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University of California Press

About the Book

A call for critical race reading as a step towards creating progressive and democratic politics.

Critical race theory (CRT) has been singled out for banning in 49 US states and been subject to a flurry of legislative acts surveilling its teaching in all levels of education. Malini Schueller argues that this is fueled by a fear of racial solidarity.

To combat this, this book argues for a practice of critical race reading and activism. Teaching in Florida, the epicenter and catalyst of these harsh rebukes of CRT, Schueller challenges students to awaken to questions of racial privilege and hierarchy not through comfortable racial identification but through racial reckoning. Complete with a syllabus that any reader can learn from, Teaching Solidarity models critical ways of reading for social justice.

About the Author

Malini Johar Schueller is Professor of English at the University of Florida and author of U.S. Orientalisms, Locating Race, and Campaigns of Knowledge. She is also the director of In His Own Home, a documentary on raced policing.

Table of Contents

Contents

Overview
Preface

1. The Classroom and Racial Panic, Past and Present
2. Anti-racists Ban "Critical Race Theory"
3. Teaching Critical Race Reading: Identification and Solidarity
4. Solidarities: Black Lives Matter and Jewish Voice for Peace
Conclusion: Authoritarian Mandates and the Resistant Classroom

Acknowledgments
Critical Race Reading: Syllabus for College Undergraduates and High School Seniors
Glossary
Notes
Selected Bibliography

Reviews

Teaching Solidarity cuts through the fog of the 'war on woke' and arms educators with the tools of critical race reading, not just to open minds but to fight for a just world. A required text for educators and anti-fascists alike.”—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

“Writing from the Floridian frontline of MAGA’s vengeful assault on higher education, Malini Johar Schueller delivers many telling insights into the latest and most vicious phase of the culture wars. She also reminds us there are many ways to fight back.”—Andrew Ross, author of The Weather Report: A Journey Through Unsettled Climates 

"Schueller offers a lucid explanation for the current moral panics involving critical race theory and racial justice initiatives in schools and universities. Most importantly, Schueller maps a pedagogical approach for navigating this fraught moment, focusing on solidarity as method and imperative."—Alex Lubin, President of the American Studies Association