Curriculum in the Crosshairs: Power and Critical Race Theory in an American History Textbook

The purpose of this study was to examine the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework as they apply to the textbook American History (HMH, 2018). The study utilized five tenets of CRT as codes to categorize and analyze the textbook depictions of race and systems of power in America. Data were divided into the following five categories: racism as systemic and normal; interest convergence as the catalyst for civil rights progress; race as a social construct; storytelling and counter-storytelling; and whiteness as power, property, and recipients of civil rights advancements. The research questions were designed to explore how the textbook describes people, events, and ideas connected to race; how the textbook embraces or avoids concepts of Critical Race Theory; and how narratives of systems of power are challenged or maintained within the textbook. Results from the study indicate that evidence of CRT tenets exists within the pages of the textbook American History (HMH, 2018), but that intentional explanations are needed to create a connective historical timeline that ties past racialized systems of oppression with modern day hierarchies of advantage and power. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed