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Trayvon Martin and the curriculum
of tragedy: critical race lessons for
education
a b
Theodorea Regina Berry & David O. Stovall
a
College of Education and Human Development, University of
Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249,
USA.
b
College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, M/C 147
1040 W. Harrison Street, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA.
To cite this article: Theodorea Regina Berry & David O. Stovall (2013) Trayvon Martin and the
curriculum of tragedy: critical race lessons for education, Race Ethnicity and Education, 16:4,
587-602, DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2013.817775
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.817775
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and-conditionsRace Ethnicity and Education, 2013
Vol. 16, No. 4, 587–602, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.817775
Trayvon Martin and the curriculum of tragedy: critical race
lessons for education
Theodorea Regina Berrya* and David O. Stovallb
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a
College of Education and Human Development, University of Texas at San Antonio,
One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA; bCollege of Education, University
of Illinois at Chicago, M/C 147 1040 W. Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
In what ways do the tragedies centered on the lives of black youth, par-
ticularly black male youth, inform teachers, education policymakers, and
teacher educators about what knowledge is most worth knowing? In this
counter/story, we will examine the details of the life and death of Tray-
von Martin. From these details, we will extract and interpret a curricu-
lum of tragedy that draws from Derrick Bell’s particular contributions to
critical race theory (CRT) applies its central tenets. This article will con-
clude with lesson for black education for teachers, education policymak-
ers and teacher educators.
Keywords: critical race theory/critical race feminism; curriculum; black
males
He is my King, He is my one
Yes, he’s my father. Yes, he’s my son.
I can talk to him ‘cause he understands
Everything I go through and everything I am
He’s my support system. I can’t live without him.
The best thing since sliced bread …
He’s misunderstood.
Some say that he’s up to no good around the neighborhood.
But fo’ your information – a lot of brothers got education.
You got ya Wall Street brotha, your blue collar brotha,
Your down for whatever chillin’ on the corner brother.
A talented brother, and for every one of y’all behind bars
You know that Angie loves ya
Black brotha, I love ya
I will never try to hurt ya
I want ya to know that I’m here for you, forever true …
Angie Stone
*Corresponding author. Email: theodorea.berry@utsa.edu
Ó 2013 Taylor & Francis588 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
Prelude
What do we know about men of color, particularly African American men?
In what ways might we describe them? In what ways does American society
perceive this demographic of our population? As educators, what do we
know about the ways in which they learn? How do we know what is signifi-
cantly important to them, or what is significantly important for them to
know?
This article will address what we, as a general public and as educators,
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know and should know (curriculum) about the living and learning experi-
ences of young African American men. This issue will be addressed through
the tragic events surrounding the death of Trayvon Benjamin Martin. More
specifically, the focus of the theoretical framework, methodology, analysis
and interpretation is to address the central question ‘what knowledge is most
worth knowing in the curriculum of tragedy for/about young black men in
the United States?’ The article is organized to respond to this question with:
(a) a discussion about young African American men as a population and in
the context of the schooling experience; (b) a discussion about the theoreti-
cal framework, which sits at the intersection of Professor Derrick Bell’s pio-
neering work, critical race theory (CRT), and critical race feminism (CRF);
(c) a re-storying of the events that lead to the death of Trayvon Benjamin
Martin. These events are re-told through various news articles, print and
electronic data sources. The authors will follow this re-storying with; (d) a
description of the methods and structure for analyzing and interpreting the
curriculum of tragedy surrounding the Trayvon Martin case (i.e., CRF,
Wolcott’s 1994 notion of turn to theory and Solorzano and Yosso’s (2002)
critical race methodology). The methodology, analysis and interpretive struc-
ture move the authors toward; (e) a framework for constructing new lessons
on critical race praxis in education, before; (f) concluding the piece in honor
of the late Professor Derrick Bell by reimagining the events leading up to
the death Trayvon Martin in the form of Bell’s counterstory in order to
begin reimagining more hopeful possibilities for tradition, transition, law
and life for us all.
