Sam and Cristina: A Critical Dialogue Between a Teacher and Student About the Commoditization of People of Color by Schools

This article was written by a white high school teacher (Sam) and a high school student of color (Cristina) in order to consider the harmful potential for schools in the United States to commoditize students of color at the expense of critical, antiracist work. It was written out of a Youth Particip...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Democracy & education 2016-09, Vol.24 (2)
Main Authors: Tanner, Samuel J, Corrie, Cristina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ethnicity
High school students
High schools
Teachers
Yousafzai, Malala
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article was written by a white high school teacher (Sam) and a high school student of color (Cristina) in order to consider the harmful potential for schools in the United States to commoditize students of color at the expense of critical, antiracist work. It was written out of a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) study and uses a critical whiteness framework in order to examine how Cristina, in dialogue with Sam, came to theorize that her racial identity was commoditized as a cultural asset of their high school in exploitative ways. Her thinking, juxtaposed with Sam's consideration of his own whiteness, illustrates the complex ways that students of color can be exploited in ways that do not disrupt hegemonic white supremacy in educational contexts. It is our hope that sharing this dialogical interaction will contribute to the consideration of a more nuanced understanding of how whiteness can obstruct democratic practices, especially racial justice, in U.S. schools.
ISSN:1085-3545