Smog in the Air: Passive Positions, Deracialization, and Erasure in Arts Education

Abstract

Historically, white supremacy has supported capitalist Europeans’ exclusive ownership of both tangible and intangible property, such as Black and Brown bodies, land, economic resources, social and cultural practices, behaviors, and even knowledge and intellect. In many ways, arts education has also been claimed in this declaration of property ownership. “Smog in the air” refers to the contemporary implicit messages and actions that reaffirm that arts education is the property of Whites. Employing Critical Race Theory, I use narrative to illustrate what smog looks like and how it functions in seemingly mundane situations with regard to arts education and arts learning experiences. The narratives are analyzed and conclusions are made regarding the destabilization of arts education as white property.