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Arts & Communication Relational response to racism

to explore this hope that is possible through a relational Critical theory then emerged in higher education in the
response to racism in music education. United States. 11,20,22
Before our exploration, however, I would like to disclose In 1968, Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo
three of my positions. First, my spiritual perspective as Feire published “Pedagogy of the Oppress,” which
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an evangelical Christian who embraces the Bible as the introduced critical pedagogy into public pre-college and
foundation of truth informs my beliefs, including my beliefs higher education in the 1970s and 1980s. 13,16,25,26 Also
on racism. Second, I believe that the Creator intentionally during this time, a form of critical theory, critical legal
designed us for profound and meaningful relationships. theory, emerged within the United States legal system
Consequently, I hold a relational ontology and view reality through the works of scholars such as Unger and Duncan
27
by studying relationships from a Christian interpretive Kennedy. 11,15,28 Subsequently, critical race theory (CRT) was
framework. I offer, therefore, this operational definition developed and appeared in public schools and universities
2,3
of racism for this paper: Racism is an unreasonable and in the early 2000s, primarily through the works of academic
inflexible assumption that a particular group of people scholars that include Yosso, Ladson-Billings, and Kendi.
25
29
identified by color or ethnicity is morally, intellectually, In music education, CRT appeared in the works of social
emotionally, or spiritually inferior and deserves less value justice advocates such as Thomas A. Regelski, Juliet
31
30
than another. The manifestation of racism can range from Hess, 32,33 and McLaren. From CRT, other offshoots such
4-6
34
simple avoidance, marginalization, unequal treatment, as critical feminist theory, Latina/Latino critical (LatCrit)
name-calling, and physical harm to even death. The theory, and Asian critical (AsianCrit) theory formed as
7-9
ultimate goal of racism is to destroy the beauty of the well. However, CRT will always fundamentally be the
relationships between our Creator and others. 2,4,10 critical theory that developed from the works of Marx and
Engels. 11,22,25,35
Third, I do not want to dishonor or be dismissive toward
anyone who has suffered from racism. As a woman of color According to Krebs, as of February 2022, 14 states
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in the United States growing up in the 1960s and 70s in San have banned CRT from being taught in their K-12 public
Francisco and as a child of immigrants who were from a schools, and other states are also considering its ban.
colonized, impoverished, war-torn country, I experienced However, despite the proponents who try to eliminate,
racism, personally and generationally, perhaps like some adjust, or minimize the theory, it is still a guiding framework
of you. I know these experiences can be etched in our presented in the schools of education at universities and
memories for a lifetime. Nevertheless, I am emphatic that written about in academic literature. 8,11-14,29,37 There have
pursuing and developing relationships is a hopeful path also been court cases where teachers argued to include
forward. Therefore, the research question to be answered CRT based on their First Amendment right to free speech
in this paper is “What is a relational response to racism?” in pedagogy. 36-38 Consequently, the theory is in the mindset
of educators as a framework to analyze disparities between
2. Context of critical theory groups and will likely not be eliminated. Therefore, it is
In the United States, the current discussion and solutions essential to understand the basic tenets of critical theory,
for racism which are presented in various public school respond to its failings, and provide an alternative to combat
districts and higher education have been founded on critical racism.
theory. 11-14 This theory’s origins can be traced to the 1800s
in the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. 15-17 Their 3. Advocating for a relational mindset
works addressed economic disparities between groups of The current proponents of critical theory or CRT argue
people and developed into a theory known as Marxism. 18-21 that systemic racism is entrenched in our society, that
After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, philosophers groups of people are classified as either majority/dominant/
including Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert oppressors/whiteness or minority/marginalized/
Marcuse established the Frankfurt School in Germany as oppressed/persons of color, and that we must find ways
a think tank; one of its goals was to explore the strengths to suppress or overthrow the dominant culture to rebuild
and weaknesses of Marxism and possible variants. 16,20,22,23 a new equitable society. 8,13,18,22,24,30,39 Consequently, the
Subsequently, they broadened the scope of Marxism from discourse has focused on changing or overthrowing
simply addressing economic disparities to examining systems covertly or overtly through activism, especially in
other cultural disparities; this variant is called critical schools where students are most impressionable. 13,24,30,33 To
theory. 16,20,22,23 Horkheimer’s 1937 manifesto, “Traditional achieve these goals, however, guilt and false dichotomies are
and Critical Theory,” is one seminal work that articulated often used, and alternative voices are regularly silenced or
the characteristics of this cultural variant of Marxism. 11,15 canceled. 8,13,26,39,40 Often, subjects or topics considered part

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1234