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Abstract

This essay by Laurence Parker and David Stovall, which is part of a special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory on critical pedagogies and race, 2004, zooms in on what has become an enduring question in philosophy of education: the relationship between critical race theory (CRT) and critical pedagogy. Parker and Stovall begin their essay by discussing the racial educational politics confronting them as professors in Illinois. While they both teach classes on CRT, evidence surrounds them in the region of students facing racism at an everyday level in public schools. As CRT is oriented toward positive social action and change, their students felt compelled in this case to engage in marches and protests related to racism in the schools, as a local issue and a broader civic rights problem. This experience prompted the authors to consider the interrelations between critical pedagogy, which has traditionally emphasized Marxist class-based analysis, and CRT, which highlights race and racism as distinctive features of the social landscape. The essay thus considers the limitations of critical pedagogy for facing racism given its focus on political economy, before considering how CRT coheres and conflicts with critical pedagogy. In particular, the authors observe how CRT recognizes the pervasiveness of color-blind rhetoric in critical pedagogies of emancipation, while different groups (such as women, Native Americans, Latinos and Latinas, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) face predicaments not adequately provided for by a Marxist lens. Giving a rich view of the contemporary literature related to race, racism, and related phenomena in United States education, this article provides an in-depth account, ultimately arguing for the need for both CRT and critical pedagogy as means toward creating more successful schools for all and particularly for children of color.