(2022). Recognizing Promise: The Role of Community Colleges in a Post Pandemic World. Great Debates in Higher Education. Emerald Publishing Limited COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated entrenched inequities spawned by the historical and structural reality of bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and inequity in all forms, and at institutional and individual levels. It is perceived that higher education institutions also perpetuates these inequities, which is fuelled by prevailing misconceptions, such as "college should be limited to the privileged few"; or that "community colleges are in some way 'inferior'." "Recognizing Promise" re-establishes the role community colleges can play in reversing centuries of racial and gender disparities in economic wealth, health, education, and life expectancy stemming from current and historical policies and practices that sustain structural racism. The result is a more civic-minded, educated citizenry and a stronger workforce of tomorrow. Educators in the community college space, in partnership with business, industry and philanthropic leaders, can lead the way in… [Direct]
(2024). Black Bullet in the Gun: Troubling Silence and Silencing in Antiracist Teacher Education. Harvard Educational Review, v94 n4 p560-580. In this Voices: Reflective Accounts of Education essay, Esther O. Ohito considers with Sherry L. Deckman how silence and silencing are experienced corporeally in socioculturally situated spaces, foregrounding their affective contours and material effects in their exploration of emotionally charged dialogues about race and racism in educational settings. Building their narrative around a Black male teacher candidate's experience in a social justice–oriented teacher preparation program, they reflect on the presence and effects of silence and silencing in that intimate white space. The essay concludes with implications for critical pedagogy relevant to the potentially transformative force of transgressive race talk that counteracts silence and silencing in white spaces…. [Direct]
(2024). A Collaborative Auto-Ethnographic Examination of Black Immigrant Women's Journeys to and in Doctoral Education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v27 n7 p1068-1087. In mainstream discourse about immigrant students in the United States (U.S.), the experiences of Black immigrant women in higher education are often neglected. As two Black, immigrant women raised in the U.S. who are familiar with higher education, we have insight into this understudied population. In this qualitative, collaborative auto-ethnographic study that spans early childhood education to doctoral education, we ask the following research questions: 1) In each author's experience, what aspects of U.S. society have made their educational attainment challenging? 2) What is the day-to-day life experience of a Black immigrant woman in higher education? and 3) In each woman's experience, what events are linked to racism and inequality in educational access in the United States? While there were certainly differences in our individual trajectories, we found four major commonalities in our personal education histories: the prominence of migration, the impact of familial support, the… [Direct]
(2022). A Critical Study of Chinese International Students' Experiences of Race and Racism in the Age of COVID-19. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara. Chinese international students' lived experiences have garnered substantial attention in US higher education research due to the ever-increasing numbers of such students as well as the tense relationships between the US and China, yet this research rarely considers issues of race and racism. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed underlying structural inequalities, reinvigorated old stereotypes, and unleashed new manifestations of Sinophobia. As a consequence of Donald Trump's racist rhetoric during his presidency, hate crimes against Asian ethnic groups in San Francisco increased by 500% in 2021 and Chinese scientists who were accused of being a threat to US national security were criminalized. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with US-China rivalry and anti-Chinese sentiment, Chinese international students currently face multiple challenges. There is therefore a pressing need to make sense of Chinese students' experiences around US higher education–and in doing so,… [Direct]
(2022). Speaking into Silence: Intersections of Identity, Legality, and Black Women's Decision to Report Sexual Assault on Campus. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan. Black women experience higher rates of unwanted sex, assault, and harassment, yet rarely report these incidents to police or campus officials (Slatton & Richard, 2020; Washington, 2001). To date, most research on campus sexual assault reporting focuses on white, heterosexual, cis-gendered women at elite institutions (Brubaker et al., 2017; Sabina & Ho, 2014). Further, most research attributes low reporting rates to individual, micro-level processes of survivors feeling shame, minimizing the incident, and internalizing rape myths (Harris et al., 2020; Ryan, 2011; Sabina & Ho, 2014). Research on Black women's reasons for not reporting identify structural racism and sexism, pressures to protect the Black community from sexualized stereotypes, and identity related expectations to be the "Strong Black Woman" (Harris, 2020; McGuffey, 2013; Washington, 2001). In this study I examined factors that influenced Black women and non-binary students' decision to report sexual… [Direct]
