Language and Antiracism

José L. Magro

Description

Argues that simply being non-racist is not an option: antiracism is the only approach acceptable to fighting racism

Beginning from the premise that being non-racist – and other ‘neutral’ positions – are inadequate in the face of a racist society and institutions, this book provides language educators with practical tools to implement antiracist pedagogy in their classrooms. It offers readers a solid theoretical grounding for its practical suggestions, drawing on work in critical race theory, critical sociolinguistics and language ideology to support its argument for antiracist pedagogy as a necessary form of direct action. The author contends that antiracist pedagogy is a crucial part of the project of decolonizing universities, which goes beyond tokenistic diversity initiatives and combats racism in institutions that have historically helped to perpetuate it. The author’s pedagogical suggestions are accompanied by online resources which will help the reader to adapt and develop the material in the book for their own classrooms.   

Introduction: Antiracist Pedagogy Works!

Part 1: Race, Racism and Antiracism in the Language Classroom

Chapter 1. Introduction to Foundational Concepts for an Antiracist Approach to Language Teaching

Chapter 2. ‘Trabajo más que un negro’: An Ethnography of Racism Within a Spanish Department

Chapter 3: Let Us Talk About Race… and Language… and Power

Chapter 4: Pedagogical Foundations of SPC Units

Part 2: When, Where, How: Raising Antiracist Critical Linguistic Awareness in the Language Classroom Through Sociolinguistics-Informed Pedagogies

Chapter 5: Integrating SPCs in an Advanced (Spanish) Language Class

Chapter 6: Integrating SPCs in Different Curricular Settings

Chapter 7: The Students Talk: Testimonials from Participants in Antiracist Programs

Appendices

References

Index

Sujets

• Minority Studies
• Ethnic Studies
• Hip-Hop
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Hip hop
• Anti-racism
• Professional
• Postgraduate education
• General officer
• Sociolinguistics
• General
• Research
• Postgraduate
• Discrimination

Informations

• Publié par: Channel View Publications
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781800410466
• Langue: English

