Reckoning with white supremacy and anti-Black racism in the Virginia US history standards

Abstract

Abstract This study is an ethnographic content analysis of the Virginia US History Standards of Learning, grades 4–12. We used Yosso’s (2002) framework of a critical race curriculum (CRC) to better understand how white supremacy and anti-Black racism are portrayed in the standards. Results indicate that racialized representation is highly skewed in favour of white men, who comprise 70% of the individuals in the curriculum. White people are mostly portrayed as individuals and almost never as a racialized group, whereas Black people are mostly portrayed as a monolithic group and less often as individuals. Our close reading of the standards identified several tactics that promote white supremacy, including: avoiding accountability, playing the victim, and Confederate lost cause propaganda. We also identified tactics that sustain anti-Black racism, including: Black messiahs, illusions of inclusion, and silos of Black victimhood. There are many units that portray Black people as the victims of anti-Black racism, but white people and their social institutions are never portrayed as the creators, enforcers, or beneficiaries of a racist society. This reckoning is a step towards new standards that are centred on social justice, diverse perspectives, and full humanity for all groups.