Chapter 7: Where is Race?: A Critical Whiteness Studies Analysis of NCSS Position Statements

This chapter examines the ways in which NCSS has addressed race and racism within its position statements since 2004. The author provides a brief history of NCSS’s stance towards race and racism through its task forces and publications. Critical whiteness studies (CWS) and white social studies (WSS) tenets were used to analyze NCSS position statements from 2004–2018. The author found that NCSS has maintained a colorblind discourse exhibited within the position statements, particularly through an unwillingness to name racism and minimizing the racist legacy of the United States, although one recent position statement contradicted this pattern. The author concludes with recommendations for NCSS moving forward.