Recognizing Discourses of Disconnection to Cultivate Relational Resistance: Systemic (De)Humanization of Students of Color

• In Event: Racism and White Supremacy: Confrontation, Conflict, and Curriculum

Abstract

This paper explores how tacit discourses of dehumanization develop within schools. Drawn from a larger study of Black and Latinx youths’ experiences at an urban charter school located in a large U.S. northeastern city, we analyzed discursive moves an Asian American guidance counselor made during one interview. We found discursive moves that contribute to a larger process of dehumanization: perpetuating invisible burdens; subtle language choices to (dis)connect; explicit school-imposed labeling of both youth and communities; and deployment of schooled discourses of marginal mattering. We conclude with a discussion of the simultaneous relational resistance the counselor engaged in to disrupt these processes of dehumanization in the school.

Authors

• L. Trenton S. Marsh, University of Central Florida

• Anna Smith, Illinois State University