First verse: Black Brotha
US census data (2010) tells us that 37.7% of people in the US are people of
color; 13% is black with 1% identified as black in combination with another
race (totaling 14%), 16.3% is Hispanic/Latino, 4.8% is Asian with 0.9%
identified as Asian in combination with another race (totaling 5.7%), and
0.9% are indigenous peoples (American Indian and Alaskan Native/Elute/
Eskimo) with 0.7% identified as American Indian/Alaskan Native in combi-
nation with another race (totaling 1.7%). Census data (2010) also tells us
that 49.2% of the US population is male; 17.5% of the male population are
ages 5–17 and enrolled in school. Fifteen percent of the male child andRace Ethnicity and Education 589
youth population aged 5–17 and enrolled in school in the United States are
black or black in combination with at least one other race.
How do we know the ways in which they learn and what is important to
them in the educational endeavor? Some research addresses these issues in
relationship to African American students and reading (Tatum 2006), science
(Rascoe and Atwater 2005), and, writing (Nogera 2003; Haddix 2009).
Several research articles provide information that addresses the overrepresen-
tation of African American boys in special education (Grant 1992; Harry
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and Anderson 1994; Gregory 1997; Bussing et al. 1998; Davis 2003; Noger-
a 2003; Blanchett 2006). All of this information (including the numerous
negative media reports) has, somewhat, unintentionally, lead many toward a
master narrative about young men of color. Rarely do we entertain the idea
of how to engage and educate those who have been historically marginal-
ized in the current education system (Haddix 2009, 341). Currently the mas-
ter narrative includes the inclination towards incarceration over the ability to
make informed decisions about their lives (to be educated). Tatum, in his
work on African American adolescent males, offers the following analogy.
I am often asked to explain why I feel the need to write about African Ameri-
can adolescent males when the data are clear about their dismal reading
achievement and the deleterious outcomes as these young men experience in
school and society. It is because there is an urgent need to address both the
literacy needs and life outcomes of African American male adolescents in
order to improve the conditions of these young men in school and society. It
has become perfunctory to describe the African American males using high
school dropout, incarceration, and unemployment statistics, without also pro-
viding the necessary careful analysis done by social scientists and educators
to unearth the root causes of these outcomes. (Tatum 2008, 156)
This master narrative has provided little room for a discussion about racism,
power and conflict, essentialism, and voice. By entertaining an alternative
take on curriculum, placing African American males at the center of the
analysis provides a framework by which to gain deeper perspective. From
this approach, understanding the lives of young men of color through the
lenses of CRT and CRF would offer a counter story that would be far less
tragic than what current data and research appears to offer.
Chorus: critical race theory and critical race feminism
Launched in the 1980s in large part upon the foundational work of pioneer-
ing legal scholar-activist, Professor Derrick Bell, CRT has been identified as
a movement of ‘a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying
and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power’ (Delgado
and Stefanic 2001, 2). Building upon Critical Legal Studies (CLS), these
perspectives held that the token integrationist advanced of the Civil Rights
Movement cemented the racialist foundations of the effects of history on590 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
people of color in the US. CRT seeks to expose the inequalities that plague
the current social and economic spheres by addressing the ways in which
disadvantaged people suffer from the legacy of historical practices (Ladson-
Billings and Tate 1995). CRT offers voices and perspectives to provide ave-
nues by which the testimony of previously marginalized groups can describe
the impact that ‘race’ as a construct has had on their life experience
(Delgado 2000).
CRF is the feminist perspective of critical race theory. As an outgrowth
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of critical legal studies and critical race theory, CRF acknowledges, accepts
and addresses black experiences as different from those who espouse critical
race theory and womanhood as different acknowledges who espouse
feminist theory (Berry 2010). CRF focuses on the issues of power,
oppression and conflict centralized in feminist theory. However, it primarily
leans on many of the tenets/elements of CRT: (1) addressing essentialism
and anti-essentialism/intersectionality; (2) the normalization of race and
racism; (3) addressing interest convergence; (4) dismantling color-blind
notions of equality; (5) addressing race as a social construction; (6) using
storytelling/counterstorytelling for voices-of-color. Anti-essentialism/
intersectionality, normalization and ordinariness of race and racism, and
counter- storytelling are key elements in CRF. In addition, CRF addresses
the complexities of race and gender with notions of multidimensionality
(Wing 1997). Intersectionality of identity occurs when individuals possess
two or more social markers simultaneously (e.g. race, gender, ethnicity,
class). Multi-dimensionality of identity occurs when individuals possess two
or more individualities that function at the same time, informing one another
in practice (e.g., teacher as parent, teacher as parent and community
member, historian as traveler). In many cases, intersectionality and multi-
dimensionality function together. Finally, CRF values both abstract theoriz-
ing and practice. Critical race feminists believe what they know influences
what they do and how they do it.
