Fostering Pre-Service Teachers’ Antiracist Expectations through Online Education: Implications for Teacher Education in the Context of Global Pandemics

The increase in online education programs, accompanied by the current COVID-10 pandemic, has led universities to reconsider alternative ways to prepare teachers for social justice. One under-researched area in this conversation is the need for teacher candidates to examine their racialized expectations that often negate students of color in TK-12 classrooms. This self-study describes one faculty member’s digital critical race praxis (DigitalCrit praxis) as a mediator of her expectations to prepare pre-service teachers for social justice. Research findings have implications for critical multicultural education, digitally based instruction, and teacher preparation.

Developing an Antiracist Lens: Using Photography to Facilitate Public Health Critical Race Praxis in a Foundational MPH Course

Racism is a critical determinant of health that affects outcomes; shapes practice, policy, research, and interventions; and disproportionately burdens nondominant racial populations. The racial justice challenges of today, combined with persistent health inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have intensified the need for racial equity–minded public health professionals. Because training programs play a key role in developing professionals, they must center teaching about racism and promoting antiracism within their curricula. The critical race theory–grounded strategy Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) provides a useful framework, calling for examination of how racism operates within individuals and the systems, such as public health, in which they work. Foundational public health courses provide a vital opportunity to launch such an examination and lay the groundwork for antiracism praxis. This article offers a curricular model that integrates PCHRP with a creative approach to facilitate exploration of racial identity among public health students. Students in our course use photography and written reflections to create dual portraits, one depicting how they see themselves and the other imagining how they might be seen by others in our racialized society. Our pedagogical process prompts critical self-reflection about racial identity, a crucial foundation for addressing the health consequences of structural racism. Spurred by creative inquiry, students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds tell us that our course boosts their racial consciousness, enhances their understanding and ability to engage diverse communities, equips them to see and name racism in the public health context, and galvanizes them to work toward dismantling it.

Teaching What We Don't Know

In this chapter, the authors analyze two community-based learning (CBL) courses designed to help preservice teachers understand how issues of race and power emerge in classrooms. Students enrolled in a reflection-oriented course demonstrated deep understanding of their white identities and developed a desire to enact social justice pedagogy; however, they also expressed anxiety about effectively teaching diverse students. Similarly, students enrolled in an action-oriented course were unable to engage in Critical Race Praxis in their community placements due to colorblind mindsets and feelings of white guilt. While some students understood white privilege to function through systems of oppression, many students adopted a white savior mentality. These outcomes suggest that white preservice teachers can imagine being change agents better than actually being change agents. Teacher educators should use CBL to help white preservice teachers develop the cognitive and emotional capacities for Critical Race Praxis prior to student teaching in diverse classrooms.

“I think that’s all a lie…I think It’s genocide”: Applying a Critical Race Praxis to Youth Perceptions of Flint Water Contamination

<p class="Pa7"><strong>Background: </strong>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.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Objective: </strong>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.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Methods: </strong>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.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Results: </strong>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.</p><p class="Default"><strong>Conclusions: </strong>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. <em></em></p><p class="Default"><em>Ethn Dis. </em>2018;28(Suppl 1): 241-246; doi:10.18865/ed.28.S1.241.</p>

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

<p>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).</p><p><em>Ethn Dis. </em>2018;28(Suppl 1):223-230; doi:10.18865/ed.28.S1.223</p>