When Schools Traumatize: Using Critical Whiteness Studies to Interrogate White Saviorism and Color Blindness in Trauma-Informed Urban Schools

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Whiteness and Its Consequences

Abstract

Critical Whiteness Studies will be used to interrogate the systemic racial trauma inflicted upon students of color by the mostly white teaching force in urban schools. By engaging in the discourses of colorblindness and white saviorism, teachers position themselves in a way that continues to traumatize students of color by erasing their experiences, culture, and identity—rendering them powerless. I argue that teachers and administrators in trauma-informed schools must understand the fact that schools themselves can be sources of trauma, particularly for students and families of color. They must engage in culturally responsive education by denouncing colorblind ideology, white saviorism, and deficit thinking and be dedicated to addressing race and examining their whiteness within the context of the schooling environment.

Author

• Joseph L Feldman, Indiana University - IUPUI