Learning how to “Tease da Otha’ Race:” Ethnic-Racial Socialization through Multicultural Literature

Abstract

While multicultural education is lauded in the U.S. as a culturally-relevant teaching and learning approach that upholds diversity and inclusion, its emphasis of group differences often leads to essentialism, which may result in racial and gendered stereotypes that label non-white, non-binary, nonU.S. American/European students as deviations from dominant groups. This discordance is clear in acritical and ahistorical narratives that paint Hawai‘i and its education system as a model multicultural society despite an abundance of evidence pointing to the existence of institutionalized racism and sexism. Using a critical race theoretical lens and a critical race content analytical framework to examine three Hawai‘i-focused texts, this article exposes racial microaggressions about Communities of Color layered within multicultural discourse. Furthermore, the analysis theorizes potential long-term consequences of consistent exposure to racial microaggressions for Students of Color through an acritical, multicultural educational approach. This includes an internalization of racist ideologies and discourses that contribute to intragroup and intergroup conflict and a low self-regard.