All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic: Latinxs and Latin America as a Threat in Citizenship Curriculum

• In Event: 34.095 - MTCC Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 34.095-3 - The Sociopolitical of Latinx Education: Problemas, Promesas, y Posibilidades in an Era of Anti-Latinx Racism

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes
Trump’s racist political rhetoric towards Latin@s draws upon decades, if not centuries, of antiquated racial rhetoric employed by U.S. presidents and presidential candidates (Soto-Vásquez, 2017). This outward expression of anti-Latinx racist political rhetoric has raised caution among K-12 educators and scholars of education. Scholars have and continue to produce a bevy of educational research--both empirical and conceptual--underscoring Trump’s politics as a threat to democratic aims in our schools (Dantley, 2017; Green & Castro, 2017). Relatedly, educational researchers have also argued that Trump’s racist political rhetoric results in symbolic and material implications relevant to Latinx and students of color school experiences (Castrellón, Rivarola, & López, 2017; Matias & Newlove, 2017; Scheurich, 2017; Sondel, Baggett, & Dunn, 2018). This study examines how anti-Latinx and anti-Latin American racist rhetoric is reified and challenged (when applicable) in citizenship education curriculum. We focus our analysis of citizenship education towards secondary US history and civic (e.g., American government) curricular standards, which often serve as sites for “official knowledge” (Apple, 2003).

Theoretical Perspectives
To frame our analysis of secondary citizenship curriculum, we draw from the political theory field. Specifically, Chavez’s (2013) notion of the “Latin@ threat” guided our thinking about the representation and projection of Latinx persons as citizens. The Latin@ threat is salient to understanding anti-Latinx right wing political rhetoric which draws a hyper-imposed racial line of demarcation that excludes Latinxs from civic and national identity in the U.S. Moreover, although racist political rhetoric is embedded largely within discourses of immigration, this talk also emanates in discussions of foreign, domestic, and social policy.

Method of Analysis
Similar to prior content analyses (An, 2016; Busey & Walker; Heilig, Brown, & Brown, 2012; Hilburn, Journell, & Buchanan, 2016; Shear et al., 2015) we conducted a line-by-line analysis of secondary US history, American government, economics, and civic curricular standards. Standards from all fifty states were selected based on a direct mentioning of Latinxs, Latin America, or a particular Latin American country or ethnic group. To ensure intercoder reliability, standards were first analyzed by each researcher, and tensions in coding were negotiated among the researchers.

Substantiated Results & Significance
Findings from this national study indicate that Latinxs are projected as peripheral to civic and citizenship identity in the U.S. Latinxs were commonly framed within discourses of immigration and naturalization, thus negating Latinx nativism to the U.S. Furthermore, Latin America was projected as a political threat to the U.S., emerging along narratives of dictatorships, imperialism, and Communism. As politicized racial rhetoric continues to find currency across multiple U.S. institutions, it is imperative that educators at all levels are cognizant of how curriculum reifies false, post-truth narratives of Latinxs and Latin America. Curricular standards play a significant role in shaping instructional practices, and ultimately communicate a form of truth in schools. It is therefore incumbent upon educators to adopt liberatory frameworks that overtly resist mainstream narratives of Latinxs as threats.

Authors

• Christopher L. Busey, University of Florida

• Alvaro Corral, The College of Wooster

• Erika Davis, University of Florida