ERIC Number: EJ1277380
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Oct
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0309-8249
EISSN: N/A
What Might Sustain the Activism of This Moment? Dismantling White Supremacy, One Monument at a Time
Perhamus, Lisa M.; Joldersma, Clarence W.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, v54 n5 p1314-1332 Oct 2020
Defining monuments as "ideological powerhouses," this article argues that the current dismantling of confederate monuments is a dismantling of white supremacy. More than symbolic destruction of representations, theses "acts of take-down" are concrete, physically manifested interruptions of systemic racism. Drawing on Black radical feminist theory, Kristen Dotson's philosophic work on epistemologies, and current public media analyses, the article uses an activist-philosophy frame to discuss how the current context of the Black Lives Matter movement is shaping contemporary societal demands for racial change. It argues that today's confederate monument topplings, which happen in the public square, constitute anti-racist critical public pedagogies which engage the public(s) in bold interruptions of anti-Black white supremacy and have a vision for change. Anti-racist critical public pedagogies (1) critique the inequities proliferated by relationships of power in the public sphere (especially racial inequities); (2) resist and interrupt these inequities through embodied practices; and (3) offer a vision for equitable racial social change. In the confederate monument protests, anti-racist critical public pedagogies leverage the "collective voice" of protestors as "public power" in public spaces and places to affect sociopolitical change. The article asks, "What might sustain the activism of this historical moment?" and proposes that to sustain social change, three elements need to be present: Racial Honesty; Culture of Praxis; and Radical Imagination and Love. The discussion does not aim to provide a prescriptive analysis but, rather, to engage with readers in a conversation about the kinds of questions that might keep today's activism fueled and visionary.
Descriptors: Ideology, Racial Bias, Activism, Historic Sites, Epistemology, Feminism, Critical Theory, Social Justice, Racial Relations, Social Change, Power Structure, Sustainability, Praxis
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A