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White Christian Nationalism and Anti-Racist Praxis: Considerations for a Pedagogy of Courage and Joy

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Title: White Christian Nationalism and Anti-Racist Praxis: Considerations for a Pedagogy of Courage and Joy
Language: English
Authors: Edith Gnanadass, Lisa R. Merriweather
Source: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 2025 (186):59-66.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 8
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Adult Education
Descriptors: Whites, Nationalism, Feminism, Minority Groups, Females, Adult Education, Teaching Methods, Racism, Blacks, African Americans, Justice, Adult Educators, Christianity, Educational Philosophy, United States History, Communities of Practice, Positive Attitudes
DOI: 10.1002/ace.20570
ISSN: 1052-2891
1536-0717
Abstract: Using the lens of endarkened feminist epistemology, two women of color think through the question of how we use adult education to create brave spaces and develop practices for teaching, research, and service in an unsafe, fear-laden, and punitive context shaped by White Christian nationalism (WCN). Because of the cultural-historical context of the United States, we argue that the starting point for all anti-racist work must be understood through anti-black racism. To situate the context, we propose Pro-Blackness as anti-racist philosophy. We then offer a pedagogy of courage and joy, with suggested practices drawing on the concept of brave spaces and Tisby's A-R-C (awareness, relationships, and commitment) racial justice framework to help adult educators to learn together, build relationships, stay connected through community, take action for racial justice, and thrive in joy.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1474465
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0186050073;nda01jun.25;2025Jun23.03:18;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0186050073-1">White Christian Nationalism and Anti‐Racist Praxis: Considerations for a Pedagogy of Courage and Joy </title> <p>Using the lens of endarkened feminist epistemology, two women of color think through the question of how we use adult education to create brave spaces and develop practices for teaching, research, and service in an unsafe, fear‐laden, and punitive context shaped by White Christian nationalism (WCN). Because of the cultural‐historical context of the United States, we argue that the starting point for all anti‐racist work must be understood through anti‐black racism. To situate the context, we propose Pro‐Blackness as anti‐racist philosophy. We then offer a pedagogy of courage and joy, with suggested practices drawing on the concept of brave spaces and Tisby's A‐R‐C (awareness, relationships, and commitment) racial justice framework to help adult educators to learn together, build relationships, stay connected through community, take action for racial justice, and thrive in joy.</p> <p>Keywords: adult education and brave spaces; adult education and endarkened feminist epistemology; adult education and joy; adult education and pro‐Blackness; adult education and racial justice; adult education and Trump; White Christian nationalism and anti‐racist praxis</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-2">Introduction</hd> <p>This chapter is an attempt to struggle with, process, and act while holding on to joy during a time of havoc, chaos, uncertainty, destabilization, and weaponization of Whiteness, Christianity, and nationalism in the United States. The US government is dismantling democracy (Mascaro [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref1">38</reflink>]; Vayrynen [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref2">58</reflink>]) and the racial justice infrastructure (Archer [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref3">5</reflink>]), attacking basic human rights (Dakwar [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref4">15</reflink>]), including public education (Education International [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref5">22</reflink>]), and implementing an anti‐equity, anti‐education agenda (Education International [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref6">22</reflink>]; Gnanadass and Merriweather [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref7">27</reflink>]). As we grappled with the re‐election of President Donald Trump to a second term—someone who seemed to be the antithesis of US democracy—we were invited to be a part of this issue on White Christian nationalism (WCN) and adult education. Learning about WCN as "a cultural framework" (Whitehead and Perry [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref8">61</reflink>], 10), more specifically, an ethnocultural framework, has helped us, a Black woman and a Brown woman, make sense of the chaos and havoc created by this new administration. This chapter is an interweaving of our voices to express our commitment to action, a way for us to come together for our well‐being and that of our communities. In this chapter, drawing on endarkened feminist epistemology (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref9">17</reflink>]; Dillard and Okpalaoka [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref10">20</reflink>]), we first discuss our understanding of White Christian nationalism, arguing that it is an anti‐democratic ideology undergirded by racism. We then propose pro‐Blackness (Boutte and Compton‐Lilly [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref11">9</reflink>]; Jackson et al. [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref12">32</reflink>]; Robinson [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref13">49</reflink>]; Williams [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref14">64</reflink>]) as an anti‐racist philosophy, discuss the adult and higher education context in terms of WCN, and suggest a pedagogy of courage and joy to fight for racial justice.