But, as the lyrics of the Angie Stone tune noted at the beginning of this
work elude, this article will be a salute to the brothers. Neo-soul singer,
songwriter, producer Angie Stone’s song speaks to the roots of CRFs as she
skillfully, lyrically articulates the multi-dimensionality and complexity of the
lives of men – most especially young African American men. Stone’s point
is clear; the lives of African American men cannot be simplified based on a
singular attribute, feature, or article of clothing such as a hooded sweatshirt
– what is known in popular culture as a ‘hoodie.’
Second verse: the narrative
Trayvon Benjamin Martin, the son of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, was
born February 5, 1995. He was a 17-year-old high school junior attending
Dr Michael D. Krop Senior High school in the Miami area (Burch andRace Ethnicity and Education 591
Isensee 2012; Robles 2012). Martin’s parents divorced in 1999 (Burch and
Isensee 2012). Martin lived with his mother and older brother in Miami Gar-
dens, Florida. Reports of his height and weight at the time of his death vary.
The Sanford Florida police incident report indicates Martin was six feet tall
and weighed 160 lb. Family members say the teenager was six feet three
inches tall and weighed 150 lb. The autopsy report indicates that the
deceased was five feet eleven inches tall and weighed 158 lb.
According to a collection of news reports (Alcindor, Bello, and Copeland
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2012; Weinstein 2012), Trayvon Martin left the townhouse of his father’s
fiancée located at the Retreat in Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida, to go to the
local 7–11 for snacks (Robles 2012; Weinstein 2012) February 26, 2012.
The store video and timestamp verify that Martin purchased food items at
6:24 pm. According to reports, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch
patrolman for the community (Barry et al. 2012), called Sanford police to
report what he considered to be suspicious behavior by Martin (Alcindor,
Bello, and Copeland 2012; Barry et al. 2012). The report from the police
dispatcher indicates that Zimmerman gets out of his car (from where he ini-
tiated the call) and begins to follow Martin. The dispatcher asks if Zimmer-
man is following him [Martin]. Zimmerman confirms that he is following
Martin and the dispatcher instructs Zimmerman not to follow (Alvarez and
Cooper 2012; Cadet 2012; Robles 2012). Martin receives a call on his cell
phone from a girl or girlfriend (Alvarez and Cooper 2012; Barry et al.
2012; Burch and Isensee 2012; Robles 2012). He tells her that someone
‘crazy and creepy’ was watching him from a car and is now following him.
The girl/girlfriend tells him to run to the townhouse (Robles 2012). When
Martin begins to run, Zimmerman pursues him. Zimmerman informs the dis-
patcher that ‘he’s [Martin] running’ (Robles 2012; Weinstein 2012). During
the chase, both Martin and Zimmerman respectively report to their conversa-
tional parties that Martin cannot be found (Martin to girl/girlfriend: ‘I think
I lost him’. Zimmerman to dispatcher: ‘I lost him.’) (Weiner and Stutzman
2012). The girl/girlfriend reports sounds of pushing and hears Martin say
‘get off, get off.’ The call from the girl/girlfriend goes dead between 7:16
and 7:16:59 pm (Weiner and Stutzman 2012). A 911 call placed at 7:16 pm
reports a fight and during that call a shot is fired (Burch and Isensee 2012).
Sanford police arrive (Robles 2012) and at 7:19 pm George Zimmerman is
taken into custody. At 7:30 pm Trayvon Martin was pronounced dead
(Sanford Police 2012) by a Sanford paramedic.
The bridge of methodology: ‘he’s mis-understood…’ Structures for new
narratives
Hear de lambs a’cryin’
Hear de lambs a’cryin’592 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
Hear de lambs a’cryin’
Oh Shepherd, feed my sheep
The chorus of this Negro Spiritual tells of lambs in need of a shepherd to
care for them and attend to their needs. The lambs are crying to be fed and
nurtured. Without guidance, they are lost. In religious terms, this song is
asking an apostle, Peter, to provide spiritual guidance to the followers of
Jesus Christ. Peter must be aware of what these followers need to know in
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the context of their daily lives in order to provide appropriate knowledge
and guidance.
