Troubling the Waters: Afropessmism’s Utility in Reinterpreting Black Youth Schooling Experiences

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 2:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: In the Wake of Injustice: Black Theories and Thought in the Social Context of Education (Table 6)

Abstract

This paper uses theories of antiblackness to critically reinterpret the knowledge base of how education scholars understand Black youth schooling experiences. Using Afropessimism and antiblackness as theoretical frameworks, this paper focuses on the reinterpretation of deficit narratives, school safety, and school discipline. From these theoretical reinterpretations, researchers conclude that schools are are microcosms of an antiblack world and their practices must be understood as mechanisms of Black suffering to maintain the social death of Black youth.

Author

• Chetachukwu Uchenna Agwoeme, University of Pittsburgh