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Walking the Talk

Multiracial Discourses, Realities, and Pedagogy

Michigan State University

An effective social justice pedagogy will simultaneously (a) acknowledge that students of all backgrounds are barraged with the false notion that racism no longer exists and (b) confront the apathy and hopelessness students may develop in response to existing systems of racialization. Furthermore, it will expose and challenge the global racial hierarchy that continues to uphold an obsolete and destructive system of social organization, despite efforts to repackage it as color blindness. The social justice pedagogy described herein (called MRULE, or Multi-Racial Unity Learning Experience) interrogates this system, rejects spurious claims of egalitarianism, and stimulates new patterns of thinking and acting that move authentically toward justice. Application of this pedagogical approach is reviewed here in a university cocurricular program conducted from 1996 to the present.

Key Words: social justice pedagogy • race relations • race-class-gender intersectionality • transformative education • engaged learning • community building

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American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 51, No. 4, 532-550 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764207307741


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gazel, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?