Toward a Critical Race Praxis for Educational Research

Background: In April 2014, the emergency manager of Flint, Michigan switched the city’s water supplier from Detroit’s water department to the Flint River. The change in water source resulted in the Flint Water Crisis (FWC) in which lead (Pb) from the city’s network of old pipes leached into residents’ tap water. Residents of Flint reported concerns about the water to officials; however, the concerns were ignored for more than a year.Objective: This study sought to understand how Black youth in Flint conceptualize, interpret, and respond to racism they perceive as part of the normal bureaucracy contributing to the FWC.Methods: In 2016, we conducted four community forums with Flint youth aged 13 to 17 years. Sixty-eight youth participated with 93% self-identifying as Black. Participants completed a brief survey. We audio-recorded the forums and transcribed them verbatim. Critical Race Theory (CRT) guided the development of the interview protocol and Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) served as an interpretive framework during qualitative data analysis. Content analyses were completed using software.Results: Many youth viewed the FWC through a racially conscious frame. They described Flint as a Black city where historical and contemporary forms of racial stratification persist. Some described the contamination of the city’s water as a form of genocide targeting Blacks.Conclusions: The findings from this exploratory study suggest some Black youth in Flint have difficulty coping with the FWC. Those who perceive it through a racial frame attribute the crisis to racism. They feel distressed about this and other traumas (eg, failure to address high rates of crime) they perceived as racism-related. Future research should examine the implications for specific mental health outcomes among youth. Ethn Dis. 2018;28(Suppl 1): 241-246; doi:10.18865/ed.28.S1.241.

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Post-Racial Critical Race Praxis

Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education ◽

10.4324/9780203155721-38 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 388-405

Keyword(s):

Critical Race ◽

Critical Race Praxis

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Introduction to Critical Race Theory in Educational Research and Praxis

Race Is … Race Isn’t ◽

10.4324/9780429503504-1 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Daria Roithmayr

Keyword(s):

Critical Race Theory ◽

Educational Research ◽

Critical Race ◽

Race Theory

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Commentary: Just What is Critical Race Theory and What’s it Doing in a Progressive Field like Public Health?

Ethnicity & Disease ◽

10.18865/ed.28.s1.223 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (Supp 1) ◽

pp. 223 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Chandra L. Ford ◽

Collins O. Airhihenbuwa

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Critical Race Theory ◽

Research Method ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Critical Race ◽

Race Theory ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Educational Disparities ◽

The Public ◽

Critical Race Praxis

Gloria Ladson-Billings cautiously promotes the use of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to address racism’s contribution to educational disparities. Nearly a decade ago, we issued a similar call to the multidisciplinary field of public health. Public health touts its progressive roots and focus on equity, but do those efforts draw on CRT? To answer this question, we define CRT, describe its origin in the field of law, and review the ways its use has grown in the field of public health. Public health interventions and policies rely heavily on evidence; therefore, we re-introduce the semi-structured research method we developed to facilitate empirical application of CRT, ie, the Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP).Ethn Dis. 2018;28(Suppl 1):223-230; doi:10.18865/ed.28.S1.223

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