The progressive development of multicultural education before and after the 1960s: A theoretical framework

“What’s Going On?”: A Critical Race Theory Perspective on Black Lives Matter and Activism in Education

“…While identifying the exact origin of MCE is irrelevant to a certain extent, understanding the origins of MCE within the context of its substance, form, and intent is important for the argument I want to make here. Payne and Welsh (2000) critique Banks's (1995) assertion that MCE originates from the scholarship of W. E. B. DuBois and Carter G. Woodson. They argue that at the turn of the century, White ethnic groups, namely, Catholics and German Americans, demanded that public-school curricula be more inclusive of their histories, perspectives, and languages (Payne & Welsh, 2000, p. 32).…”

“…Payne and Welsh (2000) critique Banks’s (1995) assertion that MCE originates from the scholarship of W. E. B. DuBois and Carter G. Woodson. They argue that at the turn of the century, White ethnic groups, namely, Catholics and German Americans, demanded that public-school curricula be more inclusive of their histories, perspectives, and languages (Payne & Welsh, 2000, p. 32). This point is important but does not negate the influence of DuBois and Woodson’s agitation for curricula that was “culturally relevant” for African Americans.…”

“…Banks, locates the genesis of MCE in the social unrest related to racial inequity, anti-war demonstrations, and a growing labor movement in the 1960s (Banks, 1995). Payne and Welsh (2000) suggest that we can trace the "concept of multicultural education" to "2,500 years of arduous struggles for dignity, duty, equality, freedom and fundamental human rights" (p. 30). While identifying the exact origin of MCE is irrelevant to a certain extent, understanding the origins of MCE within the context of its substance, form, and intent is important for the argument I want to make here.…”

“…education is an important part of the total picture of the struggle toward equality. (Charles R. Payne and Benjamin H. Welsh, 2000)…”

“…Catholics, as a result of the sometimes violent protests that they saw as the pro-Protestant/Anti-Catholic focus in public schools established a national network of Catholic schools that all but conceded Protestantism as the invisible, yet prevailing ideology in American public schools. German Americans withdrew their support for German language instruction in schools because of World War I, the atrocities of the Jewish Holocaust, and the palpable anti-German sentiment that intensified in several U.S. cities (Payne & Welsh, 2000, p. 293). For African Americans during this same period and indeed for most of our history in the United States, however, agitation for curricular inclusion was the least of our worries.…”