White Liberalism and Racial Justice in Arts Education: An Uneasy Pairing

The arts are often part of equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives aimed at enriching “underserved students,” a euphemism typically used to refer to Black and brown young people living in conditions of socioeconomic vulnerability and disregard. Such initiatives often stem from white liberal narratives that cast the arts and arts education as inherently good and, therefore, able to elevate these students intellectually, culturally, and emotionally. Though well intended, white liberal narratives can undermine the freedom dreams of non-White people and the liberatory potential of creative cultural practices. This colloquium critically examines the relationship between white liberalism and the arts in education and suggests counter practices for teachers who seek creative ways to advance racial justice.

Amelia M. Kraehe, Ph.D. is Co-founder and Co-director of the Racial Justice Studio and an Associate Professor of Art and Visual Culture Education at The University of Arizona. Her research and teaching focus on how the arts and arts education can challenge, but also reinforce, systems of inequality. She explores this contradiction by investigating the ways in which the arts, as both a disciplinary discourse and as creative cultural practices, mediate social movements, ideological formations, and identity development. She is recipient of the 2020 Mac Arthur Goodwin Award for Distinguished Service in the Profession from the National Art Education Association. She co-edited The Palgrave Handbook of Race and the Arts in Education and Pedagogies in the Flesh: Case Studies on the Embodiment of Sociocultural Differences in Education. Her forthcoming book is Race and Art Education (Davis Publications).