Teaching racial oppression in U.S. history and its effect on belongingness & political participation in the inner city

I am very interested in the educational philosophies that schools exist to give students the tools they need to become participatory members of the democracy. However, I am also curious about the messages schools send to black and Hispanic students about their place in the American democracy when the dominant narrative around these social groups in school curriculum robs them of their agency? Therefore, I am interested in a research topic that addresses some of the following questions:

·      How has the way history courses teach the U.S. history of racial oppression (from slavery to Jim Crow to the Rodney King riots) evolved? Or has it?

·      If so, what factors led to this evolution?

·      What age do Americans deem as the “correct time” to introduce such questions? Has this shifted over time?

·      What effects does this have on the way students consider citizenship?

Potential sources

·      Interpreting national history : race, identity, and pedagogy in classrooms and communities

·      Practice what you teach : social justice education in the classroom and the streets

·      “History class and the fictions about face in America”

Wish list of sources:

·      History instruction national standards over the last 30 years (I have not yet defined the timeline I want to look at.

·      Reflections from students and teachers who engaged with socially-conscience curriculum, as well as minority students who were only given access to the canonical curriculum.

·      Lesson plans from the past 30 years dealing with topics such as slavery and Jim Crow. Information on how minority students reacted to the events when they were presented in various ways.

Though this topic is less well-defined then my first topic, I have a general interest in political isolation in inner cities across America, as well as how this isolation has evolved over the last 30 years. These communities lack basic infrastructure such as street lights and even adequate sanitation, are subject to violent law enforcement, and are often cut off from the mainstream economy. Studies have found that social isolation decreases the political participating of blacks living in the inner city. I am interested in the degree to which this political participation has shifted over time, and if so, what events have catalyzed this increased participation.

Possible sources:

·      “Inner city contexts, church attendance, and African-American political participation”

·      Protest Is Not Enough: The Struggle of Blacks and Hispanics for Equality in Urban Politics

·      “Race, concentrated poverty, social isolation, and political behavior”

·      American apartheid: segregation and the making of the underclass

·      From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters in American Elections

·      Democracy, Inequality, and Political Participation in American Life

Sources wish list:

·      Data on turn out rates for local and national elections in inner-city areas in cities across the U.S. such as NYC, LA, Chicago, Detroit, etc. in from the last 20-30 years

·       Records of political organizers working in the inner-city

·      Newspaper clippings highlighting political events that inspired either outrage and/or hope in inner city communities.

·      Articles/journals/records on groups organizing in the inner city.