Toward critical race tourism: valuing counter-narratives and endarkened storywork

Abstract

In this article, we argue for tourism scholars to amplify the stories and lived experiences of traditionally silenced groups through the adaption of critical race theory (CRT) toward a framework of Critical Race Tourism. Critical Race Tourism includes a specific focus on counter-storytelling, endarkened storywork, and regular engagement of interest convergence. We believe Critical Race Tourism can contribute to racial reconciliation and healing, particularly during a time of a global pandemic, that exacerbates systems of marginalization and oppression. Using a Critical Race Tourism framework is about realizing the potential of thick, rich data of everyday lived experiences from marginalized communities in order to enrich the theoretical, empiricism, and scholarly insights offered by academic writing. We begin by defining CRT and describe the employment of and application within tourism studies. We introduce the framework of endarkened storywork, which responds to the sustainability and justice challenges resulting from past, current, and future inequities for BIPOC communities. We close with implications for tourism contexts and research.

Keywords:

• Counter-narratives
• endarkened storywork
• critical race theory
• marginalized voices
• just tourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

No funding or financial grants were used for this research.

Notes on contributors

Stefanie Benjamin

Dr. Stefanie Benjamin is the Co-Director of Tourism RESET and Associate Professor in the Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management Department at the University of Tennessee. Her research dives deep into the intersections of Black travel – ranging from large survey data to intimate in-depth interviews with members of this movement in addition to the nexus of social equity and critical tourism scholarship. She has published numerous journal articles in top tier tourism journals, in AFAR Travel Magazine, the Conversation, and Conde Nast Traveler. Along with Tourism RESET, she is interested in producing and promoting social advocacy while amplifying underrepresented voices within the tourism landscape through practice, research, and education.

Judson Laughter

Judson Laughter is associate professor of English education in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He teaches courses in sociolinguistics, trends and issues in education, and critical teacher education. His research interests include critical race theory, culturally relevant education, and social justice education.