Interpreting Black History: Toward a Black History Framework for Teacher Education

Abstract

I argue in this article that a close examination of preservice teachers’ Black history knowledge is needed to possibly improve curricular and instructional approaches of Black education. Seven preservice teachers were studied and asked to write Black history narratives to ascertain how they interpreted Black history. I analyzed these responses through a Black history framework that combined aspects of diaspora literacy, historical consciousness, and Black Critical race theory. Findings indicate preservice teachers held both critical and noncritical Black history knowledge. Implications are given to teacher educators to find out how to effectively gauge Black history as a heuristic for diversity education.

Using a Critical Hip-Hop School Counseling Framework to Promote Black Consciousness Among Black Boys

“…This approach also questions superficial engagements with hip-hop that reduce it to an unimaginative, momentary centering of historically marginalized voices: This actually exploits, trivializes, and circulates the experiences of Black people for public consumption through liberal multiculturalism (Brown, 2013; hooks, 1992). Instead, what I am advocating here is a way of using hip-hop culture that encourages and applauds Black boys for excavating the depths of Black history and Black historical consciousness (L. J.…”

“…Schools require that Black students eschew aspects of their cultural and historical consciousness in order to succeed, and this expectation is believed to have a toxic and corrosive impact on Black students’ individual and collective identities (J. E. King, 2006; L. J.…”

Against Color-Blindness: Anglo-American Trajectories of Racism in Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race and White Rage

“…He argues that “the discourse of victimization tends to re-objectify contemporary subjects and strip them of agency in the present” (Rothberg, 2019, p. 62). Such notions are confirmed by King (2019, p. 389) who writes the following: “The connection to the Diaspora through slavery is problematic because the slavery paradigm keeps Blackness in a constant state of enslavement, which implies that Black people’s rightful place is at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.” Thus, new ways of addressing racism are needed and this is where both Eddo-Lodge’s and Anderson’s books can make such important contributions, as their texts emerge from the need to look further into discourses of race and racism and to enter center stage as persons of color. This is particularly well-established in Eddo-Lodge’s book in which the writer sets out to speak about race on her own terms.…”

“…History directly impacts the present, and not in the form of some objective version of history (Morgan, 2018), but through interpretations and narratives that work to serve some groups at the expense of others, representing a society in which equality is possible only if certain groups stay in their designated place. Further, King (2019, p. 389) makes an important point about how history can be used for various purposes: “Yet, being historically conscious is more than knowledge acquisition. Historical consciousness encompasses epistemological, ontological, and axiological concerns that recognize that history is not solely about the past but how we view the present.” Both Eddo-Lodge and Anderson set out to inform and educate their reader on aspects of black history and history of racism that form an “unspoken truth” as argued by Anderson.…”

Black Music is American Music: Learning Underrepresented Aspects of Black History in College through Critical Race Media Literacy

“…Moreover, Black history in state-mandated curriculum is often limited in scope and typically presents singular narratives of a few "heroes." These narratives usually meet the criteria of liberal multiculturalism, where the narratives presented are safe and sanitized, devoid of critical and racial analysis of Black history (King, 2019). When accurately representative materials are used, individuals of all backgrounds can connect with characters, feel proud of their heritage, and find new and exciting ways to learn and display what they have learned (Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2006).…”