In the spirit of reconceptualists’ notions of curriculum theory, we ask
what knowledge is most worth knowing? (Pinar 2012). What do educators,
policymakers, and teacher-educators need to know about the lived experi-
ences of young men of color, particularly young black men, in order to
provide appropriate knowledge and guidance? Additionally, we ask what
knowledge is most worth knowing about the kinds of tragedies connected to
young black men in the US? What is the curriculum of tragedy? CRT and
CRF will serve to address these questions.
As mentioned earlier in this work, there are three tenets of critical race
theory that directly apply to critical race feminism: Anti-essentialism/inter-
sectionality, normalization and ordinariness of race and racism, and counter-
storytelling. Multi-dimensionality is a key tenet solely applicable to CRF
and addresses the multiple and complex identities women of color express
and exhibit simultaneously in daily experience. Aligning with Wolcott’s
(1994) notion of ‘turn to theory’ as well as Solorzano and Yosso’s (2002)
critical race methodology, these four tenets will serve as the focus of the
response to the question ‘what knowledge is most worth knowing in the cur-
riculum of tragedy for/about young black men in the US’?
The data used for this work are several news articles, reports, and other
web-based information connected to the events surrounding the shooting
and subsequent death of Trayvon Benjamin Martin. This data has con-
structed the narrative that appears earlier in this work. Data will also provide
information about the student’s life and other pertinent background
information.
Wolcott (1994) instructs qualitative researchers to ‘turn to theory’ as an
analytical process for understanding data. According to Wolcott, ‘turn to the-
ory’ can ‘serve both analytically and interpretively’ (43). However, for the
purpose of this article, this method will employed as a means of providing
structure in the analysis.
This article will also attempt to respond to Gloria Anzaldua’s (as cited in
Solorzano and Yosso 2002) challenge for ‘new kinds of theories and new
theorizing methods’ (23) with the hope it ‘will rewrite history using race,
class, gender, and ethnicity…that cross borders, that blur boundaries’ (23).
This re-visualizing of a historical moment in black social history and itsRace Ethnicity and Education 593
relationship to the ways in which educators can better understand the
identities of young black men in concert with their educational experiences
will occur through the four tenets of CRT/CRF mentioned earlier: a critical
race methodology. Solorzano and Yosso (2002) define critical race method-
ology accordingly:
… as a theoretically ground approach to research that: (a) foregrounds race
and racism in all aspects of the research process. However, it also challenges
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the separate discourses on race, gender, and class by showing how these three
elements intersect to affect the experiences of students of color; (b) challenges
the traditional research paradigms, texts, and theories used to explain the
experiences of students of color; (c) offers a liberatory or transformative solu-
tion to racial, gender, or class subordination; and (d) focuses on the racialized,
gendered, and classed experiences of students of color. Furthermore, it views
these experiences as sources of strength; and (e) uses the interdisciplinary
knowledge base of ethnic studies, women’s studies, sociology, history, human-
ities, and the law to better understand the experiences of students of color.
(24)
Using these four elements of critical race theory/critical race feminism to
form a critical race method of analysis is intended to reveal understanding
concerning curriculum of tragedy. According to Solorzano and Yosso
(2002), five elements should inform a clear articulation of a critical race
methodology in education: (a) the intercentricity of race and racism with
other forms of subordination; (b) the challenge to dominant ideology; (c) the
commitment to social justice; (d) the centrality of experiential knowledge;
and (e) the transdisciplinary perspective. These elements will be embedded
in the four elements for analysis.
Multi-dimensionality
The lyrics of the Angie Stone song could be applied to the lives of all men
of color. They articulate and express the many ways these men are viewed
and understood by the women in their lives. He is my King, he is my One;
Yes, he’s my father; yes, he’s my son.… our Wall Street brotha, your blue
collar brotha…your talented brother. However, the conversation Zimmer-
man has with the dispatcher reveals and affirms the singular master narrative
many Americans possess regarding men of color – ‘suspicious…he looks
like he’s up to no good.’ Angie Stone refers to this notion of black men
being ‘up to no good, around the neighborhood’. Outside of the confines of
communities of color, men and women of color are viewed with suspicion.
