Different Shades (of Whiteness) for Different Grades

• In Event: 51.050 - Shades of Whiteness: Navigating Whiteness in the Academy From a Third Space

Abstract

Objective
This work highlights the contours of Islamophobia within the African American community and racism within the American Muslim community, phenomena that the author characterizes as alternate shades of whiteness due to the othering and marginalization experienced by both non-Christian Black Americans and Black Muslims. Specifically, this narrative details the impact of Islamophobia and racism on the author’s primary and secondary educations, and outlines how intra-group whiteness has prepared him for his encounters with whiteness proper in higher education settings.


Theory
This narrative is undergirded by the concept of double consciousness (DuBois & Edwards, 2007). Adapting W. E. B. DuBois’ original notion, this work explores the impact of the author’s Black and Muslim identities on his educational journey, and examines positive and negative consequences of this duality (Brannon, Markus, & Taylor, 2015).


Methods & Data
Employing autoethnographic and narrative methods, this study details accounts from the author’s primary, secondary, and post-secondary educations (Hughes & Pennington, 2016; Riessman, 2008). Autoethnographic and narrative methods were selected for their ability to provide a window into the complex process of identity construction.


Results
Whether it was going to the library as the rest of the class rehearsed for the Christmas pageant, or skipping the celebratory class pizza party because bright red pepperoni dotted every slice, the author’s earliest sense of otherness was due to his faith, not race. However, by sixth grade, the sixth year of being a Black boy in a white woman’s classroom, the duality of his Muslim and African American identities was firmly established. Later, he would learn to play them off of one another in order to mitigate the effects of stereotype threat and other challenges to his sense of belonging in academic settings (Steele, 2010). The ability to elude the burden of negative stereotypes about Muslims and Black Americans came with a price: an inability to fit neatly into either group. Given the strong association of the Black church with the Civil Rights Movement, Christians seemed to question the author’s Blackness or decency; likewise, the strong association between Arabs and Islam led Muslims to question the author’s piety or religious knowledge. Yet, the constant feelings of otherness experienced through his educational journey prepared the author for the isolation he would feel as a critical Black scholar in the academy.


Significance
This study highlights the educational challenges facing African American Muslims, a severely understudied population, and examines the impact of intra-group whiteness on preparation for later encounters with whiteness proper (Jacobson, 1999). By detailing the intersecting ways in which non-Christians and African Americans are marginalized in American public education, this work speaks to practitioners, policymakers, and researchers who are concerned with making classrooms more welcoming spaces for all students.

Author

• Jerry Jameel Wilson, University of North Carolina