"But Some of Us Are Brave": Black Women's Representation in Social Studies Textbooks

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: "But Some of Us Are Brave": Educational Narratives of Black Girls and Women

Abstract

This paper is comprised of a literary analysis wherein the author analyzed the ways Black women are represented in high school social studies textbooks. The theoretical framework for this analysis was the Black feminist concept of controlling images, which includes the mammy, Sapphire, and Jezebel. Findings indicate that on the rare occasions when Black women appeared in high school U.S. history textbooks, they were usually relegated to the controlling image of mammy. This study has implications for classroom teachers, curriculum designers, and textbook authors.

Author

• Kristen Duncan, Clemson University