The curriculum is that certain spaces are reserved for majority citizens and
assumes that unknown men and women of color do not belong. The tragedy
is that such a curriculum fails to honor all that we are, and therefore, fails to
value our lived experiences as valuable knowledge (Pinar 2012). It assumes
that particular demographics, in this case young black men, can have only594 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
one story, which embeds notions of belongingness. For example, Trayvon
Martin appeared not to belong simply because of his appearance. Yet, the
simple fact that there was no singular reporting of his height and weight
speaks volumes to the multi-dimensionality his identity possessed for others.
Storytelling in the context of Martin’s race and gender provoked the reveal-
ing of the master narrative – the commonly held truth and/or presupposition
told by others about others – which held a silencing effect on the complexi-
ties of his intertwined, interconnected racialized, gendered, and classed
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identities.
Bell’s work in Gospel Choirs: Psalms of Survival in an Alien Land
Called Home (1996) and Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence
of Racism (1992a) clearly illustrate the complex and multi-dimensional nat-
ure of black identities, most especially in the dialogues he creates between
he and his fictional heroine, Geneva Crenshaw. Through these works, he
argues against the singularity of black identity often articulated through the
law, which Bell says, is based on moral and emotional positionality and
rationality. Bell’s contribution to this facet of CRF helps all of us, most
especially those of us in education, to the necessity to view blackness holis-
tically, historically, and politically.
Normalization and ordinariness of race and racism
In this twenty-first century, the curriculum is that race matters and the trag-
edy is that racism still exists. In the US, we continue to assess and evaluate
people by the color of their skin. And, while we all hold multiple and inter-
secting identities, simultaneously, race is often placed in the forefront. Think
about it. You are a doctoral candidate at a research-intensive or research-
extensive institution or a distinguished scholar with numerous articles and
books on your vitae. You walk into a high-end department store or boutique
on Park Avenue in New York, Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, Phila-
delphia, M Street in Washington DC or Michigan Avenue in Chicago. And,
if you are African American, you are likely to be followed around the store
because you look suspicious. What is more tragic is that all people, most
especially people of color, have come to accept these issues as part of their
normal, everyday lived experience. Many people of color rarely challenge
this master narrative because it has become a large and intangible part of
our daily existence.
While race is, indeed, a socially constructed notion, especially in the US
(Banks 1993), it becomes an insidiously complex ideology in the context of
curriculum. In response to the question whose knowledge is most worth
knowing, the normalization and ordinariness of race and racism in US cur-
riculum would nearly silence the experiences of young black men. Lorde
(1992) defines racism as ‘the belief in the inherent superiority of one raceRace Ethnicity and Education 595
over all others and thereby the right to dominance’ (496). The events
surrounding the shooting and death of Martin clearly indicate a belief of
inherent superiority of one person of a primarily dominant race over others
which allowed this one person to feel privileged enough to assert such right
to dominance. If the events in the last hour of Trayvon Martin’s life provide
any substantive data toward a response to this question, it can be soundly
theorized that racism remains intact in American societal norms and
curriculum.
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Accepting the normalness and ordinariness of racism is aligned to Bell’s
notion of racial realism. Bell tells us ‘racial equality is, in fact, not a realistic
goal’ (Bell 1992b, 363). His work in this area significantly contributes to
our understandings of curriculums of tragedy for young African American
males as these tragedies are built from social and legal functions within US
context. Specifically, in the context of the law, ‘…every civil rights lawyer
has reason to know…abstract principles lead to legal results that harm
blacks and perpetuate their inferior status’ (Bell 1992b, 369). Martin was
shot and killed not because of anything he did or failed to do appropriately.
Martins’ life ended because the knowledge most worth knowing in US
social, educational, and legal contexts demonizes his persona and deems it
normal and ordinary to view him as a threat.