</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-3">White Christian Nationalism</hd> <p>Whitehead and Perry ([<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref15">61</reflink>]) define Christian nationalism as a cultural framework, "a collection of myths, traditions, symbols, narratives, and value systems—that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life" (<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref16">10</reflink>). White Christian nationalism fuses in Whiteness, thus conflating race, religion, and nationalism. Tisby ([<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref17">55</reflink>]) argues that WCN has been the bedrock of the US political ideology since its founding as a nation (see also Gorski and Perry [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref18">28</reflink>]) and continues today. For instance, White Christian nationalist ideology was displayed during the Capitol riots on January 6 (Gorski and Perry [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref19">28</reflink>]), with the symbols and imagery of Christianity melded with a particular form of US nationalism carried by predominantly White people. These symbols include, among others, the three percenters' flag, the Confederate flag, the Bible, and a noose (Simon and Sidner [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref20">52</reflink>]).</p> <p>WCN is not synonymous with Christianity, nor does it follow Christian principles (Whitehead and Perry [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref21">61</reflink>]). However, there are Christians who follow this political ideology and confuse WCN with Christianity and patriotism, as Perry said in a Christians Against Christian Nationalism webinar: "You have folks for whom 'Christian' is strictly a dog whistle. It is ethnic code for 'people like us'" (Brumley [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref22">10</reflink>], para 12). White Christian nationalism is "Christianity co‐opted in the service of ethnonational power and separation" (Whitehead and Perry [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref23">61</reflink>], 145) and is "political at its core" (Whitehead and Perry [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref24">61</reflink>], 148). WCN is an anti‐democratic political ideology that prioritizes White power and the desire for a White US. It is not to be confused with patriotism; it is nationalism that imagines this nation as a White Christian nation divinely blessed by God, hence the imagined mandate to preserve the nation for White, native‐born, Christians (Voss [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref25">60</reflink>]), the <emph>us</emph>.</p> <p>This political ideology is racist and is undergirded by racism (BJC [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref26">7</reflink>]; Gorski and Perry [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref27">28</reflink>]). In this ideology, the <emph>us</emph> is primarily White men, with White women located as subservient to the men, and everybody else is the <emph>other</emph>. It is important to point out that WCN is not just raced, it is also gendered and sexualized, as there is a categorization of who does and does not belong or fit in the patriarchal hierarchy. The people who ascribe to WCN desire to maintain the United States as a separate White nation only meant for <emph>them</emph>, which translates into "the belief that the power and prosperity [of the U.S.] are always in danger by the presence of non‐Christians or non‐Whites or <emph>whoever the other</emph> of the day happens to be" (BJC [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref28">8</reflink>], emphasis added).</p> <p>Moreover, this also leads to the WCN's belief that White people are oppressed, and White power is constantly under attack in the United States. This <emph>us vs. them</emph> and <emph>we against them</emph> (Burke et al. [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref29">12</reflink>]; Gorski and Perry [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref30">28</reflink>]; Whitehead and Perry [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref31">61</reflink>]) thinking is encapsulated in the WCN's "holy trinity" of freedom, order, and violence (Gorski and Perry [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref32">28</reflink>])—freedom for White people only, order for all others, and violence as justifiable to control the others when they are deemed non‐compliant or resistant. This played out in how the January 6 insurrectionists saw themselves as patriots fighting for their freedom. In contrast, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters were deemed by these and other groups as law breakers, thus needing to be punished with violence. This holy trinity translates to the conscription of religious freedom, voting rights, citizenship rights, and so forth, only for <emph>us</emph>, not <emph>them</emph> (Gorski and Perry [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref33">28</reflink>]), and the ensuing support for the curtailing of rights for all others.</p> <p>In the United States, although WCN has waxed and waned, it has adapted to the exigencies of the day (Voss [<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref34">59</reflink>]). The visibility of the racialized dimension of WCN peaked during the times of enslavement and segregation and now the visibility has resurfaced in response to the perceived threat to White power in the United States. People who hold WCN beliefs continue to use Christianity to justify their racist practices and actions in their quest for White power. It was this ideology that propelled the Buffalo shooter who killed mostly Black folks at a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in 2022 (BJC [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref35">8</reflink>]). This demonstrates the power of WCN as an ideological identity. Even though he was not a Christian, he still subscribed to the ideology of hate.</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-4">Theoretical Framework</hd> <p>We draw on endarkened feminist epistemology (EFT; Dillard [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref36">17</reflink>]; Dillard and Okpalaoka [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref37">20</reflink>]), a whole person, collectivistic (Merriweather and Gnanadass [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref38">40</reflink>]), and decolonizing framework that decenters Western Eurocentrism and individualism, as a lens to frame our thinking about WCN and thriving in this current socio‐political context. Endarkened feminist epistemology is intersectional and is based on Black feminist thought. It is rooted in Black women's experience and ways of knowing, making meaning from their standpoint. It foregrounds Black women's connectedness, relationship, and accountability to community and integrates spirituality and the sacred (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref39">17</reflink>]). It endarkens knowledge, research, and teaching by challenging the hegemony of mainstream research, validating other ways of knowing, and emphasizing "research as a responsibility" (Dillard and Okpalaoka [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref40">20</reflink>], 148) not only to the individual but the community as a whole. EFT legitimizes the everyday experiences of Black women as knowledge (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref41">17</reflink>]), such as our individual and collective experiences in this current cultural‐historical context in the US. EFT frames research, knowledge generation, and teaching as sacred work and calls on researchers and teachers to do responsible research and teaching (Dillard and Okpalaoka [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref42">20</reflink>]) by being accountable to and caring for the well‐being of not only the individual but the community as a whole.