Experiences in rural blackness: Learning from Collegians of African Descent at a Rural Serving Institution (RSI)

• In Event: Critical Racial Topographies: Methodological Tools and Key Concepts for Research and Practice in Education

Abstract

Purpose: This paper is a sequel to Unfurled Belongingness… where we identify a finding that we decided to examine further. The finding was proximal dependence. We thought it important to further unpack, theorize, and conceptualize this finding, due to its usefulness for understanding rurality in relationship to Black bodies. To do this we draw on three specific works Author and Author (submitted); Author and Author (2024) and McKittrick (2006, 2011, 2016).Author and Author provide the context for this paper, we summarize the overall findings and then delve into proximal dependence and its definition. We then move to describe and use a line of inquiry from Author and Author(2024) to theorize proximal dependence. Finally, we use McKittrick’s (2006, 2011, 2016) conceptualization of Black Geographies to make sense of proximal dependence as a critical racial topography.

Theoretical Framework: In this paper, critical racial topography is understood as a focused non-generalizable identity-based analysis of place where practices that racialize space and spatialize race are enacted. For this analysis, the construct of proximal dependence is used as an example that is being explicated as a form of racial topography. Critical racial topography while both method and form is being used as a form. Critical racial topography is an adequate and useful form to consider as a tool for examining participant understandings of rural. Critical racial topography as a form of Black Geography can be useful to understanding Black livingness in The Black Belt of the American South.

Methodology: By framing proximal dependence within the concept of critical topographies, drawing from McKittrick's (2006) work on Black Geographies, we illuminate the racialized spatial dynamics inherent in rural educational spaces. Our analysis reveals how the differential presence of Black and White bodies within these spaces contributes to the construction of distinct racial topographies, where the safety and belonging of Black individuals are contingent upon the proximity of other Black individuals.

Data Sources: Author and Author (submitted) used qualitative comparative case study to identify the concept of proximal dependence as a significant factor influencing the sense of safety and belonging experienced by Black students in rural educational environments, particularly within the context of West Texas. Proximal dependence, as articulated by interview participants, denoted the differential placement of racial bodies within spatial contexts (e.g., classroom, organization meetings and about within the city), signaling a distinct racial topography that shapes the experiences and perceptions of Black individuals.

Significance: This understanding of proximal dependence as a critical racial topography has significant implications for rural educational scholarship, particularly in advancing our understanding of the experiences of Black individuals within these environments. By centering the spatial dimensions of belonging and safety, we provide insights that can inform educational environments for Black students in rural areas.

Authors

• Timberly L. Baker, Arkansas State University

• Bryan Hotchkins, Texas Tech University