Racial Inclusivity in the Spanish Curriculum: A Case for Afro-Hispanic Literature

Abstract

Racial Inclusivity in the Spanish Curriculum: A Case for Afro-Hispanic Literature Jerry L. Parker Ahead of the recent wave of social justice movements (e.g., [All] Black Lives Matter (#BLM), #MeToo, #StopJewishHate, #StopAsianHate), in 2019 the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) declared a stance on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in language education. It affirmed that it “values diversity and strives for inclusion across foreign language teaching and learning contexts.” Such a profound statement was a rallying cry for world language teachers, researchers, advocates, and activists to further ensure that all students succeed regardless of where they are from or where they plan to go. While other leading language organizations such as the American Association of Teachers of French (2020) and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (2021) followed suit with their own DEIB statements, there is still more to be done. This article seeks to add to the growing conversation on DEIB in word language curricula and instructional practices by sharing my experience with integrating Afro-Hispanic literature into an intermediate Spanish II course. Spanish 202 (Intermediate Spanish II) is a general education course required in certain majors at my university. The departmental goal of this course is to review basic grammar such as verb tenses and syntax and to use the language in communicative contexts. The vocabulary is usually a little more specific and geared toward college students’ interests and aspects of daily life. Culture is also normally focused on a more sophisticated study of everyday life in Spanish-speaking countries and facets of literature, history, music, education, and the arts. Students who successfully complete this course should ideally possess a Novice High to Intermediate Low level of proficiency in the language. Although I only detail one unit from the course, this experience was very powerful because it showed how all students, regardless of race, gender, religion, and other aspects of identity, truly do benefit from DEIB efforts in world language courses. This experience also serves as an example for others seeking to follow the same path as it relates to increasing DEIB efforts in their teaching. Particularly in Spanish, it provides a template for integrating the work of Afro-Hispanic authors into Novice and Intermediate level courses. The Reality of Black Students and Languages Just as many English, history, and humanities departments have started to move toward a more culturally inclusive curriculum to retain marginalized students, it is time for world languages to do the same. Additive Curricular Nullification, or the inclusion of discussions or units that promote critical perspectives on issues of language and society are key to advancing social justice in world languages (Reagan and Osborn 249). Ignoring racial diversity in language teaching reinforces the legacies of inequity and exclusion upon which America and the American education school system were built (Anya and Randolph). Hence, saying phrases like “I don’t see color” are perceived as “I want to forget the historical ramifications for your people from when mine and others used it as a means for defining American society” (Anya and Randolph 24). This attitude is not acceptable. [End Page 3] There currently exist larger degrees of diversity (e.g., racial/ethnic, gender and sexuality, socioeconomic) in Spanish language classrooms than what teachers experienced just 25 years ago. The result has become greater emphasis on and understanding of the need for teaching practices that will be received positively and simultaneously align with the learning needs of a wide array of students (Brown et al. 155; Rosa and Flores 175). Although for decades educators have argued that no individual should experience marginalization of their contributions or talents because of their unique attributes, there has historically been and still is disproportionally lower enrollment of Black students in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups in World Languages courses. Likewise, of the number of Black students who do enroll, an even smaller number of them graduate college with a major or minor in a language (Parker 2022). In looking at the data for 2020 and 2021 published by the National Center for Educational Statistics, the number of Black students leaving college with a bachelor’s degree in...