Open AccessPlaying Past Racial Silence
Author(s) -
Michael Domínguez,
Alice Domínguez
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
study and scrutiny
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2376-5275
DOI - 10.15763/issn.2376-5275.2020.4.2.1-30
Subject(s) - taboo , identity (music) , silence , race (biology) , context (archaeology) , athletes , equating , racial formation theory , psychology , social psychology , sociology , gender studies , aesthetics , history , developmental psychology , art , anthropology , medicine , archaeology , rasch model , physical therapy
Too often, classroom conversations and literature choices frame race in homogenizing terms, equating racial identity solely with the experience of marginalization. This can have a chilling effect on students whose cultural context has made race an inaccessible topic, positioning conversations about racial identity beyond their zone of proximal development. Leveraging reflections from student-athletes and an analysis of three YA texts, the authors argue that sports-centered YA literature, by normalizing depictions of race, might be leveraged to serve as a critical entry point for robust classroom conversations about the complexity of racial identity, adding nuance and accessibility to a taboo subject.