Racelighting in Utah education: counterstories across contexts
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
ISSN: 2040-7149
Article publication date: 5 December 2023
Issue publication date: 2 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The authors suggest strategies for addressing and combating these attempts at racelighting.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors of this article– five anti-racist educators working in various educational settings in SLC– employ the Critical Race Theory counter-story methodology (Delgado and Stefancic, 1993) to confront resistance to educational equity in Utah. They do so by first providing a historical context of race and education in Utah before presenting four short counterstories addressing the racelighting efforts of students, fellow educators and administrators when confronted with the complexities of racial injustice.
Findings
These counterstories are particularly important in light of the recent increase in color-evasive and whitewashed messaging used to attack CRT and to deny the existence of racism in the SLC school system in K-post-secondary education, and in the U.S. as a whole.
Originality/value
These stories are set in a unique environment, yet they hold national relevance. The racial and religious demographics in Utah shed light on the foundational ethos of the country – white, Christian supremacy. They reveal what is at stake in defending it and some of the key mechanisms of that defense.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editors of this journal for their constructive feedback.
Citation
Wall, M., Shiver, S., Partola, S., Wilson Steffes, N. and Ojeda, R. (2024), "Racelighting in Utah education: counterstories across contexts", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 495-515. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-11-2022-0328
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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