Hermeneutics of Transgression: Meditating on the Historical Evolution of Black Socialization in U.S. (Higher) Education

• In Event: Accepting Responsibility for Historical Processes That Perpetuate Inequities

Abstract

Evoking a hermeneutic of transgression, this conceptual paper uplifts the intimate connections between racial socialization and U.S. (higher) education throughout multiple systemic levels. This historical meditation moves across four temporal periods: antebellum, post-reconstruction, integration, and today’s aftermath of affirmative action. As interpretations of transgression for Black education surface, a mosaic of the complex ways Blackness shows up and asserts itself throughout history is intentionally named. Accordingly, a thread of resistance linking each time period to one another becomes apparent in the interplay between the racialized law of the land and oppositional tactics from the Black collective to secure liberation for themselves.

Author

• Mariama Nagbe, University Council for Educational Administration