Unpacking and interrogating White supremacy educating for critical consciousness and praxis

This article draws on theoretical frameworks that work to unpack and challenge white supremacy and hegemonic whiteness. The first section discusses the importance of contextualising ones’ standpoint and positionality, demonstrating how both are interconnected to critical self-reflexivity, educating for critical consciousness, and praxis. Part two unpacks the “walls of whiteness,” reinforcing the ways in which university education placates and upholds racial domination by failing to present and challenge systemic and institutional racism and white supremacy. Section three engages with a multi-faceted theoretical framework that aims to interrogate institutional and hegemonic whiteness discussed in section two. Here, I draw on the work of Mills, Leonardo, and Ladson-Billings, who all offer provocative arguments regarding the sustainability and omnipresent nature of racial domination through the Racial Contract and the Education Debt. Finally, section four considers some of the ways in which we may work to “Rewrite the Contract” and honour the Education Debt.