Decolonizing Our Histories and Minds in K–20 Education: Building Racial Solidarity Across Black and Asian Communities Beyond COVID-19

• In Event: Building Racial Solidarity Across Black and Asian Communities in K–20 Education Beyond COVID-19

Abstract

In this proposal, we argue that it is urgent for our increasingly multicultural society and school system to implement an ethnic studies curriculum and pedagogy that is critical, diverse, humanizing, and community-responsive in challenging the power structures of the status quo. We use the tenets and framework of ethnic studies and counter storytelling to build on the collective history and stories of solidarity between Black and Asian Americans that have been erased in scholarship and public knowledge. By reclaiming our American history, we are decolonizing our ancestral histories, lived experiences, and liberating our minds. We seek to use this space to be in community by researching, teaching, and transforming the K-20 education curriculum as a critical site to create social justice education for all.

Our nation has lost over 560,000 lives (CDC, April 24, 2021). Nationwide, Black people have died at 1.4 times the rate of white people. (Covid Racial Tracker, 2021). In addition to Black people’s experience with medical racism, there has been a rise of police brutality against our Black community before and in midst of the pandemic with the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Duante Wright.

Simultaneously, there have been over 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents that were reported across the country according to a national database organized by StopAAPIHate (2021). New York City saw an increase of 223% in Asian hate crimes in 2021 (NYPD, 2021). Words of hate were incited by former president Trump referring Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” and the “Kung Flu”. As the pandemic spreads, the rise of anti-Asian hate crime and xenophobia soared. On March 16, 2021, 8 people were killed at Asian spas across Atlanta, Georgia; 6 of the victims were Asian immigrant women.

Covid-19 unveiled a twin pandemic in the United States: one that is a pandemic of a medical virus and the second is a pandemic of racism. It is a virus that has also infected our education system. As educators there is an urgency for us to reflect and to act now on being socially responsible on what we teach in our classrooms. We need to look at the historical legacy of racism against people of color, specifically against Black and Asian bodies. As educators, we have a responsibility to decolonize the history, scholarship, and stories in our K-20 classrooms and begin to voice our counter-stories.

There is a racial equity gap in U.S. teacher education programs, colleges, and universities. Many teacher education programs are reproducing colonial education and ideas of white supremacy in their foundational coursework and clinical training. By researching, teaching, and presenting our work broadly across K-20 education the presenter illustrates ways that we can collaborate with our students to learn, dialogue, and strategize on how to decolonize the curriculum and pedagogical framework across our urban institutions. We believe that we can create systemic change in K-20 education when we build on Black and Asian solidarity.

Author

• Judy W. Yu, REACH