</p> <p>We use Dillard's ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref43">18</reflink>]) naming, remembrance, and cultural memory (Amos [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref44">3</reflink>]) to make meaning, generate knowledge, and talk back to those tearing down racial justice and basic human rights. This includes talking back to those in power who are trying to hijack adult and higher education by eliminating DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; Education International [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref45">22</reflink>]), suppressing free speech and lawful protests (ACLU [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref46">2</reflink>]), and withdrawing financial support of higher institutions that fail to tow the ideological line of hegemony (Lorin and Adler [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref47">37</reflink>]). Naming involves sharing the ordinary lives and experiences (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref48">17</reflink>]) as well as "the structural, political, and cultural circumstances" (Amos [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref49">3</reflink>], 35) of the collective <emph>other</emph> in the WCN framing to document and make sense of what is going on in the world and then using those experiences and circumstances as sources to generate knowledge. Remembrance and cultural memory are about (re)membering our collective ancestral and cultural knowledge of the WCN legacy and history of the United States, thus creating the space to "bear witness to our individual and collective spiritual consciousness and generate new questions that inform ... theory and practice" (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref50">19</reflink>], para 1). EFT</p> <p>expose[s] what we know the world [and WCN] to be as Black [and Brown] women, how we know racism and sexism, and identity politics influence and shape the contexts of our lives, in contrast with being told how they operate from perspectives outside ourselves (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref51">17</reflink>], 678).</p> <p>As a collective of diverse communities, EFT is a powerful vehicle to craft and share our own stories instead of others like the current administration doing it for us (Powell [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref52">44</reflink>]). It also offers tools to decolonize adult and higher education by valuing our whole selves—our lives, our humanity, our spirit, and our relationships to our community—and by considering work, like EFT's sacred work, to protect the well‐being of our community and nation.</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-5">Adult and Higher Education Context</hd> <p>The weaponization of WCN is not new, nor is its use to control education to further the separatist, White power agenda through racist attacks and fear‐mongering. This was clearly illustrated during the earliest days of Trump's second presidential term. For instance, Education International ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref53">22</reflink>]) reported Trump "put privatization, dismantling the Department of Education, attacking immigrant students and families, abolishing civil rights, and restricting academic freedom at the core of his education agenda" (para 1). Furthermore, this agenda is being aggressively implemented by the new administration by cutting government programs, limiting access to education for immigrants, people with disabilities, trans folks, and so on; dismantling DEI initiatives; stopping equity‐focused curriculum (Exec. Order No. 14190, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref54">23</reflink>]); and making schools unsafe spaces. For example, this administration has allowed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in schools and other safe havens such as churches and hospitals (Education International [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref55">22</reflink>]). This administration also released a video of a deportation flight (TRT World [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref56">57</reflink>]), making a spectacle of deporting immigrants, much like the spectacle for sport of having picnics under lynched Black people and sending postcards of the same. Acts such as releasing the video are reprehensible not only because they evoke fear, making schools, hospitals, and places of worship physically, psychologically, and mentally unsafe places for immigrant families, including little children, but also because they infringe on basic human rights by disrupting and destroying access to education, healthcare, and worship. This fear‐mongering targets students, families, teachers, and administrators in all educational contexts, including adult and higher education.</p> <p>In the higher and adult education context, this fear‐mongering takes the form of the government engendering an anti‐DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), anti‐education climate by attacking academic freedom and teacher autonomy (Education International [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref57">22</reflink>]); dismantling DEI through executive orders (Exec. Order No. 14151, 2025); decimating the Department of Education; raiding by ICE on college campuses (Education International [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref58">22</reflink>]); freezing and cutting of federal funding for research, including education, biomedical, and health equity research (Stein [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref59">54</reflink>]); laying off massive numbers of federal workers (Whitehurst [<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref60">62</reflink>]); ordering hiring freezes on federal agencies, including the Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (Koch [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref61">34</reflink>]); threatening to eliminate tenure for professors in higher education (Barnes [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref62">6</reflink>]); banning books (PEN America [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref63">43</reflink>].); and surveilling of faculty with coercive mandates to report on each other, to name a few. In the adult education context specifically, ESL students in community‐based programs fear deportation and are afraid to attend classes. Many of them who are parents are also scared to take their children to school. The administration's attacks on research have also affected adult education research. For example, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) had some of their federal grants pulled and the new wave of PIAAC (Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) data, which was scheduled to be released, has not been released. Moreover, the Institute of Education Sciences program officer for postsecondary and adult education was fired. All this is a continuation of the ongoing anti‐DEI and anti‐education efforts in the United States (Gnanadass and Merriweather [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref64">27</reflink>]) like the attacks on and banning of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K‐12 education (Ray and Gibbons [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref65">48</reflink>]). These tactics are designed to create apprehension (Tisby [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref66">55</reflink>]) and make colleagues blow the whistle on each other.</p> <p>The question is, how do we use adult education to create healthy spaces and conceptualize and develop practices for teaching, research, and service in an unsafe, punitive context? Where is the place for those who hold divisive ideologies in educational spaces that celebrate academic freedom? Who decides what is divisive and what is not? How do we create spaces that allow people, like White Christian nationalists, to be themselves without oppressing others (Freire [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref67">26</reflink>])? Finally, how can anti‐racism, using the lens of pro‐Blackness, help us think through this?</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-6">Pro‐Blackness as Anti‐Racism Philosophy</hd> <p>Pro‐Blackness is an affront to WCN, which revels in anti‐Blackness (Dumas and ross [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref68">21</reflink>]; Robinson [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref69">49</reflink>]) and anti‐Black racism (Robinson [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref70">49</reflink>]), both of which speak to the dehumanization of Black people. Robinson ([<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref71">49</reflink>]) differentiates anti‐Blackness and anti‐Black racism, stating, "anti‐Black racism refers to the unique ways in which Black people experience systemic racism and includes behaviours, attitudes and practices of people and institutions that oppress Black people, maintain Whiteness and uphold White supremacy" (<reflink idref="bib452" id="ref72">452</reflink>). Anti‐Blackness, in contrast, is the unadulterated disdain and dehumanization of Black people. Combined, these terms describe how Black people are read in the frame of White supremacist ideology, which in turn justifies their sustained treatment within society through erasure, exclusion, inferiority, and discrimination. The dehumanization of Black bodies has a long global arc, including North America, Europe, and Africa. Within the US context, it was evident during slavery when Black people were deemed as property, during Jim Crow when Black people were imbued with characteristics of anti‐intellectualism and inability to feel basic human emotions, and during the Civil Rights Movement when Black people were viewed as trouble‐making rioters. Throughout time WCN beliefs advanced the falsehoods that Black people could neither think nor feel as humans. The enduring legacy of anti‐Black sentimentality within WCN continues in our contemporary times with the treatment of Black women, Black boys, Black men, and Black girls by a healthcare system that minimizes and discounts their pain and suffering and a criminal justice system that murders them under a covering of state‐sanctioned violence that excuses police officer misconduct and warehouses them in prisons.</p> <p>Pro‐Blackness philosophy speaks to the essential quality of all people: humanness. It is not anti‐White (Boutte and Compton‐Lilly [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref73">9</reflink>]; Jackson et al. [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref74">32</reflink>]; Williams [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref75">64</reflink>]), nor is it a reaction to the dehumanization by White supremacy (Robinson [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref76">49</reflink>]). Positioning it as such cedes too much power and authority to Whiteness, suggesting that without Whiteness, Black people would be devoid of meaning and substance (Fanon [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref77">25</reflink>]). Pro‐Blackness also promotes Black joy (Williams [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref78">64</reflink>]) and is a political, cultural, and historic throughline that connects Black people across geographies and time. Pro‐Blackness, as an explicit statement of the worth and dignity of Black people throughout the Diaspora, normalizes the Black excellence embedded in the history and culture of Black people.</p> <p>Boutte and Compton‐Lilly ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref79">9</reflink>]) state that pro‐Blackness is an "unapologetic, positive perspective regarding Blackness and Black people" (<reflink idref="bib323" id="ref80">323</reflink>). This valuing and love of the communal drives action for the communal (Jackson et al. [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref81">32</reflink>]). One example is how the Black church assumed a pro‐Blackness philosophy (Isaac [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref82">30</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref83">31</reflink>]; Lincoln and Mamiya [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref84">36</reflink>]). The Black Church was a haven for preservation and living out of pro‐Blackness, affording Black men and women dignity and respect. Black men were Mister and brother, not boy. Black women were sister and Missus, not gal. No one was diminished to the dirty word of nigger. They held titles such as matron and pastor, understanding that the title came with responsibility to uplift, educate, and support others.