Extrait

Language and Antiracism
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION
Founding Editor : Viv Edwards, University of Reading, UK
Series Editors : Phan Le Ha, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA and Joel Windle, Monash University, Australia .
Two decades of research and development in language and literacy education have yielded a broad, multidisciplinary focus. Yet education systems face constant economic and technological change, with attendant issues of identity and power, community and culture. What are the implications for language education of new ‘semiotic economies’ and communications technologies? Of complex blendings of cultural and linguistic diversity in communities and institutions? Of new cultural, regional and national identities and practices? The New Perspectives on Language and Education series will feature critical and interpretive, disciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives on teaching and learning, language and literacy in new times. New proposals, particularly for edited volumes, are expected to acknowledge and include perspectives from the Global South. Contributions from scholars from the Global South will be particularly sought out and welcomed, as well as those from marginalized communities within the Global North.
All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed.
Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com , or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION: 114
Language and Antiracism
An Antiracist Approach to Teaching (Spanish) Language in the USA
José L. Magro
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Thandi...siempre Bristol • Jackson
Thandi...siempre
DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/MAGRO0442
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Names: Magro, José L., author.
Title: Language and Antiracism: An Antiracist Approach to Teaching (Spanish) Language in the USA/José L. Magro.
Description: Bristol; Jackson: Multilingual Matters, [2023] | Series: New Perspectives on Language and Education: 114 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Beginning from the premise that being non-racist - and other ‘neutral’ positions - are inadequate in the face of a racist society and institutions, this book provides language educators with theoretical knowledge and practical tools to implement antiracist pedagogy in their classrooms”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022061528 (print) | LCCN 2022061529 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800410442 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800410435 (paperback) | ISBN 9781800410466 (epub) | ISBN 9781800410459 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Spanish language—Study and teaching (Higher)—English speakers. | Spanish language—Study and teaching (Higher)—Social aspects—United States. | Racism in higher education—United States. | Critical pedagogy—United States. | Anti-racism—United States. | Whites—United States—Race identity.
Classification: LCC PC4068.U5 M34 2023 (print) | LCC PC4068.U5 (ebook) |
DDC 468.0071/073—dc23/eng/20230315
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022061528
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022061529
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-044-2 (hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-043-5 (pbk)
Multilingual Matters
UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.
USA: Ingram, Jackson, TN, USA.
Website: https://www.multilingual-matters.com
Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters
Blog: https://www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com
Copyright © 2023 José L. Magro.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned.
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
Introduction: Antiracist Pedagogy Works!
Part 1: Race, Racism and Antiracism in the Language Classroom
1 Introduction to Foundational Concepts for an Antiracist Approach to Language Teaching
2 ‘Trabajo más que un negro’: An Ethnography of Racism Within a Spanish Department
3 Let Us Talk About Race … and Language … and Power
4 Pedagogical Foundations of SPC Units
Part 2: When, Where, How: Raising Antiracist Critical Linguistic Awareness in the Language Classroom Through Sociolinguistics-Informed Pedagogies
5 Integrating SPCs in an Advanced (Spanish) Language Class
6 Integrating SPCs in Different Curricular Settings
7 The Students Talk: Testimonials from Participants in Antiracist Programs
Appendices
References
Index
Introduction: Antiracist Pedagogy Works!
I.1 Contextualizing This Book
‘Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?’ With these words, US President-elect Donald Trump referred to US immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and African countries when arguing with lawmakers about their protected status. The 45th president, an overt racist and a symptom of a history of racism, could have been the subject of an entire monograph dedicated to the racist comments he made during his presidency. However, this is not the goal of this manuscript. Addressed to educators, this book aims to tackle racism in (Spanish) language classes by understanding and implementing antiracist practices aimed at decolonizing the curriculum. Nevertheless, 45’s presidency is important for contextualizing this text, which I started writing in 2019. I am aware that the following words may sound harsh and strongly worded for readers who did not live in the United States under this presidency (and now, under its sequels and an uncertain future) like I did/do. But for those who, like me, had to experience it from a sociopolitical locus similar to mine, my tone may sound somewhat modest and nuanced.
Despite Trump’s failure in the 2020 election, after four years of what I suffered during a bizarre far-right presidency (exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis), many of us live under the impression that overt xenophobia and racism have become accepted and normalized by almost half of the voting population in the United States. One only needs to drive out of the main US urban centers and enter the realm of White suburban and rural America to see overtly racist messages posted on roads, cars and homes all over the country – yes, I consider that signs supporting Trump are overt racism because he is an overt racist. This is not an opinion; the data demonstrate that anti-immigrant sentiment, racism and sexism are much more strongly related to support for Trump than, for instance, educational level (Schaffner et al ., 2018). Trump did especially well with White people who express sexist views about women and who deny racism exists. At best, these racist attitudes and behavior have been criticized from a passive, distant, disassociated perspective by a ‘liberal’ segment of mainstream society. At the same time, we wonder how we ended up going back to an America in which overt racism is not only justified and displayed but also promoted from the United States’ highest office of power, which has also exported it to global far-right political organizations.
The answer to this question is evident. America never stopped being racist; it just adopted, for a long time, another type of racism, what Bonilla-Silva (2003) described as a racist society without racists. Moreover, after Barack Obama was elected president, some believed that we now lived in what some called a ‘post-racial America’, despite the profound inequalities reflected in housing, banking, employment, health care, education and criminal justice, or the fact that Black and Latino youth are being brutally massacred by White supremacists (including the police) across the country. Some of these actors are the very same people who attacked the US Capitol with impunity on 6 January 2021. While I reflect on the political context when I first started writing this introduction and how the situation evolved, I cannot avoid shaking my head off.
On 8 November 2016, the collejón – the term used in Madrid barrios for a hard slap in the back of your neck – arrived, (un)expectedly, merciless, sharp, waking some people up, lifting masks and hoods for many others, showing the ugliest face of overt racism in the United States. The phenomenon propagated around the world due to the globalized nature of today’s politics, in which think tanks and conferences such as the Conservative Political Action Conference (popularly known as the CPAC, an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from all over the world) discuss and promote media and political strategies to promote the success of neo-nationalist/populist far-right political parties with aggressive neoliberal agendas. It must be noted that although the outward relationship between neoliberalism and neo-nationalism is generally presented as antagonistic, they share much common ground and interests in areas such as immigration, as Felman (2011: 25) argues. In the words of Giorgio Agamben (2009, cited in Felman, 2011: 25), what public opinion, at least in the US context, refers to as ‘the Right and the Left, which today alternate in the management of power, have for this reason very little to do with the political sphere in which they originated. They are simp