"Out of the Mouths of Babes": Black Students Navigating Race and Religion

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring How the Religious Experiences and Beliefs of Students, Families, and Communities Impact Student Success

Abstract

It is well documented how racism manifests in public and private school settings through discriminatory programming, policy and pedagogy. While many studies have examined its impacts on the educational trajectory of Black students, few have examined the racialized nature of parochial schools. To address this gap, focus groups were conducted with four Black middle school students attending a predominately white, private Christian school in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Findings indicated that Black students not only experienced racism on a daily basis but utilized imaginative, contextual and subversive modes of resistance. The implications for these findings are discussed as they relate to the state of anti-Blackness and white supremacy in religious school settings and necessitate a culturally sustaining, historically relevant, religio-spiritual pedagogy.

Author

• Amber Neal, University of Georgia - Athens