Let’s be critically honest: towards a messier counterstory in critical race theory

A critical policy analysis of Texas’ Closing the Gaps 2015

“…In addition, the use of counter storytelling -an important component of CRTis similarly used in many critical policy analyses by employing what is referred to as a counter narrative. While there are some variations of CRT amongst a variety of scholars, most CRT researchers agree on several key positions as outlined by Atwood and López (2014), Bell (2004), Chapman (2006), Dixson and Rousseau (2006), Hiraldo (2010), Ladson-Billings (1998), Ladson-Billings and Tate (2006), López (2003), Lynn and Parker (2006), Morris (2006), Parker and Villalpando (2007), Rousseau and Dixson (2006), Solorzano and Yosso (2001), and Villalpando (2003). These are discussed below.…”

“…"Rather, racism structures our very experiences and shapes our understanding of the world. It is within this particular space that the counter-story of the everyday emerges" (Atwood & López, 2014, p. 1145.…”

“…Moreover, this commonplace murkiness points to the need for research that sheds light on the ways subtle policy language functions in upholding or challenging educational inequity (Bertrand, et al, 2015). It is not that counter narratives offer a perspective that is "truer;" rather, it offers a "more honest account of the world around us" (Atwood andLópez, 2014, p. 1145).…”

‘I’m not being offensive but…’: intersecting discourses of discrimination towards Muslim children in school

“…The pernicious nature of micro-aggressions is that their tacit, sometimes unconscious form often means that the perpetrators of these micro-aggressions will deny any racist intent or claim that the victims of these insults are overreacting or too sensitive. This leaves the victims in a double-bind in which they cannot easily presume racist intent and cannot oppose these tacit aggressions because of their implicit nature and absence of concrete proof (Atwood andLópez 2014, 1134).…”

“…These responses seem to mirror the implicit nature of their peers' discriminatory discourses, through similar implicit discursive strategies, which range from silent accommodation to tacit resistance. This range of implicit responses could be explained by the fact that the implicit nature of children's discriminatory comments and the 'tolerant' discursive framing made it difficult for Muslim children to clearly pinpoint and directly contest them, without the risk of being interpreted as oversensitive or exaggerating (Atwood and López 2014).…”