Good Citizenship and the “True and Inspiring Story of America”: A Critical Policy Analysis of the South Dakota Civics and History Initiative

ABSTRACTIn the aftermath of the Capitol Insurrection, many states sought to bolster civic education through efforts such as the South Dakota Civics and History Initiative (SDCHI). This study examined the SDCHI through a Critical Policy Analysis and Critical Race Theory lens to understand how the initiative and related rhetoric reflected, protected, and perpetuated Whiteness as property. To answer this question, we conducted an inductive content analysis of 40 policy documents. Our analysis generated a microhistory and two thematic findings that underscored the contradictions in policy rhetoric, rationales, and implementation to reveal how the SDCHI perpetuated White supremacy by reinforcing a single-narrative master script of American history and identity. Collectively the findings pointed to the ways that Whiteness as property functioned to thwart efforts toward socially just and culturally responsive education. By critically examining these policy mechanisms, this study seeks to inform the responses of educators and policymakers committed to emancipatory, democratic, and socially just approaches to civic education. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2023.2261311.Additional informationNotes on contributorsAlison WilsonAlison Wilson is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Educational Leadership Program Coordinator at the University of Arkansas. Her research examines how educators and policymakers can more equitably support student belonging, well-being, and success in PK-12 schools. She employs an interdisciplinary, multilevel, systems understanding to critically examine the school structures, norms, policies, and practices that contribute to disparate student experiences and outcomes. Her research has been published in Social Science Research, American Journal of Education, and Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, among others. She was formerly a secondary language arts teacher and department head in a large public school district.Kristina F. BrezichaKristina F. Brezicha is an associate professor in the Educational Policy Studies department at Georgia State University. Her research considers schools as both a site of political development for youth and as a public and political space that reflects and creates democratic possibilities. Her work takes an interdisciplinary and ecological approach that recognizes the situated nature of schooling and how policies, schools, and individuals continuously interact to shape the democratic possibilities of schooling. Her research has been published in Educational Administration Quarterly, Journal of School Leadership, and Urban Education among others. Previously she taught elementary special education students in New York City.