</p> <p>Another example of pro‐Blackness was evidenced in the actions of scholars and leaders from the Black community. Ida B. Wells‐Barnett as an anti‐lynching activist and newspaper editor, Marcus Garvey developing communities through the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and Carter G. Woodson's critique of anti‐Blackness within a White supremacist society were demonstrations of the practice of love in action. Collectively they, among others, laid the foundation for the 1960s slogan "Black is beautiful" (Merriweather [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref85">39</reflink>]), which was a rally cry to lean into the greatness of the past, present, and future of African diasporic people. Robinson's ([<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref86">49</reflink>]) Black Affirming Pedagogy is a contemporary articulation of pro‐Blackness and is described as "a counter‐hegemonic, anticolonial and pro‐Black stance. Black Affirming Pedagogy specifically focuses on affirming the rights, humanity and embodied experiences of Black people" (<reflink idref="bib457" id="ref87">457</reflink>). These examples illustrate how anti‐Blackness names Whiteness. It also describes how White supremacy names and sees Blackness, whereas Pro‐Blackness names and describes how Black people are to see themselves. This understanding prompts a pedagogy of courage and joy.</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-7">Pedagogy of Courage and Joy: What Do We Do Now</hd> <p>So, what do we do in adult and higher education in these prevailing conditions? How does pro‐Blackness translate into our research, teaching, and service? These are questions with which many of us grapple. Courage and joy seem to be the clarion calls. This is a time for courage—courage to speak, courage to act, and courage to connect with others, especially those who are being oppressed and persecuted. This is also a time to find, hold on to, and live in joy, the joy that "ideologically, ... is drawn from the theory of anti‐Black racism in the promotion and affirmation of Black humanity (Dumas and ross [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref88">21</reflink>]), wholeness (Okello and Savage [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref89">41</reflink>]), wellness (Okello and Savage [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref90">41</reflink>]), and joy (Howell et al. 2024, April; Okello 2024)" (Gnanadass and Merriweather [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref91">27</reflink>], 5). Hence, we propose a pedagogy of courage and joy to make progress and combat the Backlash/Whitelash (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref92">14</reflink>]).</p> <p>Pedagogy of courage and joy is an anti‐racist pedagogy that is grounded in pro‐Blackness and draws on the concept of brave spaces (Arao and Clemens [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref93">4</reflink>]) and Tisby's ([<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref94">55</reflink>]) A‐R‐C (awareness, relationships, and commitment) of racial justice framework. This pedagogy enables us to learn together, build relationships, stay connected through community, and take action for racial justice.</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-8">Brave Space</hd> <p>Arao and Clemens ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref95">4</reflink>]) introduced the "brave space" concept to underscore how learning spaces focused on social justice should operate. Previously, classroom practice suggested that educators had a responsibility to keep learners safe, with safety often equated with comfort, status quo, lack of challenge, and minimization of risk. Social justice learning, however, commonly led to marginalized people being reminded of their marginalization and the privileged being reminded of their privilege, which induced negative feelings about the material and psychological realities inherent in stratified societies (Williams and Quaid [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref96">63</reflink>]). Invitation into safe space was disingenuous, given that conversations about race, racism, anti‐Blackness, White supremacy, inequity, and injustice are often challenging and emotionally laden. To clarify learner expectations, Arao and Clemens ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref97">4</reflink>]) adopted the term brave space to highlight the discomfort of growth, the need for stretching, and possibility of change. Courage was needed for brave conversations, interactions, and emotions. Safety was conceptually abandoned in favor of support through and in discomfort and risk (Williams and Quaid [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref98">63</reflink>]), both of which create conditions for critical evaluation of perspectives and beliefs.</p> <p>White Christian nationalist ideology can hide in safe spaces, particularly in the aftermath of anti‐DEI legislation and Donald Trump's re‐election in 2025, because WCN ideology over determines the rules, policies, and systems in classrooms and educational institutions. For instance, turn taking in conversation and keeping one's voice volume low are considered ways to ensure safety. Talking over an individual and in a so‐called loud voice are considered inappropriate. White students who function within those rules are rewarded as good students. Black students who do not adhere to those rules are viewed as disruptive. Faculty who teach from mainstream texts that support the status quo become the standard bearers of good teaching, while those who seek to critique and reshape the status quo are demonized and threatened by the system that literally determines their fate. The current political climate provides little room for diversity of thought or practice.</p> <p>Brave spaces, in contrast, threaten the taken‐for‐granted, disrupting monocultural and White supremacist frameworks that seek to suppress difference and maintain power structures and systems that favor Whiteness and its bedfellow, capitalism. In such an age, not only are learners called into bravery, but adult educators are also. WCN buttresses policies, legislation, and beliefs that are weaponized against racially minoritized populations and those who critique hegemonic systems. In a time when one's scholarship and teaching are called to conformity amidst uncertainty, brave spaces of speaking truth to power require even more courage and resistance to creating spaces that inadvertently or intentionally suppress others ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref99">26</reflink>]).