In Living Color: Civics Embodied in Communities of Color

• In Event: Civics in the Margins: Teaching, Learning, and Embodying Civics in Communities of Color

Abstract

The ideological foundations of social studies and civic engagement (Boydston, 1980; Jones, 1906; Watkins, 2001) promote discourses that center whiteness and a violent supremacy across society and in schools (Brown et al., 2011; Busey & Dowie-Chin, 2021; Dilworth, 2004; Gordon, 1985; Vickery, 2015). These patterns have a long history in the U.S. but are often absent from social studies and civics education. As we argue, local stories, including local histories, can make significant contributions to social studies and civics learning experiences within P-20 schools, especially when paired with critical frameworks.

To demonstrate such possibilities, we draw on two interconnected, critical theoretical frameworks, Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth (CCW) framework and Ayers et al.’s (2016) conceptualization of justice-centered education. Both frameworks illustrate the civic strengths of communities of Color and the ways these strengths might be embodied as pedagogical practices in p-20 classroom spaces.

Data for these qualitative case studies (Merriam, 1998) came by way of two local stories of resistance against white supremacy. These examples—a historical example of Black student activism in Waco, Texas, and a contemporary example of students’ political organizing in northwest Indiana—exemplify how local stories of resistance against white supremacy and other interlocking systems of subjugation can enhance social studies and civics praxes in p-20 classrooms, bringing them into alignment with the realities of communities of Color and their enduring battles against oppression.

Both case studies analyzed as part of this paper demonstrate different regional and temporal narratives that converged to highlight the ongoing battle against racial and economic domination. Together, these case studies depicted the oft-overlooked reservoirs of CCW (Yosso, 2005), considering them through a justice-centered educational praxis lens (Ayers et al., 2016). We merged these narratives to demonstrate how social studies educators can access such local stories of resistance and support their students in investigating how they animate wider notions of civics. Importantly, both accounts showed what small, unsuspecting places stand to teach us about civics and how marginalized communities adapt conventional frameworks to suit their needs. Including these considerations, we posit, is crucial for progressing social studies broadly and civics in particular.

Centrally, we grapple with the question: What would it mean for local stories that surround school buildings to be a standard part of the curriculum and pedagogies in p-20 schools? We ultimately contend that if social studies takes social and racial justice seriously, it must urgently move to expand civics frameworks. Doing so promises to better celebrate, humanize, and position as knowledge-bearing and knowledge-generating historically marginalized communities. These groups have much to teach academic and educational communities.

We offer implications related to how educators can locate the local stories relevant to the geographies, cultures, and identities of their schools and students and utilize them to construct innovative, anti-oppressive pedagogical and curricular learning experiences. In this sense, local stories can act as agentic catalysts for students, spotlighting relevant, curious, and critical pathways for students to explore their past(s) while also imagining their roles in reshaping their future(s).

Authors

• Asif Wilson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• ArCasia D. James-Gallaway, Texas A&M University

• Sabryna Groves, Texas A&M University

• Van Anh Tran, San Jose State University

• Camea Davis, Research Partnership for Professional Learning