Toward a Brillant Diversity

Abstract

This essay puts forward a theoretical argument in support of culturally consonant character education. Character education supports the moral and civic development of youth in the United States (US), and it remains popular with all stakeholders. Majority group members often are unmindful of the significance and span of cultural distinctiveness of minorities. Rather, majority group members consciously or unconsciously advocate assimilation and adherence to universal virtues, chiefly in the field of character education. Cultural-historical conditions, as features of the moral development process, tone the agency and negotiation of character education. To that end, this essay employs Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract (1998) to not only account for the moralities of exclusion, but put forward a character education philosophy that accounts for cultural distinctiveness.

Keywords

• culturally consonant character education
• racial contract
• white supermacy