Spirit Murdering: How Racism Kills the Soul

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Patricia Williams (1987) argued that racism is not just physical pain; racism robs Black and Brown people of their humanity and dignity and leaves personal, psychological, and spiritual injuries. This panel will examine how schools function as spaces of Black and Brown suffering (Dumas, 2016; Love, 2019). With regularity, school districts' spokespersons portray racist incidents as isolated events, the work of culturally insensitive but "good" teachers. These responses never acknowledge how racism is systemic and structural, or how racism is maintained by violence. This panel will address how school officials continue to misdiagnose the spirit murdering happening in their schools and how the trauma of racism is never discussed in relation to Black and Brown students’ social and emotional learning.

Sub Unit

• Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education / Division K - Section 04: Multicultural, Inclusive, and Social Justice Frameworks in PK-16+ Settings

Chair

• Sherell A. McArthur, University of Georgia - Athens

Papers

• Why Character Education Spirit Murders Black and Brown Children - Bettina L. Love, University of Georgia; Alex Chisolm, University of Georgia - Athens

• The Institutional Violence Against Black Girls in Schools - Sherell A. McArthur, University of Georgia - Athens

• Power Through Visual Arts: Antiracist Education in Black and Brown Classrooms - Matthew Robinson, University of Georgia - Athens

Discussant

• Bettina L. Love, University of Georgia