This book argues that critical race theory (CRT)which originated within Legal Studies during the 1970shas permeated multiple academic disciplines and informs the ethical commitments of scholars in diverse fields of study.Critical Race Studies Across Disciplines includes essays by scholars of African American studies from various disciplines, who directly and indirectly incorporate CRT through signaling a commitment to scholar-activism or scholactivism. Scholactivists hope to understand the roots of anti-Black racism and to actively oppose all forms of oppression. Drawing on CRT, the volume counters the colorblind rhetoric of those who dismiss the notion of systemic racism, discount racial inequities, and disregard racial justice advocates as malcontents fanning the flames of racial dissension. The contributors of this collection challenge racism centering the stories, perspectives, and counter-narratives of African American soldiers, teachers, students, writers, psychologists, and theologians who continually defy and resist oppression in myriad ways.

Jonathan Chism is assistant professor of history and a fellow of the Center for Critical Race Studies at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Stacie Craft DeFreitas is a licensed psychologist, an associate professor of psychology, the Interim Associate Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a fellow of the Center for Critical Race Studies at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Vida Robertson is associate professor of English and humanities and serves as the Director of the Center for Critical Race Studies at the University of Houston-Downtown.

David Ryden is professor of history, Interim Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a fellow of the Center for Critical Race Studies at the University of Houston-Downtown.

List of Figures

List of Tables

Foreword

DoVeanna Fulton

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Jonathan Chism

PART I: African American History

Introduction:Intersections between Critical Race Studies and History

David Ryden

Chapter 1: I wuz like a petty dog: White Animalization of Enslaved Blacks

Rachael Pasierowska

Chapter 2: Slave to Soldier: United States Colored Troops in the West During the Civil War

Scott L. Stabler and Martin Hershock

Chapter 3: Fighting on Two Fronts: Black Educational Self Determination and Community Preservation in Houston, Texas

Jesus Jesse Esparza

Part II: African Americans and Education

Introduction: Intersections Between Education and Critical Race Studies

Jonathan Chism

Chapter 4:Getcha Lesson: Gleaning Wisdom from African American K-12 Educators Who Endured the Desegregation of Public Schools

Darius M. Benton

Chapter 5:Good Pedagogy: Arguments for Critical Pedagogy in Higher Education

Felicia L. Harris and Nina Barbieri

Chapter 6: Surviving the Wild West: A Critical Race Feminist Analysis of African American Women Students Experiences with Gendered Racism at the University of Colorado-Boulder

LeAnna T. Luney

PART III: African American Literary and Cultural Studies

Introduction:Intersections Between African American Literature, Cultural Studies, and Critical Race Studies

Vida Robertson

Chapter 7: Rememory and Toni MorrisonsBeloved: A Counter-Narrative to Forgetting Americas Past

Ordner W. Taylor

Chapter 8: The Unscripted Script of Black YouTube (BYT): The Working Identities of African American Family Vloggers

Jenean McGee

Chapter 9: HIV/AIDS, Sexualized Anti-Blackness, and Bodily Geographies of Struggle

Khyree Davis

PART IV: African American Psychology and African American Religion

Introduction: Intersections Between African American Psychology, African American Religion, and Critical Race Studies

Stacie DeFreitas and Jonathan Chism

Chapter 10: The State of Black Mental Health: Understanding Disparities Through the Lens of Critical Race Psychology

Erlanger A. Turner andTinicia C. Turner

Chapter 11: The True Measure of American Greatness: Power, Relationality, and Community in the Thinking of Bernard Loomer, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Darrius Hills

Appendix: Suggested Readings

Index

About the Contributors