(2021). Critical Race Pedagogy for More Effective and Inclusive World Language Teaching. Applied Linguistics, v42 n6 p1055-1069 Dec. To address racial inequity and the exclusion of African Americans in applied linguistics, second-language acquisition, and world language (WL) education, our field must reckon with social justice problems of racism and anti-Blackness. Theoretical frameworks of critical race theory (CRT) and critical race pedagogy (CRP) elucidate how such injustices are perpetuated, plus, propose solutions for them. This article discusses racism and anti-Blackness in WL curriculum, materials, and instructional practices. It presents a post-hoc CRT analysis of findings from two studies: (i) an ethnographic study examining Spanish curriculum and instructional practices at two minority serving postsecondary institutions and (ii) a participatory action research collaboration with Spanish instructors examining curriculum at a predominantly white institution–both studies linked by how they reveal endemic racism and anti-Blackness in WL programmes. Ultimately, this article addresses how African Americans… [Direct]
(2024). International Students' Experiences in Graduate Programs during COVID-19 and Recent Sociopolitical Climate in the USA. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, v15 n3 p201-224. Purpose: This study aims to examine the unique lived experiences of international graduate students in light of COVID-19 and the recent sociopolitical climate in the USA (e.g. Black Lives Matter movement, protests against anti-Asian hate crimes and gun violence). Design/methodology/approach: The authors used an exploratory qualitative design embedded within a constructivist/interpretivist paradigm. A total of 31 international health service psychology graduate students completed an online survey, 17 of whom participated in a 60-min one-on-one semi-structured interview. Findings: Participants reported facing a range of difficulties (e.g. travel ban/inability to spend time with family, visa-related concerns, racism, decreased support) during the global pandemic and the recent sociopolitical climate in the USA. A total of 48 themes were identified and organized into six domains: COVID-19-related stress and worry, experiences of racism/discrimination, coping mechanisms, support received,… [Direct]
(2022). Eat Glass and Walk on Fire, While Managing a Pandemic: a Narrative Study of African American Women Who Serve as Chief Housing Officers. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Northern Illinois University. Creating uncertainty and stress, the COVID-19 pandemic and increased attention on racial relations, drastically changed how higher education and student affairs operated. For African American women, combatting racism and sexism has always been a daily occurrence in their professional and personal life but the pandemic heightened the challenges African American women had to overcome. This narrative inquiry study explored the lived experiences of African American women who were serving as Chief Housing Officers at Predominately White Institutions during the first 18-months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight how the intersection of sexism and racism shaped the lived experiences of the African American women participants. Participants encountered barriers when striving to lead authentically while feeling pressure to succeed in managing pandemic-related challenges, not only for their department but their institutions. Participants felt compelled to serve as voices for… [Direct]
(2024). Refracting Historical Contradictions in U.S. Bilingual Education: Reflections on the Asian American and Pacific Islander Teacher Shortage in the Post-Pandemic World. Bilingual Research Journal, v47 n1 p107-121. The post-pandemic world has witnessed a surge in linguistic racism; anti-Asian stigma has not only altered bilingual education but also created tensions for immigrant families and teachers from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. In this conceptual article, Vygotsky's concept of "perezhivanie" is employed to examine the historical contradictions of anti-Asian stigma refracted in educational contexts. Narratives and vignettes from publicly available Internet archival data are used to illustrate the contradictions. The author then offers reflections on the AAPI teacher shortage as related to these refractions and recommends the establishment of a more equitable pipeline for bilingual AAPI teachers…. [Direct]
(1996). Uprooting Racism. How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. This book is about the uprooting of racism, explaining how individual beliefs and actions need to be reexamined in order for people to participate effectively in that uprooting. It serves as an invitation to join the tradition of white people who have been committed to ending the effects of racism. The first step is for white people to talk together and to explore the fact that whiteness is a many faceted phenomenon, a fiction that seeks to protect the power that accrues to white people. Following the examination of what whiteness means in our society, there is an exploration of the dynamics of racism and a discussion of what it can mean to be an ally of people of color. The effects of history are reviewed, and some ideas are given for fighting institutional racism. Of particular interest is the discussion of racism in education and the schools and the problems of educational inequity and low academic achievement. How to promote democratic and antiracist multiculturalism is the…
