Deconstructing Identities of Place in the Cracker State: Using Critical Southern Studies in Teacher Education

• In Event: 43.035 - What Is to Be Done With Curriculum and Educational Foundations' Critical Knowledges? New Qualitative Research on Conscientizing Preservice and In-Service Teachers

Abstract

Objectives
After having our institution dubbed “Cracker State” in the media, we sought to confront white supremacy in our Southern college of education. Responding to Jupp, Lensmire, and Berry’s (2016) description of the demographic imperative to prepare white pre-service teachers to teach diverse students, we explore power and privilege with Southern students often unwilling to engage in this excavation. Southern nostalgia is contrasted by brutal images of slavery, racism, and fear of the Other. This dualism has infected Southern identity. The nature of this contrast positions White Southerners between defiant denial and haunting guilt (Cash, 1941; Pinar & Kincheloe, 1991). The study explores Place and sociohistorical shifts shaping our pre-service educators’ perspectives of race/racism.

Theoretical framework
We combine second wave Whiteness studies (Jupp, et al., 2016) and Cash’s (1941) Southern epistemology to understand our pre-service educators and their white fragility (DiAngelo, 2011). Place plays a powerful role in shaping identity and culture (Casemore, 2008; Pinar & Kincheloe, 1991; Pinar, Kincheloe, & Slattery, 1994; Reynolds, 2013; Whitlock, 2007). Our research is challenging in the rural South where our student body tends to live and study in predominantly white spaces that are impacted by evangelical Christian values. This recognizes that White identity is complex and intersectional, relating to various regional, political, economic, and sociocultural factors influencing how Whiteness is perceived and navigated.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
This two-year case study includes data from seven required education courses. Participants included 154 mostly white and female students, all had the option to withdraw at any point. Utilizing Hytten and Warren (2003) as our model for coding, we developed themes based on Cash’s (1941) Southern epistemology. While our larger study includes four themes, this paper explores missionary zeal as a means to bury White guilt.

Data sources
Analysis stemmed from two years of empirical data from participant observation, fieldnotes from classroom discussions, and students’ weekly reflections. Student reflections required them to include personal and academic viewpoints.

Results
Consistent with Cash (1941) and Pinar and Kincheloe (1991), analysis reveals that Southern Identity and its unique place-based approach to White supremacy informed our students in the following ways:
1. Many White southerners are guided by a sense of responsibility that causes an immense sense of guilt driving them toward extreme denials of or struggles for atonement.
2. Many White southerners seek the sanctity of the church to reposition themselves as humble and pious people who are neither responsible for nor representative of the anguish caused by their ancestors.

Scholarly significance
While we avoid essentializing our students, we recognize that geographical location and traditional faith impact their socialization and conscientization. Aiming to reverse current trends, we interrogate our students’ relationship with Southern place and engage in a difficult excavation of the past and the present in order to advance second wave Whiteness studies and begin a conversation regarding the influence of Place on pedagogy.

Authors

• Westry A. Whitaker, The University of North Georgia

• Sheri Carmel Hardee, University of North Georgia