people of African descent throughout the enterprise of American schooling and beyond. The aforementioned critical social and political analysis is used to explore the historical and contemporary implications of Eurocentric educational discourse regarding the educational realities of African American students, particularly their overrepresentation in special education. An important component of this study is the delineation of some of the influential ideas and ideological perspectives of some of the major Western philosophers and the impact that these thinkers had on the construction of educational institutions and societal norms that marginalize certain groups of people, particularly African Americans. Concomitantly, the discourses of objectivity and scientism that emerged from the Renaissance and Enlightenment movements are critically interrogated regarding their respective roles in thrusting Eurocentrism into prominence. This study examines the phenomenon of marginalization, domination, otherization, colonization, and oppression that emerge out of Eurocentricity, which invariably, adversely impact the realities of African Americans throughout the enterprise of American schooling and beyond. By conceptualizing a discourse via Afrocentric, racial contract, racial formation, and social censure theories that critically examines the overrepresentation of African Americans from an Afrocentric perspective, this study reveals that African American students are institutionally marginalized and oppressed via culturally insensitive institutional logic, which in turn, produces culturally insensitive educators and educational policy. These realities are illuminated by re- theorizing the phenomenon of the overrepresentation of African Americans in special education. This is achieved via a critical analysis that deconstructs mainstream European norms, values, and customs as being, in many cases, antithetical to the academic and social development of African Americans in the educational setting. This study introduces Afrocentric educational discourse as a viable alternative to Eurocentric educational discourse. Due to the fact that Afrocentric educational discourse rejects the negative attributes of Eurocentric educational discourse, it offers legitimate sociopolitical emancipatory implications for African Americans throughout the enterprise of schooling and beyond. RECONCEPTUALIZING THE IMPLICATIONS OF EUROCENTRIC DISCOURSE VIS-À-VIS THE EDUCATIONAL REALITIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS WITH SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION A DISSERTATION Submitted to the faculty of Miami University in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Educational Leadership By Carl L. Robinson Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2004 Dissertation Directors: Richard A. Quantz & Raymond Terrell © Carl L. Robinson 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Chapter Page 1. White Supremacy as a Racial Contract and Implications for the Education of African Americans ..............................................................................11 Introduction..................................................................................................................11 Racial Contract and White Supremacy........................................................................12 The Middle Ages as an Important Precursor to White Supremacy .............................16 Concretization of the Racial Contract..........................................................................18 The Social Contract becomes the Racial Contract during the Renaissance.................18 The Enlightenment.......................................................................................................23 Early Education............................................................................................................29 Examining how the Sociopolitical Construct of Segregation Emerges as a Subtext of the Racial Contract which Compromises the Educational Realities of African Americans..........................................................31 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................40 2. Examining Eurocentrism and its Impact on the Construction of Identity in Education via Racial Formation Theory ..............................................42 Introduction..................................................................................................................42 Racial Formation Theory .............................................................................................43 Implications of the Enlightenment on Sociopolitical Enterprises................................44 Problematizing Eurocentric Concept of Identity via diverse theoretical Perspectives..................................................................................................................51 Postcolonial Perspective on Eurocentrism...................................................................59 Implications of Eurocentrism on Education 61 Contemporary Reality of Eurocentrism vis-à-vis Schooling.......................................71 3. What does Normalization Mean in a Schooling Context vis-à-vis African Americans Disproportionate Representation in Special Education?..................78 Introduction..................................................................................................................78 Social Censure Theory.................................................................................................79 iii Labeling Deviance Theory...........................................................................................80 Normalization and Schooling ......................................................................................81 Ideology and Worldview..............................................................................................85 History..........................................................................................................................98 4. Emancipatory Implications of an Afrocentric Educational Discourse: The Pursuit of Self and Community Development via Educational Ideals that Promote Emancipatory Implications moving beyond Eurocentric Normalization and Oppression ........................................................................................................103 Introduction................................................................................................................103 Afrocentricity.............................................................................................................104 The Cultural Imperative of Afrocentricity.................................................................108 The Genesis of African-Centered Educational Reform and Emancipatory Initiatives....................................................................................................................118 Black Social Reconstructionists.................................................................................119 African-Centered Mobilization via the Pan-Africanist Initiative ..............................132 The Power to Construct and Reconstruct and Transform the Enterprise of Schooling ...................................................................................................................136 The Emancipatory Implications of Afrocentricity.....................................................140 5. Examining the Overrepresentation of African Americans in Special Education from African-Centered Perspective.................................................................................143 Introduction................................................................................................................143 The Problems of Special Education vis-à-vis African Americans.............................144 Exploring the Implications of Teacher Attitudes, Beliefs, Expectations, and Biases vis-à-vis the Overrepresentation of African Americans in Special Education ..........146 Institutional Racism Student Referrals and Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs...............150 Implications of an African-Centered Approach to Education ...................................157 Conclusion .................................................................................................................165 REFERENCES................................................................................................................168
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