Language, Race, and Power: A Case Study on Combating Anti-Black Linguistic Racism in Teacher Education

• In Event: Challenging Equity in Teacher Assessments and Curriculum: Exploring Race, Language, and Black Epistemologies in Educator Preparation

Abstract

This case study research explores the experience of four preservice teachers who were students in a language arts methods course grounded in Black epistemologies. This space invited them to explore language at the intersection of race and power to interrogate their own ideologies about language and Black Language, develop critical capacities to investigate linguistic oppression and combat anti-Black linguistic racism, explore and uncover language as the invisible aspect of the ELA curriculum (MCain et al. 2021), and (re)construct a language education that affirms and values the racial and linguistic backgrounds and experiences of Black students (Baker-Bell, 2020).

Author

• Jasmyn K. Jones, University of Memphis