•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Cultures recreate themselves constantly, sometimes through natural transformations, sometimes through imposition. While colonialism was atrocious, partly because it transformed cultures by imposing disfigured identities and understandings (Fanon, 1963), we cannot reset cultures to how they were before conquest. That would require erasing languages now spoken for generations, dismantling religions and beliefs now practiced for hundreds of years, and purifying food habits now valued by the palettes of those formerly colonized. We can, however, work towards decolonizing our present- day society. Specifically, we can identify how colonialism continues to position some populations and their cultures as inferior (minoritized) and others as superior (majoritized; Vaccaro, 2021). We can also explore how colonized cultures adapted to colonialism, leading to the fusion or mestizaje of cultures that, in spite of colonial atrocities, led to new, intersectional identities that have now fallen prey to the same hegemonic perspectives of the past. And we can examine how natural mestizaje that occurs with immigration can be subject to contradictory pressures to assimilate to colonial ideals and to resist colonial influences. This paper proposes that Catholic schools are in a privileged position to contribute to decolonization by aiding students’ transcultural acculturation (Mudambi, 2021a; Mudambi, 2021b). Furthermore, this article offers specific actions in which Catholic schools can engage to mobilize education towards decolonization and, in doing so, foster a Christian culture of equity and justice, while serving as a model for other education systems.

DOI

10.15365/joce.2502092022

First Page

167

Last Page

177

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS