Decolonial Love in High School Ethnic Studies Classrooms

• In Event: Sacred Knowledge and Decolonial Love: Applied Principles of Ethnic Studies Pedagogy

Abstract

Love, in Tagalog, translates to “mahal.” In addition to representing love, mahal can also mean expensive. When something is expensive it holds value, therefore when one loves something or someone, she/they place value on that thing or person. Within the colonial context, the colonized places value on the colonial settler and everything they own, learning a love informed by colonization. Here, the colonized internalizes undervalued notions of self, being, and community, creating a social hierarchy that justifies means for oppression and dehumanization (Fanon, 1963; Memmi, 1991). We see similar processes happening in US schools, which are products of internal colonialism (Blauner, 1972), where American educational ideals are informed by a Eurocentric colonial narrative that creates, reproduces, and maintains social inequity. Consequently, students learn a colonial love, where they place value on a white racial narrative that humanizes whites (Bonilla-Silva, 2006; Leonardo, 2009; Rafael, 2000).

In response to oppressive forms of “love”, I take on Chela Sandoval’s (2000) call to complicate the revolutionary subject in this paper, where she asserts that the oppositional consciousness of women of color can be an innovative source for informing social change, particularly in educational praxis. The process of decolonization begins when one realizes their humanity (Fanon, 1963), which is witnessed through the writings of womanist and radical women of color writers (Walker, 1983; Anzaldua & Moraga, 2002).

This paper analyzes data from a four-year ethnographic case study of the development and implementation of high school Ethnic Studies in a California school district. I draw from semi-structured interviews with high school Ethnic Studies teachers, participant observation of Ethnic Studies professional development, and classroom observations to investigate how teaching the counternarratives of oppressed peoples, including radical women of color, can inspire processes of humanization, specifically self-love and solidarity among students. I draw upon theories of women of color pedagogues where womanist caring, cariño, and alagaan have informed various approaches to critical pedagogy (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2002; Ochoa, 2007, Prieto & Villenas, 2012; Valenzuela, 1999; Tintiangco-Cubales, 2011).

From these teachings and data collected, I offer strategies for teaching and learning that challenge white notions of caring and loving that are colorblind and fail to consider the experiences, history, and culture of women of color, and students of color in general (Thompson, 1998; Valenzuela, 1999). I argue that Ethnic Studies pedagogies informed by Decolonial Love becomes a counterhegemonic tool in the classroom. These pedagogies traverse boundaries between students, schools, and communities, which ultimately redirects how students and teachers redistribute value in their lives and lived realities.

Author

• Jocyl Sacramento, California State University - East Bay