Performing Blackness: Disrupting 'race' in the classroom

This paper looks at the experience and performance of‘race’ in the classroom, through the narrative of a young Somali man; Ahmed. The paper explores the notion ofBlackness and primarily draws on Fanon’s (1967) work on the ‘doubled’ self, Althusser’s (1971) ‘interpellation’, and makes some reference to Judith Butler’s (1990) work on ‘subjection’, to examine the function of racial performativity in the classroom. The paper examines the role of White privilege in the construction of imposed ‘Blackness’ in the classroom, and through an analysis ofAhmed’s narrative, disrupts the racialised discourses ofthe classroom. Keywords: Blackness; interpellation; performativity; classroom; narrative; Fanon.