The Black Flame Trilogy, Multigeneration Educational Trauma, and the Dehumanization of Black Students

• In Event: Educating Black Youth: Libraries, Literature, and Clubs

Abstract

This study identifies W.E.B. Du Bois’ theory of education as observed in the Black Flame trilogy (BFT). A longitudinal survey of culture and society—specifically educational disparities in the United States from 1863 through 1956, the BFT reveals how the processes of racialization, colonization, and globalization influence education and its contribution to the dehumanization of Black students. Using Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome and critical race theory as theoretical tools creates a multigenerational dialectic that positions Du Bois’ BFT as a socio-historical analysis of White supremacy, establishing a theory of dehumanization in education. Using Du Bois’ BFT creates a past-present dialectic counter-story that better identifies and understands the persisting symptoms of dehumanization, particularly in education to offer present remedy and redress.

Author

• June Cara Christian, University of Missouri