</p> <p>Across the US, academic freedom is quickly eroding as the nation's leadership engages in erasure and censorship (S. Rep. No. 4BD2D522‐2092‐4246‐91A5‐58EEF99750BC [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref100">50</reflink>]). As a result of this Senate report on National Science Foundation grants, words, ideologies, and actions are surveilled and then mischaracterized by an administration adverse to growing, discomfort, and change. Mandates to eliminate "divisive concepts" (ACE & PEN America [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref101">1</reflink>]) and defunding projects and organizations devoted to equity and inclusion have shifted from the discourse of safe space, when protections were in place and DEI was the zeitgeist, to brave space. Those who continue to teach and research do so under the threat of White Christian nationalism‐supported epistemic violence. According to Brunner ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref102">11</reflink>]), epistemic violence is a product "in the academic creation of geographical imaginaries...turn[ing] [imaginaries] into naturalised truth claims" (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref103">5</reflink>). When researchers cannot even share the demographics of the communities they work with, it becomes easier to obscure harsh and inequitable realities, silencing those narratives and charting the pathway for WCN ideas to become normalized and accepted as truth.</p> <p>Pro‐Blackness philosophy is a counter to WCN's epistemic violence and is one avenue toward creating brave spaces in academia. Paige et al. ([<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref104">42</reflink>]) provide lessons for shaping brave spaces consistent with a pro‐Blackness philosophy. They include "creating community where you are" (<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref105">20</reflink>) and being brave by leaning into your authentic self. Paige et al. state, "We have a social responsibility to wrestle with the truths we contribute to. Look into the parts of yourself in which you fear. Do it afraid" (<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref106">21</reflink>). The third lesson is "strength in vulnerability" (<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref107">21</reflink>) and, finally, a call to action through writing. Below we share some brave practices that we can engage in the mounting concern about WCN.</p> <hd id="AN0186050073-9">Brave Practices</hd> <p>Tisby's ([<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref108">56</reflink>]) A‐R‐C (awareness, relationships, and commitment) of racial justice framework is a practical guide to brave practices we can participate in to operationalize a pedagogy of courage and joy. Tisby explains that we need to build our <emph>awareness</emph> by learning about race, racism, and the racial history of this country. Then, he suggests that we can personally change or transform by building <emph>relationships</emph>—"knowing other people, developing friendships and collegiality" (Tisby [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref109">56</reflink>], 5)—within and outside our communities. However, Tisby argues that even though "relationships are important they are not sufficient" (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref110">13</reflink>]) because they remain on an individual level. So, we cannot stop there. To effect structural change, we need to commit to "systemic and institutional action" (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref111">13</reflink>]). Based on this framework, we start with some practical suggestions for building awareness through learning, then focus on the community and the communal, and end with a call for action.</p> <p> <emph>Building Awareness</emph>. Building awareness is learning by crafting and sharing our narratives (Tisby [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref112">55</reflink>]) and knowing our history (PRA [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref113">45</reflink>]).</p> <p> <emph>Sharing our Narratives</emph>. As adult educators, we need to be intentional about creating brave spaces and a community for our learners. Our learners are diverse and not homogeneous, many have been targeted and victimized by the directives and actions of the current administration and othered by the White Christian nationalist ideology. Others subscribe to and are influenced by WCN. Brave spaces are also needed for adult education spaces regardless of type—adult basic education (ABE), Sunday schools, museums, higher education—and must be cultivated with these diverse contexts and people in mind. Doing so sets the stage for courageous conversations that can connect learners across differences. Brave spaces are opportunities to learn together, better understand each other, and bear witness for each other by speaking the truth, being heard, as well as supported.</p> <p>One of the ways that we can do this is through personal narratives. Our personal stories have power. Learners at all levels can craft their stories—through words, photos, videos, drawings, and so on—and share them. For example, Prins ([<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref114">46</reflink>]) suggests using digital storytelling, a collaborative practice in adult education classrooms. This practice of sharing narratives not only builds awareness (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref115">13</reflink>]) and knowledge but also has the potential to recalibrate power differentials in the classroom as learners become knowledge generators. Moreover, crafting stories is a powerful way to document the atrocities committed against the vulnerable, making it a part of US history written by the subaltern.