Are All Students Being Transformed? Moving Beyond Latinx-Centric Ethnic Studies and Preventing Spirit-Murdering in “Critical” Spaces

• In Event: Unprecedented Times Call for Unprecedented Solutions: Critical Ethnic Studies as a Call to Action and Resistance

Abstract

As the debates about the impact and necessity of Ethnic Studies continue to loom, transformative and critical teachers must ensure that they are engaging in inclusive practices and teaching ethnic studies that reach all students. Bettina Love reminds us that schools are sites of “spirit-murdering for the benefit of the educational survival complex” (Love 2019:39). As such, ethnic studies teachers and courses must continuously fight against practices that inadvertently lead to spirit-murdering.
In this paper, we utilize data from student interviews as well as personal reflections from classroom observations to unpack and critique moments where non-Latinx students become disengaged in Ethnic Studies (ES) classes. We must acknowledge that as the hegemonic system upon which education is structured, the prevalence of whiteness in ES is always looming and can only be fought back with constant diligence and intentionality.
Theoretical Framework
Critical Race Theory (CRT) has permeated an array of disciplines and evolved itself in an interdisciplinary means for analyzing how racism is perpetuated in US society (Bell 1992; Ladson-Billings 1998; Solorzano & Yosso 2002; Brayboy 2005). CRT methodology offers an activist dimension that allows to examine social issues with the aim to change them (Delgado & Stefancic 2012). In addition, we incorporate Black and Chicana feminist thought and their critiques of education (Hill Collins 2000; Hooks 1994; Delgado Bernal 2011; Anzaldua 1987) that guide us to an understanding of the unequal nature of education as a system that marginalizes knowledge and critical insights of white-centered curricula and whiteness in educational programs (Tatum 1997; Sleeter 2001/2011).
Data & Methods
This paper draws on student in-depth interviews to gauge their experiences in both Chicano studies and general Ethnic Studies (ES) classes. We analyzed classroom observations from schools in a US southwest school district. We also utilized notes and reflections from researchers’ classroom observations that add context of the day-to-day realities for non-Latinx students in Chicanx studies or Latinx-centric ethnic studies classes.
Initial Findings
One initial finding is that despite the presence of Black and Indigenous students in Ethnic Studies (ES) in the district, we have been unable to recruit them. Additionally, both researchers found multiple cases of a failure to engage Black and Indigenous students in the same ways as Latinx students in ES classes. We question whether the pedagogical practices in ES, while seeking to be critical, are indeed disrupting whiteness in the classroom or instead reifying it.
Significance
In an era where ethnic studies curriculum is being highly scrutinized by state legislators backed by right wing and GOP interest groups (Schwartz & Pendharkar, 2022; Chang 2022; Morgan, 2022) it becomes even more critical that teachers develop ethnic studies practices, curriculum, and pedagogies that are beyond reproach and that “work in solidarity” with ALL communities of color in these classes. If ES education is to survive the massive witch-hunt underway, we must ensure that the classes to combat the erasure of our histories and our very lives are rooted in the decolonization of educational spaces and the transformation of ALL students.

Authors

• Magdalena Vazquez Dathe, University of New Mexico

• Florence Emily Castillo, Texas Christian University