Adrienne D. Dixson

And we are still not saved: critical race theory in education ten years later

In 1995, Teachers College Record published an article by Gloria Ladson‐Billings and William Tate entitled ‘Toward a critical race theory of education’. In this article, the authors proposed that critical race theory (CRT), a framework developed by legal scholars, could be employed to examine the role of race and racism in education. Within a few years of the publication of the article by Ladson‐Billings and Tate, several scholars in education had begun to describe their work as reflecting a CRT framework. In this article, we review the literature on CRT in education that has been published over the past ten years. We also assess how far we have come with respect to CRT in education and suggest where we might go from here.

Research as an Aesthetic Process: Extending the Portraiture Methodology

16 Guest Editors’ Note: The guest editors would like to thank Gloria Ladson-Billings for her guidance during this process and most especially, for encouraging us to submit our American Educational Research Association 2003 symposium papers for publication. We would also like to thank Professor Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot for so graciously and generously agreeing to participate in this project. Her work has been and is a marvelous inspiration for us all and her presence looms very large. Finally, a sincere note of appreciation to Yvonna Lincoln, Norm Denzin, and the external reviewers for their insightful comments that pushed us to think outside the box and explore uncharted territory. We appreciate their support during this process.

Brown in black and white-then and now: A question of educating or sporting African American males in America

The U.S. Supreme Courts decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case was used as a point of reference to elaborate on the often divergent realities in education and sport for Black and White Americans. The impetus to integrate sport and the movement to integrate educational institutions in America were two separate yet often paralleled phenomena. It is typically argued that efforts to integrate educational institutions were about ensuring equitable access and opportunity. Less so, due to moral principles, integration in sports was more about winning and generating revenue. Still today, race-related divergences are reflected in education and sport. The intent of this article is to reflect on Americas education and sport histories (then) and highlight some present-day realities (now) as associated with the social construct of race, particularly for Black male students and athletes.

Tyranny of the majority: re‐enfranchisement of African‐American teacher educators teaching for democracy

This article examines the tensions related to multicultural pre‐service teacher education for professors of color. Using two tenets of Critical Race Theory, counterstory and Whiteness as property, as their theoretical framework, the authors draw on personal and professional experiences working with pre‐service teachers in predominantly White institutions (PWI) as these relate to preparing them to teach in diverse settings and embracing notions of democratic education.

Extending the Metaphor: Notions of Jazz in Portraiture

Portraiture, as a qualitative research methodology, challenges how we define objectivity and rigor in the social science research tradition. More recently, and in this “seventh moment” of qualitative research, scholars have begun to explore the impact of “racialized discourses” and “ethnic epistemologies” on both the process and content of qualitative research, particularly within communities of color. In this article, the author offers jazz as a heuristic for thinking about research that is informed by and a reflection of “racialized discourses” and “ethnic epistemologies.”

Intersections, theories, and meanings of race, racism, and educational ethnography

The history of race and racism in our contemporary social world is geographically and globally far-reaching and particular to local contexts, not entirely understood, accepted nor obvious by all. The study of racial and racialised constructions, discourses, and production in schools, in education, and our larger social spheres is hardly new, however. This historical scholarship on race and racism is not confined to the Americas and western Europe (Anderson 2003; Bangura and Stavenhagen 2005; Fanon 1967; Painter 2010), although a number of scholars from these particular parts of the world have written on these issues (Anderson 2003; BonillaSilva 2003; Dávila 2003; Doane and Bonilla-Silva 2003; Jackson 2010; Zuberi and Bonilla-Silva 2008). That educational ethnographers, researchers, and other social scientists are integrating and interrogating race theories and meanings into their historical, conceptual, and methodological lenses in schools and other educational settings is relatively recent (Connolly and Troyna 1998; Delgado and Stefancic 2001; Dyson 1993; Hartigan 2009; Klaas 2006; Ladson-Billings and Tate 1995; Leonardo 2009; Pérez Huber 2010; Solórzano 1998; Solórzano and Yosso 2002; Taylor, Gillborn, and Ladson-Billings 2009; Wright 1998). Worthy of significantly more study, this research is occurring despite the emergence of post-racial discourses that pervade following the appointment and election of key executive offices in North America and western Europe such as the most recent and high profile election of Barack Hussein Obama as the first President of the USA of African descent and Michaëlle Jean, the first African Canadian governor general, and the concurrent election of other non-Whites to major political, religious, corporate, and military positions. This special issue on race and ethnography addresses two significant issues. First, this special issue will explicate the complicated nature of race intersections, theories, and meanings in educational ethnography by some of the leading thinkers and emerging scholars in the field. Deliberately, the ethnographic accounts include but go beyond schooling and extend to larger educational settings bounded by unique and peculiar histories and locations. Ultimately, by blending this collage of articles into this issue by those who deliberate on the role of race in schooling and/or education, this special issue both challenges the effects of educational histories, policies, and practices by interrogating theories and meanings of race and positions race and racism in ethnography in hope of presenting new applications and developments in ethnographic methodologies, theories, and practices. This special issue only continues the conversation when it comes to developing work in understanding race meanings, intersections, and theories in educational and social sciences. With the thrust of attention given to the study of race scholarship in recent years, there is still considerable information scholars in the field need to know about how Ethnography and Education Vol. 6, No. 1, March 2011, 1 7