Bush, E. C., & Mahnzili, A. (2020). Get Out: Beyond the Notion of “Acting White”–Schooling as Spirit Possession: Dismantling Interpretations of African American Student Success. In Fostering Collaborations Between African American Communities and Educational Institutions (pp. 34-55). IGI Global.

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors propose that education, which historically has been mainly under the jurisdiction of religious institutions and has been administered by spiritual leaders and attendants, is a sacred and spiritual transaction. Thus, churches and schools are equivalent and have the same spiritual obligation, which is to create in an individual a new spirit. Given the spiritual nature of education, we see the colonial schooling system as a conduit for spirit infusion that provides the opportunity for not only “acting White” but also for the possibility of becoming White by spirit possession. This line of thought leads to the main objective, which is to dismantle current notions of African American student success that is often positioned as going to or graduating from college rather than getting out of the schooling process altogether.