Savage and the Slave: Critical Race Theory, Racial Stereotyping, and the Teaching of American History, The

ASTRACT

The teaching of American history is not neutral; teachers and textbooks often define what is important and what is not. It is through this historical subjectivity that stereotypes and biases emerge and ultimately persist. With relevance to African Americans and American Indians, such stereotypes can be culturally, politically and economically crippling. By promoting Critical Race Theory, which seeks to reduce marginalization through the recognition and promotion of historically disenfranchised peoples, American history teachers can redress stereotyping and enhance plurality in their classrooms. This descriptive article discusses the roots of historical stereotyping and offers ways in which such perceptions can be changed.

The issue of bias continues to haunt the school history curriculum. It stalks both teacher and pupil, leaving them confused and frustrated (DeMarco, 1995, p.6).

American Indians and other cultural groups are frequently either stereotyped, distorted or forgotten altogether (McCluskey, 1997. p. 3).

Introduction

If history has taught us anything, it is that America continues to struggle with race and racial stereotyping. From the macroaggressions of verbal and physical violence to the microaggressions of the unsaid comment or the unstated perception, race in America is used to legitimize the powerful and marginalize the powerless.

To understand racism and racial stereotyping in America, one needs only to examine the African American and American Indian historical experience. Slavery and the Trail of Tears speak for themselves. Yet history plays a vital role in presenting and understanding both slavery and the Trail of Tears. For history is a delicate amalgam of fact and fiction tempered by personal and pedagogical perception. Though the premise of history is rooted in empiricism, the teaching of history is not so objective. History classrooms are not neutral; they are contested arenas where legitimacy and hegemony battle for historical supremacy. And in these arenas, it is often the teacher and the textbook that ultimately decides what is historically important and what is not. The representation of African Americans and American Indians within history classrooms is dependent upon the willingness of individual teachers to present material that accentuates contributions, challenges historical givens, empowers the marginalized and, above all, raises awareness of and reflection upon race and racial stereotyping and the impact they have on the historical interpretations of American history. One way in which racial stereotyping can be reduced in American history classrooms is through a philosophical and pedagogical framework premised on critical race theory.

Critical Race Theory

Critical race theory draws from and extends the parameters of a broad theoretical construct known as critical theory. Solorzano (1997) defines critical race theory as

A framework or set of basic perspectives, methods, and pedagogy that seeks to identify, analyze, and A framework or set of basic perspectives, methods, and pedagogy that seeks to identify, analyze, and transform those structural and cultural aspects of society that maintain the subordination and marginalization of People of Color (p. 6).

Specifically, critical race theory focuses on challenging the dominant discourse(s) on race and racism with reference to the study and practice of law and how the legal system facilitates and perpetuates the discrimination and subordination of certain ethnic groups (Delgado, 1996; Bell, 1995). Though critical race theory originated within the field of law, its theoretical and practical tenets can be transferred to other disciplines, most notably education (see Lynn, et al., 2002; Solorzano, 1997; Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995).

Critical race theory has four major themes. First, that race and racism are timeless, endemic and permanently entwined in the American social (including educational) fabric. second, critical race theory seeks to challenge constructed ideologies of objectivity and racial sensitivity and argues that such constructs are shelters for hegemonic practices by dominant groups in America. Third, critical race theory is committed to social justice and the eradication of racial subjugation. And lastly, critical race theory seeks to promote the experiential knowledge of Women and People of Color as legitimate and central to the understanding of subjugated peoples (Solorzano, 1997).

Defining Racial Stereotyping

In 1903, W. E. B. DuBois stated that "the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line" (p. 29). With immigration and welfare reform, crime, and the future of affirmative action dominating conversations on race, DuBois' statement is as true today as it was 100 years ago. Twenty-first century America is extremely conscious of this "color-line" and alternately feels comforted by its existence or fearful of its demise. Banks (1995) believes that the racial "color-line" is a socially constructed ideal used to separate, partition, accommodate or alienate. Carrying the argument one step further, Marable (1992) defines racism as "a system of ignorance, exploitation, and power used to oppress African Americans ... [and] American Indians on the basis of ethnicity, culture, mannerisms, and color" (p. 5).