Addressing Antiracism in an Undergraduate Spanish Class with Authentic Materials

Abstract

A rise in antiracist reform sparked by summer 2020 events have prompted a reexamination of course material across all levels and subjects in schools. This article will focus primarily on Desiree Bela-Lobedde’s Ser mujer negra en Espana (2018), and demonstrate how fragments from her culturally rich autobiography, with the support of secondary material that reflect the Afro-Latino community, can be used as tools to initiate antiracist reform in Spanish classes at the high school and college level for the popular themes of holidays, and beauty and aesthetics. Specifically, the use of blackface in the representation of Baltasar, one of the Three Kings, and the overtly Eurocentric beauty standards that impact many women, transform these seemingly safe themes into critical topics that should be addressed in the classroom for their cultural value and potential to foment positive change.