Chapter 9: The Evidence of Things Not Seen?: Race, Pedagogies of Discipline, and White Women Teachers

We use storytelling in an attempt to maintain a sense of fidelity to critical race theory (CRT) in not just substance, but also in form. Derrick Bell (1995) notes, “Critical race theory writing and lecturing is characterized by frequent use of the first person, storytelling, narrative, allegory … and the unapologetic use of creativity” (p. 899). This chronicle provides readers with a context for understanding the ways in which racialized suffering exists within a stratified society, and more precisely how inequity is manifested on a micro level through student discipline (Dumas, 2014; Ladson-Billings, 2006). Being cast away, or separated from the group as a discipline measure is common in charter schools where strict student behavioral norms are established as a precursor to learning. This chronicles pushes us to think about the consequences of educational malfeasance that is deemed as normal, natural, and standard. This scenario is necessarily histrionic with the resulting death of Wayne from Elizabeth’s disciplinary malpractice. Our use of hyperbole and symbolism is meant to illuminate how the futures of youth are too often easily imprisoned and “celled” by those fixated on power, and more precisely the enactment of “power over” (Duncan, 2000; Winn, 2010). This is a reality far too many African American youth face daily.