Anti-essentialism/intersectionality of identity
Ladson-Billings (2012) confirms that much of what we do in education
research regarding race is cloudy and imprecise. We use crude measure-
ments to sort and slot people into categories…as if we don’t live our lives
across multiple categories of being or as if some of the categories that are
most salient in our lives aren’t invisible (118). We act as if the various parts
of our lives – our faith commitments, family structures, friendships, access
to resources, communities – bear little to no standing in the curriculum of
our lives. Bell (1984) addresses such intersectionality through his work on
class-based roadblocks to racial remediation as he acknowledges the ways in
which blackness gets tied to assumptions about social class. Rather than
understanding the ways in which black people live their lives across multi-
ple categories of being, social, educational, and legal constructs essentialize
the black experience. For example, when school officials at Krop Senior
High released information to students about Trayvon Martin’s death, stu-
dents were not offered a space to discuss this issue. While counselors were
made available to students, teachers were instructed not to discuss the inci-
dent in classes. Miami-Dade County school district spokeswoman stated, ‘at
the end of the day, that’s not on the curriculum, so we’re teaching towards
the test, talking about that wouldn’t help us prepare for the test’. Students’
identities as friend and classmate were silenced along with their intersecting
identities as males, persons of color, community members, etc. Only the596 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
identity relevant to the curriculum of the test was significant to those in
power. The tragedy of silencing and marginalization of students’ identities
that intersected with that of academic learner reeks of essentialism. For, we
all know that in education, we can be only one that at one time in one
moment.
Counterstorytelling
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Derrick Bell’s Faces at the Bottom of the Well (1992a) clearly demon-
strates, illustrates, and informs us about the existence, necessity, and impor-
tance of counterstory as a means of articulating black experiences in the
US. Solorzano and Yosso (2002) further conceptualize Bell’s counterstory
‘as a method of telling the stories of those people whose experiences are
not often told…also a tool for exposing, analyzing, and challenging the
majoritarian stories of racial privilege’ (32). Bell’s use of his fictional hero-
ine, Geneva Crenshaw, creates dialogues that open spaces for critical reflec-
tion with opportunities for substantive action. Our work, as critical race
scholars, is to place in the forefront the counterstories that will promote
racial justice in curriculum and K-20 schools. To do so, we must engage in
both abstract theorizing and practice. In others words, we must talk about
it and be about it. We must talk the talk and walk the walk. Such counters-
tories create multi-dimensionality in the narrative that is now the master
narrative. Such counterstories beat back essentialism, noting that there is
more than one right way to skin a cat. Such counterstories acknowledge
and honor all of who we are. Such counterstories could, potentially, repre-
sent Trayvon Martin as someone’s King, as a potential Wall Street broker,
or just a ‘round the way guy. To date, the only counterstories reported in
relationship to Martin are the stories regarding his height and weight. In
my opinion, if George Zimmerman has held counterstories about young
black men, if he knew what was most worth knowing about young men of
color, Trayvon Benjamin Martin might be alive today. The tragedy is he
isn’t. The curriculum of tragedy for young black men is that they have lim-
ited belongingness and limited value in majoritarian narrative without emu-
lating the values, beliefs, customs, and traditions of mainstream American
society. The curriculum of tragedy is one that allows majoritarian citizens
the right of dominance, even over life and death. Our charge, as critical
race scholars, is for our critical reflection to move into substantive action –
to revolutionize the curriculum.
Revolutionizing curriculum of tragedy: lessons on critical race praxis
In what ways do CRT and CRF revolutionize this curriculum of tragedy? In
what ways can critical race scholars re-dress these tragedies faced by youngRace Ethnicity and Education 597
men of color, particularly African American young men, for educators,
policymakers, and teacher-educators? In this article, we have presented a
story surrounding the events that led to the tragic death of Trayvon Benja-
min Martin. What is the counterstory? What are the critical race lessons?
