Reimagining Critical Race Theory in Education: Mental Health, Healing, and the Pathway to Liberatory Praxis

• In Event: 29.090 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.090-28 - Issues of Race, Ethnicity, and Class

Abstract

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has exposed the emotional, academic, and psychological consequences of being a student of color in America. Phenomena such as racial battle fatigue, and racial microaggressions, frequently expose the endemic nature of racism. However, connections to mental health research are embryonic in their relationship to the theoretical construct. For these reasons we argue that CRT scholars need to advocate beyond their current interventions to incorporate praxis for mental health and wellness. In turn, there is the chance for researchers in mental and public health disciplines to benefit from CRT’s historical and transformative lens on the injustices students endure. Recommendations call for interdisciplinary perspectives in fostering strategies for healing to support students in the project of radical healing.

Authors

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College

• David O. Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago