Race, power, discrimination, oppression and the role they play in student access to education has always been an interest of mine. With this course, I was excited for the opportunity to dive into critical theory. I knew that the assignments in this class would enhance my understanding of the systems and structures that cause power, discrimination and oppression to occur. When asked to pick a theory to focus on, my mind went right to a theory that I wanted to explore and is one of the reason I took this course; critical race theory. I have to admit I have not done any reading on critical race theory despite the fact that own the book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction for which I am using for this assignment. (Hey don’t judge me, I bought it so it could be a summer read and look it is!).
Critical race theory is a theory used by many researchers when examining the disparities amongst marginalized and oppressed groups. As explained by Delgado and Stefancic, “critical race theory is the progressive legal movement that seeks to transform the relationship among race, racism, and power”. This theory questions the historical and structural foundation that this country was built and the micro systems that allow it to function to this day. This theory uses many other theories and philosophers’ work to establish its framework such are Marx and Freire. In education, Delgado and Stefancic explains that, critical theory within education takes on a new role. They explain that “critical Race Theory in education is the scholarly movement that applies critical race theory to issues in the field of education, including high-stakes testing, affirmative action, hierarchy in schools, tracking and school discipline, bilingual and multicultural education, and the debate over ethic studies and the western canon”. In addition, critical race theory not only explores the systems, but it also focuses on the
is know as intersectionality. Often an individual can find themselves in different systems at the same time. Their placement in these systems will have a different effect on them and they will have an effect on the system.
When examining the role that student activism has on the engagement and retention of marginalized first-generation students, it will be helpful to explore the reason that students from these two populations are not engaged and are often not retained at the college level. Research shows that historically underrepresented or marginalized students are less likely to graduate from a four-year institution and are less likely to be retained within their first year. Students who identify as first-generation and/or marginalized enter into the college environment at a disadvantage, but why is that? Access to higher education is the first factor that contributes to many marginalized student’s retention in college. With the increasing number of African American and Latino students dropping out of high school, one cannot deny there is a significate gap in the achievement and a large disparity within the educational system. The best way to examine this is by exploring the education system through a critical lens. This will provide an insightfully understanding of the reasons these students are dropping out of school, not being retain their first year of college, are entering the college environment at disadvantage, are not engaging once they do arrive and the role that race, power and oppression plays on their access to high education.
This clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piGSgnSqO5E&app=desktop of James Baldwin discussing the lack of African Americans in college comes from a critical perceptive and sums up everything I talked about.
Take a look at this article http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077800414557825
Take a look at this article http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077800414557825
Chiquita, I think that video is powerful - I am saddened that the video seemed to been recorded fifty years ago and things have changed so little! This is an important topic and I am glad that future generations will benefit from your knowledge, passion, and commitment. Lastly, I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings and I think her "culturally relevant pedagogy" may be of of interest to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkdVQzQsIE8
ReplyDeleteNice work, Chiquita. I see so many important connections to your work here.
ReplyDeleteHere are some thoughts:
- Using CRT to explain What marginalization IS (define and describe it), and How/Why students of color are marginalized on campus. What are the mechanics of marginalization (like, imagine marginalization is a car and we are opening up the hood to take a look at the engine, parts, movement, etc.) What are its material effects?
- A suggestion: don't conflate "first gen students" with student of color. Use race conscious language if you're using CRT. That is, you're not talking about ALL first-gen students, but rather students of color in particular (and you can be even more specific than that -- Black, Latinx, Chicanx, Indigenous, Haitian, Cape Verdean, Guatemalan, and so on). This is important because it pushes back against colroblind framings of "first gen" students as a universal category with similar experiences of marginalization. Instead, it names race and looks at it with specificity and nuance. Embrace and attend to the complexity...!
- How are exogenous factors (non-x) impacting upon Black and Latinx opportunities, experiences, and trajectories? What are these factors/forces? Consider, e.g., how disinvestment by the state in working class and poor Black and Brown neighborhoods impacts their experiences at college.
- How are whites benefiting from the marginalization and oppression of students of color? By what systems and ideologies?
Hello Chiquita!
ReplyDeleteFunny read and wrote about Critical Race Theory as well! I have heard about it from many professors and mentioned in readings, but I never really understood its applicability as a framework. In my article the author highlights 5 main tenets of CRT that must be analyzed to have a complete picture of the disparities against marginalized populations. I found this framework as very comprehensive since it examines a variety of aspects within a school to expose how Black or other marginalized groups' needs are ignored. I especially found interesting how the use of counterstories empowers students to have a voice and create change in dismantling this unjust educational system. I would think this would closely connect with the work you do involving student activism. I enjoyed reading more about CRT through your post!