To answer this question, we propose a deep and abiding consideration of
critical race praxis in education (Stovall et al. 2009). In the Michigan Law
Review, Yamamoto (1997) first describes the center of critical race praxis as
a focus upon ‘developing and then translating critical theoretical insights
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about race, culture, and law into operational ideas and language for anti-sub-
ordination practice and, in turn, rethinking theory in light of new practice
experience’ (867). Educators, policymakers, and teacher educators engaging
in the critical race praxis described by Yamamoto (1997) can find them-
selves reflecting upon the work of such scholar activists as Berry (2005;
2009), Dixson (2003), Freire (1970), Hughes (2008), Jennings and Lynn
(2005), Katsarou (2009), Lynn (1999, 2002, 2006), and Stovall (2004)
when designing and implementing action for the purpose of preventing or
counteracting normative racists practices – recognizing the normalness and
ordinariness of racism in the US. Such reflection would question institutions
and practices that uphold whiteness as property – eradicating notions of
radicalism as a failure to engage in assimilation. Deep and abiding consider-
ation of all of the ways in which people of color, specifically young men of
color, are very different from the mainstream identities perpetuated by the
majority society would work toward the anti-essentialism prevalent in CRT.
This anti-essentialism also honors the uniqueness of the voices of people of
color, collectively and individually.
Freire (1970) and Jennings and Lynn (2005) have established the founda-
tions of critical race praxis in education through their pedagogical stances.
Freire articulated distinctions between oppressed and oppressor in an unjust
society, emphasizing the ways in which power can control knowledge pro-
duction and acquisition. Lynn’s work (2002, 2006) validates the distinctions
of oppressed and oppressor in the context of the lives of black men. More-
over, Freire honors and engages in an education that centers the identities,
values, traditions, and beliefs of the oppressed. More specifically, Lynn
(1999) and later Jennings (2000) established critical race pedagogy as a key
reflective practice that centers CRT in teaching practice. Jennings and Lynn’s
(2005) co-authored work on critical race pedagogy holds the potential for
moving beyond the classroom and schooling space to all spaces where edu-
cational and public curriculums reside and, potentially, intersect with the
everyday lived experience of people of color.
Based on the work of Freire (1970), Jennings and Lynn (2005), and other
scholars, we propose that a critical race praxis would include critical race
pedagogy for teachers and teacher educators and critical race leadership
(Stovall 2004, 2009) for policymakers and administrators. Using CRT and
its outgrowths as a theoretical and practical foundation for action, dialogue,598 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
and reflection can create new counterstories that could, potentially, alleviate
and subsequently eliminate public and educational curriculums of tragedy in
the lives of young men of color.
To engage in a critical race praxis, educators, administrators, and policy-
makers must first be willing to acknowledge that their experiences may be
very different than those of their students and that every students’ experi-
ences are multi-dimensional and complex. As the lyrics of Angie Stone’s
song indicate, the lives of black men are not monolithic templates centered
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on negative predictability. Nor should these men exist as colored versions of
the dominant society.
Educators must be willing to centralize race (with other subordinating
factors) in meaningful reflection prior to, in the midst of, and after engaging
in work meant to enhance and/or increase the educational/curricular expanse
of the student. Pinar (2012) reconceptualizes curriculum as autobiographical,
embedding the historical, political, social, and cultural aspects of all of our
lives simultaneously. Educators, administrators, and policymakers must
reflect, dialogue, and act in ways that honor this multi-dimensionality. In
doing so, we must come to new understanding of curriculum, inside and
outside of the schooling experience in ways that allow these two spheres to
intersect comfortably. This allowance is necessary as multi-dimensional
beings bring their whole selves into every sphere. Educators and policymak-
ers must be willing and able to continually engage, dialogue, and reflect in
ways that acknowledge and honor race as a socially constructed variable that
lives and breathes in American life and curriculum.
Students, educators and policymakers must also recognize, acknowledge,
and reflect upon the ways in which mainstream society constructs a curricu-
lum that perpetuates oppression. Ongoing and consistent dialogue as well as
meaningful action to alleviate and eliminate these conditions limits such
social reproduction. In doing so, anti-essentialism is valued.
Addressing the culture of power is an important component of critical
race praxis in schooling and public curriculum. Freire (1970) instructs both
oppressed and oppressor to engage in reflexivity as a means of questioning
the role each assumes in the development and maintenance of a curriculum
of tragedy. Jennings and Lynn (2005) further illuminate the necessity for
one to explore their positionality within the caste-like American society.
