We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

by Bettina L. Love

Settler colonialism is a structure, not an event. This means that settler colonialism is not something that happened in history. It is an ongoing and ever-changing structure that defines everything in settler states. . . . In this moment, the project of settler colonialism is defined by resource extraction and development on Indigenous lands in the name of progress. Resource extraction—like coal mining, oil drilling, pipelines, fracking, uranium and copper mining, etc.—have disproportionately negative health, cultural, and economic consequences for Indigenous people and lands. Settler colonialism is always about moving land into the hands of a few and always through violent means.

Yosso stresses that there are six types of cultural capital that educators should understand and use to empower students beyond White narratives of what cultural capital is and is not. 1. Aspirational—that dark folx continue to have “hopes and dreams” despite persistent, structural barriers in education, employment, housing, and healthcare 2. Linguistic—the beautiful and rich storytelling and communication skills of linguistically diverse students 3. Familial—how family members’ wisdom, stories, and traditions can be a positive resource 4. Social capital—using your network for accessing college and other social institutions 5. Navigational—how dark people have to maneuver hostile spaces to be successful despite being unsupported 6. Resistance—recognizes that dark folx are committed in the fight for justice and abolitionist work21

White folx truly concerned about understanding racism, about being in solidarity with dark folx, about building community, and who are interested in intersectional justice have to start with learning about Whiteness and how it functions.

White folx cannot be coconspirators until they deal with the emotionality of being White.

All the decisions we make must be guided by our moral compass of intersectional social justice. Where we choose to live, teach, send our kids to school, work, go to the movies, dine, and attend college, as well as the TV shows we watch, the clothes we buy, and even where we buy goods can all be traced back to race, racism, Whiteness, classism, sexuality, gender, and whose land we are living on.

The MIT economist Peter Temin concludes that to escape poverty you need almost twenty years with nothing going wrong in your life.

Whiteness is addicted to centering itself, addicted to attention, and making everyone feel guilty for working toward its elimination.

Being an abolitionist means you are ready to lose something, you are ready to let go of your privilege, you are ready to be in solidarity with dark people by recognizing your Whiteness in dark spaces, recognizing how it can take up space if unchecked, using your Whiteness in White spaces to advocate for and with dark people. And you understand that your White privilege allows you to take risks that dark people cannot take in the fight for educational justice. Wendy Kohli says it best: “The times require us to have the courage to be dangerous, at the same time recognizing that there are differential dangers. Not all teachers are at equal risk; much depends on how you are positioned, on your identity(ies), on your particular situation.”