Disrupting the educational racial contract of Islamophobia: racialized curricular expectations of Muslims in children’s literature

When racialized knowledge is built into curricular expectations in schools, children are susceptible to beliefs that lead them to a hierarchical understanding of social relationships with particular groups. This article seeks to illuminate orientalist ideologies underpinning award-winning children’s literature. Utilizing racialized curricular expectations as an analytical tool, the article deconstructs Muslim stereotypes and their racial, gender, and religious representations in the following ways: (1) educational racial contract, (2) racial othering as racial selfing, and (3) racist empathy. This article calls upon district personnel, principals, and teachers to deeply interrogate curricula that racialize students and teach them ways to be raced.