Critical Race Theory and Social Studies Futures

Book excerpt: Now more than ever, we need to teach the truth about history. This volume assembles a team of critical social studies Scholars of Color and co-conspirators who share both their nightmares and dreams for the future. The authors engage critical race theory (CRT) and its many branches and offshoots to better understand the permanence of racism in the teaching of social studies. The book’s first section, A Dream Deferred, outlines the endemic systemic issues and the ways in which the field and national organizations attempt to remain racially neutral in the face of the biases that permeate curriculum, disciplines, and the world. The second section, Racial Realities in Classroom Spaces, examines the various ways scholars and educators are applying CRT in PreK–12 spaces. In the third section, Possibilities of Praxis, chapter authors critically reflect on their own experiences and stories using CRT to work with young people and future teachers. In the final section, Dreaming of Social Studies Futures, contributors outline their dreams for the future of social studies, envisioning an unapologetically Indigenous field that centers Black futures and liberation and is free from the violence that has plagued the field and communities for centuries. Book Features: Offers race-focused analyses from a wide range of perspectives and contexts of study related to social studies education.Highlights innovations, branches, and future directions of critical race theories and methods. Explores how race and racism have been situated within the field of social studies since the publication of Gloria Ladson-Billings’s 2003 edited volume, Critical Race Theory Perspectives on the Social Studies. Contributors include Sohyun An, Christopher Busey, Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, Leilani Sabzalian, Sarah B. Shear, Tran Templeton, and Jon Wargo.