A Call for a Critical–Historical Framework in Addressing the Mathematical Experiences of Black Teachers and Students

Abstract

The purpose of this commentary is to acknowledge, illuminate, and counter the noticeable silences in the investigations of mathematics education researchers who conduct equity research with Black communities and other marginalized groups. For far too long, these communities have experienced a lengthy and complicated history of structural barriers; epistemological, symbolic, and intellectual violence; dehumanization; and antiblackness in mathematics education research. We advance the Critical–Historical (CritHistory) framework, which is rooted in critical race theory (CRT) and further explicates CRT’s tenet of challenging ahistoricism. We discuss methodologies and implications, including example questions that could be posed, types and locations of archives that could be examined, and populations with whom oral histories could be conducted.