"They Called Him the N-Word": A Community-University Partnership for Antiracist Pre-K–12 Schools

• In Event: Antiblackness and Black Mattering in K–12 Teaching

Abstract

This mixed method study explores a community-university partnership for social justice education initiated by a concerned Black parent whose son had been called the n-word at his predominantly White, public school. Given the historic moment following the George Floyd murder and #BlackLivesMatter protests, and the urgency for universities to enact actual community change rather than to theorize about it, this study will provide a complex paradigm for antiracist partnerships that is not yet represented in the literature. A history of this partnership is explained, and data from multiple sources, including surveys, artifacts, and narratives, will be analyzed. The results will provide a case study for how community-university partnerships can effectively transform P-12 schools into sites of antiracist education.

Authors

• Kevin McGowan, Bridgewater State University

• Melissa Winchell, Bridgewater State University