Critical Race Theory and Education History: Constructing a Race-Centered History of School Desegregation

• In Event: The Evidence of Experience: Situating African American Women Educators in Oral Histories

Abstract

This historical research elucidates the significance of a race centered methodology in examining an African American female teacher’s experience of desegregation. It employs a race centered methodology utilizing critical race theory (CRT) to frame and analyze the lived experience of desegregation of one of Waco, Texas’s first African American woman educators: Mrs. Minnie Washington. Conducted through an examination of archival research and oral history interviews, this research captures how Mrs. Washington desegregated a Waco school, but not without a price. The authors argue that the usage of CRT sheds light on Mrs. Washington’s experiences while illuminating how a race centered methodology in historical research can inform our understanding of the legacy of the past on the educational system today.

Authors

• ArCasia James-Gallaway, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Adah L. Ward Randolph, Ohio University