Mara Lee Grayson
Volume 4
Chapter Description
Curricula that engage students in reading and writing about race and racism are increasingly common in composition classrooms, but writing about race, even when guided by an instructor well-versed in critical race theory and critical pedagogy, isn’t easy. Racial literacy requires that students develop a discursive toolbox with which to examine and respond to the functions of race and racism in society and in their daily lives. This chapter explores why reading, writing, and talking about race and racism matter in first year composition courses, previews some successes and struggles students may face, and offers strategies students can use to work through rhetorical and affective challenges of writing about race and racism. These strategies will help students critically examine and engage with the academic and social worlds they inhabit, communicate productively about often-sensitive subjects, and use their writing to challenge racism and other forms of marginalization and oppression.
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Writing Spaces is published in partnership with Parlor Press and WAC Clearinghouse.