An Unspeakable Act: Disciplinary Literacy, Racial Literacy, and the Tulsa Race Massacre

Authors

  • Jeremiah C. Clabough University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • Caroline C. Sheffield University of Louisville

Keywords:

Tulsa Race Massacre, racial literacy, disciplinary literacy skills, social studies trade books, C3 Framework

Abstract

A current topic in U.S. public schools is teaching issues of racial discrimination in American history. There are those motivated by political gain for elected office that are trying to shut down conversations about slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws in K-12 schools while others point out the central role that race has played in U.S. history and stress our schools must explore such topics. In this article, we focus on a one-week project with the Tulsa Race Massacre implemented in a sixth grade U.S. history class at a free public charter school in a mid-size Southern city. The conceptual framework of our project was an emphasis on disciplinary literacy skills and the inquiry-based teaching practices argued for in the C3 Framework by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). We coded students’ essays summarizing the Tulsa Race Massacre. Seven themes emerged from coding students’ essays, which we discuss with excerpts from their work. Finally, we offer a discussion section to reflect on the findings from students’ essays and suggest future areas of scholarship with the Tulsa Race Massacre.

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Published

2023-01-17