A Dream And A Bus: Black Critical Patriotism In Elementary Social Studies Standards

Keywords

Black critical patriotism; Black history; elementary social studies; race; racialized citizenship; standards

Abstract

Extant conceptions of patriotism in social studies curricula are centered upon blind allegiance to the state or a belief in ideals of a liberal democracy. Yet these conceptions fail to account for the complex racial experiences that mediate citizenship and civic action, especially for Black persons. In this article, we advance a theory of Black critical patriotism, which is rooted in the idea of personhood and, reciprocally, resistance to subpersonhood. Using Black critical patriotism as a theoretical framework, we examined how Black resistance, activism, and intellectual agency are represented in K–5 social studies standards across the United States. Findings revealed that Black critical patriotism is limited to temporal freedom movements and emphasizes individual acts of patriotism as opposed to sociopolitical traditions of Black collective resistance. Furthermore, Black critical patriotism was accredited to two historical figures, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, with their activism sanitized to fit within the master narrative of American progress. In light of our findings, we conclude with recommendations for elementary teachers to excavate standards in order to more accurately contextualize Black history and racialized citizenship. We also call for future research in social studies education that advances nuanced conceptions of racialized citizenship.

Publication Date

10-2-2017

Publication Title

Theory and Research in Social Education

Volume

45

Issue

4

Number of Pages

456-488

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2017.1320251

Socpus ID

85019224029 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85019224029

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS