Transformatory, community based teaching about race

Teaching about race is not just a theoretical exercise. It has much to do with connecting theory with practice. A robust approach to teaching race is embedded in moving theory into the world. In this essay the case is made for a transformatory approach to teaching about race through connecting students to communities in struggle for racial justice. Situating race thinking in action-centered social contexts is key to this approach. Students begin to learn directly how racism is located socially and constructed politically. Thus classrooms and communities become spaces where activists, scholars, and students co-create change in theory and practice. This demands working together toward the social transformation of a highly unequal society. Teaching race through community engagement is also a practice where we draw upon the knowledge and histories of communities in struggle. The signature lesson of this approach is that racial change comes from activated communities committed to moving in the world for social transformation.