The Clearing: On Black Education Studies and the Problem of “Antiblackness”

In this essay, authors kihana miraya ross and Jarvis R. Givens make their case for a distinct field of education research—Black education studies, which builds on Black studies and education studies. They explore a key analytic in Black education studies, antiblackness, examining its early and more recent uses as an analytic in education research to forward a more holistic understanding of the concept. In doing so, they highlight the relationship between education as a social institution and the sustained manifestation of antiblackness. The authors conclude by considering how and why scholars might employ Black education studies to center Black life and living.