W. E. B. Du Bois in Our Times: Toward Racial Justice in Education in the 21st Century

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

W.E.B. Du Bois, arguably the foremost educator, intellectual and advocate for the dismantling of systemic racial inequity of the 20th century, frames this AERA Presidential session on pressing educational issues confronting African Americans today. Panelists draw on Du Bois’s writings to discuss systems of racial justice in education from early childhood to higher education, Black academic achievement, literacy and learning in the Black community, and the teaching of Black history. An interdisciplinary group of prominent scholars, whose scholarship reflects tenets of Du Bois’s educational thought, will broadly address the following questions:
• What did Du Bois say about racial justice and how do his views on education relate to the education of Black and other historically marginalized people then, and now?
• What pressing problems from early childhood to higher education did Du Bois ponder during his time, particularly related to the role of Black educational institutions, literacy and academic achievement, schools and communities, and Black teachers and the teaching of Black history?

• What might Du Bois say about critical race theory in K-12 education, the closure and takeover of Black schools, social justice education, and the resegregation of schools today?
The U.S. is in the midst of an educational culture war. State legislatures, school districts, and policymakers are banning books about Black history, closing Black schools, surveilling teachers and administrators who advocate for social and racial justice, removing curricula that focus on the culture of historically oppressed people in society. This AERA Presidential session will offer a richly contextualized discussion of these issues based on the thought of W.E.B. Du Bois. The panel promises to be lively and reveal what we, as education researchers and scholars, can learn from Du Bois in these troubling times.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Derrick Alridge, University of Virginia

Papers

• The Freedom to Learn: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Teaching of Black History - Derrick Alridge, University of Virginia

• Follow the Leader: Du Bois on the Purposes of School and Supporting Black Futures - Camika Royal, Morgan State University

• W. E. B. Du Bois and the Ecosystem for Black Education: Closing Ranks and Reclaiming Communally Bonded Schooling - Jerome E. Morris, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• What Might Du Bois Say About Critical Race Theory in K–12 Education, the Closure and Takeover of Black Schools, Social Justice Education, and the Resegregation of Schools Today? - Adrienne D. Dixson, Pennsylvania State University

• W. E. B. Du Bois and New Directions in Future Research on Black Higher Education - Eddie R. Cole, University of California - Los Angeles