</p> <p>Creating and sharing personal narratives with those who are not like us (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref116">13</reflink>]) can be a brave practice and courageous act, especially in these uncertain times, to foster understanding and perhaps effect personal change (Prins [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref117">47</reflink>]). Powell ([<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref118">44</reflink>]) calls this bridging, an opening to see each other's humanity without dominating each other and to live in harmony with each other. It is also a possibility to create a new story together instead of just narrating separate stories. Tisby ([<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref119">56</reflink>]) also argues that people who adhere to White Christian nationalist ideology might not believe the liberal media and professors, but the personal narrative of a Black or Brown peer could be convincing to them or plant a seed that later leads people to question WCN (Prins [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref120">47</reflink>]). This is not to sound naïve and does not suggest that there is no conflict or tension between people who hold different perspectives or ideologies, but it is a way to affirm that we all belong, a strong human motivation, in teaching and learning spaces (Powell [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref121">44</reflink>]). Helping people to be open to perspectives different from their own (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref122">13</reflink>]) is a first step in building racial consciousness. Taking that step demands courage.</p> <p> <bold>Learning Our History</bold>. Another way to build awareness is learning our history, a powerful tool in the arsenal for raising racial consciousness (PRA [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref123">45</reflink>]). A primary target of the WCN agenda is whitewashing US history using weapons of revision and erasure, like revising the Social Studies Standards in Texas in 2010 (Schwartz [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref124">51</reflink>]), implementing the "Stop WOKE Act" in Florida (Lawyers Defending American Democracy [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref125">35</reflink>]), and passing the Divisive Concept legislation in different states (ACE & PEN America [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref126">1</reflink>]). Such actions are "undermining public education, and harming children [and adults] by denying them an honest analysis of America's past and open conversations about the present" (Lawyers Defending American Democracy [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref127">35</reflink>], para 2). This pursuit to end equity‐focused and justice‐oriented education also attacks human dignity and interconnectedness (Lawyers Defending American Democracy [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref128">35</reflink>]).</p> <p>Learning our history can be implemented as part of the curriculum at all levels and in different subject areas. It could be a theme in an ABE class or be integrated into the readings for a higher education class. Learning together about WCN and its marriage with anti‐Black racism can perhaps open dialogue, foster connections and relationships between people with different worldviews and ideologies and raise our collective consciousness. Engaging in dialogue with each other can also help us to intentionally develop a common vocabulary (PRA [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref129">45</reflink>]) around WCN and anti‐racist praxis to better communicate and come together to take action. This approach may be more effective with those grappling with how current events are unfolding. Learners influenced by WCN also must be part of the conversation. Pro‐Blackness does not suppress divergent ideas but rather encourages sharing regardless of ideological positioning.</p> <p> <bold>Building Relationships and Staying Connected Through Community</bold>. White Christian nationalism is not a novel phenomenon for Black and Brown people in America. The church as constructed by WCN, Whiteness, and country have, for many generations, been oppressive. With respect to Black people, White overseers ruled with a Bible in one hand and whip in another. The Bible was weaponized to subjugate Africans and their descendants who suffered under the yoke of slavery in the Americas (Kendi [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref130">33</reflink>]). Native American children were ripped from their homes to attend schools that wielded the Bible as a tool for culture (Smith [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref131">53</reflink>]). Black communities have since the beginning asserted their agency in preserving themselves in the face of the evil intent of WCN by doing what they have always done: Stand in community together and without apology "be," refusing to willingly sacrifice any part of their being (Davis [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref132">16</reflink>]; Tisby [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref133">55</reflink>]). For example, despite White slavers deliberately separating and dividing Africans stolen from their Motherland, African slaves created new community through spoken language (i.e., Gullah), dance, and common experiences. Community was created through the Black Church, family, music, storytelling, and cultural traditions. Community was an actionable idea that helped Black people survive and thrive.</p> <p>Prioritizing the communal is evident in African proverbs such as: "It takes a village to raise a child," "I am because we are," and "hands wash each other." These proverbs manifested in material ways. The Black community leaned on each other for support, guidance, and remembrance (Dillard [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref134">18</reflink>]). There was an unwillingness to sever life‐affirming bonds even in the face of the forced family separation through being sold as chattel slavery, threats by the cross‐carrying Ku Klux Klan, lifeless bodies attached to ropes dangling from trees, and prohibitions to walking through a front door, a school door, and a workplace. Despite it all, Black people relied on each other, spoke up for each other, and took care of each other.</p> <p>In an episode of the history‐making sitcom "Good Times," JJ Evans, the eldest son of Black parents living in the Chicago projects, and his friends harmonized to this phrase, "United we stand, divided we fall, we're tighter than pantyhose two sizes small," conveying the necessity of connectedness and belonging. Without community, Black Americans have diminished power and influence. Unity in the face of WCN is as important today for contemporary Black Americans as it was for their foreparents. Strengthening bonds and uplifting communities remains a core strategy for combatting WCN. Black Lives Matter, #sayhername, and green courage (economic boycott of companies that disavowed their commitment to DEI initiatives) are recent manifestations of community unity. In the arts, in politics, in the church, the message was the same: Unity matters because race matters in a raced society. Contemporary movies, such as <emph>The Black Panther</emph>, also underscored that message. The community is the place of pride, love, and joy. The proverbial village is the place where Black people are somebody, they are seen, and they are valued. The community was and is the foundation for and promulgation of pro‐Blackness. Although pro‐Blackness is not a reaction to WCN, it is a buffer from it. As Black and Brown adult educators and adult learners, we too can benefit from the power of community. Thriving in this present age of WCN demands solidarity that could come in the form of affinity groups or mentorships. It requires intentionality to reach in and elevate, to build up and not tear down. The ability to depend on academic sistahs and bros helps alleviate isolation and experiencing difference as deficit.