‘The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemp-
tion’ (Freire 1970, 54). Additionally, the oppressor must also be willing to
re-consider their way of life and its contribution to the oppressive state if
true liberation is to occur; ‘those who authentically commit themselves to
the people must re-examine themselves constantly’ (Freire 1970, 60). The
oppressed is equally responsible for examining the ways in which they
perpetuate and support a mainstream ideology of oppressive tragedy in
much the same way that the oppressor must examine the ways in which
they support the social reproduction of dominance.Race Ethnicity and Education 599
Recognition of the dichotomous relationship between oppressed and
oppressor also aligns with Derrick Bell’s notions of racial realism (1992b)
as it accepts the reality and permanence of racism in the US. Most impor-
tantly, according to Bell, if the oppressed understand their role in perpetuat-
ing the falsity of racial equality and mainstream ideology, we can begin to
fully engage in critical reflection and action toward substantive change.
Racial realism reminds us that the public eye oversees a complicated posi-
tion within the curriculum of tragedy, wherein blind spots, missteps and mis-
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calculations become clearer as we gaze closer to the realization that ‘…
none of us – no matter our prestige or position – is more than a few steps
from a racially motivated exclusion, restriction or affront’ (Bell 1992b, 374).
However, Professor Bell offers us theoretical and practical space for hope at
the intersection of critical race praxis and counterstory.
Final verse: the (hopeful) narrative
A curriculum of tragedy analyzed at the intersection of critical race praxis
and counterstory has the potential to honor the lived experiences of black
men like the late Professor Derrick Bell and the late Trayvon Martin and the
knowledge they believe is most worth knowing. It is with their collective
honor in mind that we created and share with readers, the following counter-
story for Trayvon Martin:
Trayvon Benjamin Martin , the son of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin,
was born February 5, 1995. He is a 17-year-old high school junior attend-
ing Dr Michael D. Krop Senior High school in the Miami area. Martin’s
parents divorced in 1999. Martin lives with his mother and older brother in
Miami Gardens Florida. This young African American man is six feet tall
and 160 lb.
According to a collection of eyewitness reports, Trayvon Martin left the
townhouse of his father’s fiancée located at the Retreat in Twin Lakes in
Sanford, Florida, to go to the local 7–11 for snacks February 26, 2012. The
store video and timestamp verify that Martin purchased food items at 6:24
pm. According to reports, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch
patrolman for the community, called Sanford police to report what he con-
sidered to be suspicious behavior by Martin. Zimmerman had lived in the
community for a few years but, according to the police report, he had not
seen this young man in the community before that day. The dispatcher asks
Zimmerman for his location. Zimmerman provides this information. Immedi-
ately following, the dispatcher tells Zimmerman to wait for police to arrive.
The report from the police dispatcher indicates that Zimmerman gets out of
his car (from where he initiated the call) and begins to follow Martin.
Martin receives a call on his cell phone from a girl or girlfriend. He tells
her that someone ‘crazy and creepy’ was watching him from a car and is
now following him. The girl/girlfriend tells him to run to the townhouse.600 T.R. Berry and D.O. Stovall
When Martin begins to run, Zimmerman pursues him, calling out ‘wait,
wait. I just want to talk to you’. Zimmerman informs the dispatcher that
‘he’s [Martin] running’. During the chase, both Martin and Zimmerman
respectively report to their conversational parties that Martin cannot be
found (Martin to girl/girlfriend: ‘I think I lost him’. Zimmerman to dis-
patcher: ‘I lost him’). The girl/girlfriend reports sounds of a conversation
but is unable to interpret what is being said. The call from the girl/girlfriend
goes dead between 7:16 and 7:16:59 pm. A 911 call placed at 7:16 pm
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reports a chase in the neighborhood. When the Sanford (FL) police arrive,
they find Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman sitting outside of the
townhouse of Martin’s father’s fiancée. Zimmerman reports that Martin
claimed to be visiting but possessed no documentation to confirm this infor-
mation. Martin asked to call his father on his cell phone but, after several
rings, the phone went to voicemail and Martin left a message asking his
father to call him. The police asked Martin to call his mother. Martin did so
and, reluctantly, handed his cell phone to the police officer. After the phone
conversation, the police instructed Martin to carry identification and a letter
verifying his authorized presence in the community when he visits. Sanford
police took George Zimmerman into custody for interfering with police
activity. At 7:30 pm Trayvon Martin was issued a permanent curfew for the
Sanford (FL) jurisdiction effective until he is 18-years-old.
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