(2022). Black Men Doctoral Scientists and Engineers Persisting: Peer Support and Racism in Science and Engineering. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v59 n10 p1853-1875 Dec. Drawing on racial battle fatigue as theoretical framing and critical race methodology, we offer the counterstories of 16 Black men doctoral scientists and engineers who relied on same race peer support to successfully persist in their science and engineering (S&E) doctoral programs. Our analysis of narratives and interviews yielded three themes that illustrate the men's engagement with Black peers and how racism influences the types of peer relationships they formed in their S&E doctoral programs. Further, we describe three types of same race peer relationships that support Black men as they pursue S&E doctoral degrees. We underscore the salience of racism and recommend expanding research in S&E by: (1) including the lived experiences of Black men scientists and engineers in the scholarly literature, and (2) highlighting the importance of same race peer networks as academic, emotional, and social structures for Black men persisting in S&E. Within, we offer… [Direct]
(2022). White Blindness: An Investigation into Teacher Whiteness and Racial Ignorance. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of South Carolina. White supremacy and domination are the backbone foundation of the United States and have been long documented in its history. The prevalence of whiteness and white supremacy is not isolated to social situations or commerce but fundamentally ingrained in the education system. While "Brown v. the Board of Education" abolished the notion of separate but equal, the education of a diverse American student population remains predominantly at the hands of white, female educators. This action research study, using an investigative mixed-methods design, attempted to address educator whiteness at a small, rural high school in the Southeastern United States. Treatment participants were assigned reading from a commonly used social justice text that was then discussed in a series of discussion groups. Constructs such as white supremacy, racism, and culturally relevant pedagogy were addressed and discussed by the all-white female veteran teachers. The framework that guided the research… [Direct]
(2021). Pursuing Justice-Driven Inclusive Education Research: Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) in Early Childhood. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, v41 n1 p31-44 May. Multiple scholars have argued that early childhood inclusive education research and practice has often retained racialized, ableist notions of normal development, which can undermine efforts to advance justice and contribute to biased educational processes and practices. Racism and ableism intersect through the positioning of young children of Color as "at risk," the use of normalizing practices to "fix" disability, and the exclusion of multiply marginalized young children from educational spaces and opportunities. Justice-driven inclusive education research is necessary to challenge such assumptions and reduce exclusionary practices. Disability Critical Race Theory extends inclusive education research by facilitating examinations of the ways racism and ableism interdependently uphold notions of normalcy and centering the perspectives of multiply marginalized children and families. We discuss constructions of normalcy in early childhood, define justice-driven… [Direct]
(2023). Honrando Voces Diversas: A Framework for Equity-Minded Teaching Partnerships. Journal of Latinos and Education, v22 n5 p1984-1990. Higher education perpetuates assimilationist ideas at odds with how an increasingly diverse student population makes meaning of their learning experiences. There is a heightened exigence to engage in inclusive and equity-minded teaching practices at Hispanic Serving Institutions where structural inequalities still prevail due to whiteness and monolingual racism. To challenge systemic inequities, we must see our students as essential partners in the development and revision of teaching and learning practices. In this reflective piece, we draw our lived partnership experiences to offer a framework for embracing college students' full linguistic and cultural repertoires to build reciprocal, equity-minded, and linguistically responsive student and teacher partnerships in higher education…. [Direct]
(2023). Race/ism in Field Education: Narratives of BIPOC Field Instructors. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, v43 n2 p135-154. Field instructors are critical to enacting social work's signature pedagogy as they are tasked with providing agency-based learning opportunities and supervision for students. It has been well-documented that field supervisors are instrumental in students' learning and that the supervisory relationship is central to success in field education. However, there is a dearth of research regarding issues of identity, difference, race, and/or racism in these relationships, particularly from the perspective of field instructors of color. To date, we found no published literature that focuses specifically on the experiences and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) social work field instructors. The qualitative study presented here draws upon interviews and focus groups with BIPOC field instructors to better understand how race influences their role and work with students in field settings. Key findings include: 1) race and racialized experiences are primary… [Direct]