</p> <p> <bold>Acting for Racial Justice</bold>. Tisby declared, "We are in the civil rights movement of our day" (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref135">14</reflink>]), and this is the time for us to step up and make a commitment to act (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref136">13</reflink>]; Tisby [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref137">56</reflink>]). He offers several suggestions for action at the systemic and institutional levels, like "reparations, take down confederate monuments, learn from the Black Church, publicly denounce racism, participate in the modern day civil rights movement, make Juneteenth a holiday [which has since come to fruition]" (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref138">13</reflink>]). Tisby also encourages us to act at the local level, for example, by paying attention to the election of our local prosecutors (Spark Church [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref139">13</reflink>]), which has major implications for mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex. Other local efforts include demonstrations, protesting, calling legislators, boycotting certain corporations, participating in economic blackouts, and so on. In adult education spaces, we support targeted groups when we stand in the gap on their behalf—by protesting on their behalf when they cannot because of their citizenship status or providing information on what to do during ICE raids. Other opportunities for action are when an educator is being unfairly evaluated or a student is denied admission because they are "not a good fit." Educators can model courage during discussions, offer material and activities that deconstruct and critique oppressive ideologies, and make space for all learners to thrive.</p> <p> hooks ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref140">29</reflink>]) provided a blueprint for adult education in this pedagogical project of courage and joy. hooks called for a practice of love because in</p> <p>the moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom (<reflink idref="bib250" id="ref141">250</reflink>).</p> <p>Like hooks, we call for compassion and love in adult education practice and theory. Being compassionate even to those who hold beliefs different from us is the practice of love, creating the conditions needed for bravery, risk‐taking, connection, and understanding. 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  Data: White Christian Nationalism and Anti-Racist Praxis: Considerations for a Pedagogy of Courage and Joy
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Edith+Gnanadass%22">Edith Gnanadass</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lisa+R%2E+Merriweather%22">Lisa R. Merriweather</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22New+Directions+for+Adult+and+Continuing+Education%22"><i>New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education</i></searchLink>. 2025 (186):59-66.
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  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
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  Data: 2025
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Adult+Education%22">Adult Education</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Whites%22">Whites</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nationalism%22">Nationalism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Feminism%22">Feminism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Minority+Groups%22">Minority Groups</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Females%22">Females</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+Education%22">Adult Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Racism%22">Racism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Blacks%22">Blacks</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans%22">African Americans</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Justice%22">Justice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+Educators%22">Adult Educators</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Christianity%22">Christianity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Philosophy%22">Educational Philosophy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States+History%22">United States History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Communities+of+Practice%22">Communities of Practice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Positive+Attitudes%22">Positive Attitudes</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1002/ace.20570
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  Data: 1052-2891<br />1536-0717
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  Data: Using the lens of endarkened feminist epistemology, two women of color think through the question of how we use adult education to create brave spaces and develop practices for teaching, research, and service in an unsafe, fear-laden, and punitive context shaped by White Christian nationalism (WCN). Because of the cultural-historical context of the United States, we argue that the starting point for all anti-racist work must be understood through anti-black racism. To situate the context, we propose Pro-Blackness as anti-racist philosophy. We then offer a pedagogy of courage and joy, with suggested practices drawing on the concept of brave spaces and Tisby's A-R-C (awareness, relationships, and commitment) racial justice framework to help adult educators to learn together, build relationships, stay connected through community, take action for racial justice, and thrive in joy.
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  Data: 2025
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  Data: EJ1474465
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      – SubjectFull: Whites
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