Knowing Obama: How High School Students of Color Learn About the 44th President
Abstract:Drawing from a theory of racial literacy and literature on the post racial phenomenon after the 2008 election, this case study examines how high school students of color have learned about Barack Obama as a racial and political figure. Findings suggest that schools can be unfriendly spaces for learning about these topics, with history and social studies courses failing to address Barack Obama or the election in a meaningful way. However, students pick up rich, though scattered, information through out of school sources such as family, community, and media. These findings suggest a need for greater consideration of Obama related content in formal curriculum. The findings also imply that teachers must provide opportunities for students to contextualize, extend, and make sense of their out of school learning about race and Obama in the academic safety of the school environment.