A Dream and a Bus: Black Critical Patriotism in Elementary Social Studies 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.

Keywords:

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

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank Pablo Ramirez for his insightful discussant comments on an earlier version of this article presented at the College and University Faculty Assembly 2016 annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Notes

1. Our use of Afrocentric in this case refers to J. E. King and Swartz’s (2014) contextualization of Afrocentricity as a pedagogical, inquiry-based framework that serves as liberation for African people as a group, challenges racial oppression, and constructs emancipatory knowledge in the interests of African people.