Losing the Color-Blind Mind in the Urban Classroom

Abstract

Keywords

race racism teaching learning urban classrooms color blindness

Based on research I have conducted in urban schools (Milner & Tenore, 2010), teachers cannot afford to embrace color blindness in their practices with students because teachers and their students’ identities, experiences, worldviews, and consequently behaviors are intricately shaped by race (Ladson-Billings, 2009; Milner, 2010). Teachers who do not view themselves as racist individuals can have trouble recognizing how racism works and how it can manifest through the curriculum, instructional practices, as well as in broader, systemic, and institutionalized structures that prevent particular groups of students such as Black/African American students, Brown/Latino American students, those whose first language is not English, and students living in poverty from succeeding in the classroom and beyond (Milner, 2010). It is still common for teachers in urban classrooms, without vision impairment, to claim that they do not “see color.” I have heard this proclamation from teachers—that they do not “see color”—from a range of ethnic backgrounds (Asian American, African American, and European American). In this editorial, I argue teachers need to “lose” the color-blind mindset as a necessary component of effective teaching in the urban classroom.

People may believe we live in a postracial United States—that as a country we have transcended and overcome racism and other forms of discrimination. However, for teachers, this way of thinking and approaching their work in urban classrooms can be especially harmful to the students with whom they work because their students may indeed continue experiencing racism. In short, although teachers may believe they are somehow building connections and bridges with students when they claim not to see, think about, or acknowledge race in their work, they are avoiding a very important aspect of the teaching and learning enterprise (Gay, 2010).

Dating back to the pivotal and germinal work of Dubois (1903) and Woodson (1933), researchers and theorists have attempted to unravel, disentangle, and understand the salience of race and education. These scholars recognized the centrality of race and helped the field understand the importance of the nexus between race and education. Although one might argue that the achievement gap discourse places race at the center of scholarly as well as public conversations (Barton & Coley, 2010; Chubb & Loveless, 2002; Jenkins, 2006), beyond acknowledging that gaps in achievement exist between White students and other racial and ethnic groups, conversations about race are often superficial at best. Outside of education/schools, race also has shown up in public discourse. However, again, the examination and treatment of the historical, structural, and systemic dimensions of race and the deep meanings of it and racism seem to remain on the surface. Adapted from Lieberman, Petrecca, and Strauss (2007) in a USA Today article, consider Table 1 below that summarizes some episodes regarding race in society. The chart demonstrates choices people made through their discourse and the consequences of their inappropriate language. The table describes what people expressed—their language (whether intentional or unintentional)—and how the public responded, as well as the results of their word choice. In this sense, words are actions (Freire, 1998).

Table 1.

Race and Language Through Public Discourse and Results

Situation	Result
April 1987: Al Campanis, LA Dodgers general manager, tells ABC’s Nightline that African Americans may not have the abilities necessary to be field managers or general managers or the resilience to swim well.	Campanis apologized and resigned soon thereafter.
January 1988: “Jimmy the Greek” Snyder, Sports analyst oddsmaker, says that Blacks people are “bred to be better athletes,” dating back to slavery when “the owner would breed his big black man with his big woman so that he would have a big black kid.”	Snyder apologized but was fired after 12 years with CBS.
April 1997: Fuzzy Zoeller, PGA golf pro, after Tiger Woods became the first Black person to win the Masters, Zoeller says that Woods is a “little boy” and suggested that Woods not serve “fried chicken . . . or collard greens” at the Masters dinner.	Zoeller lost Kmart’s sponsorship; Woods accepted his apology.
September 2003: Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk show host, says Donavan McNabb gets good press because “the Media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.”	Limbaugh resigned under pressure saying he regretted causing “discomfort to his ESPN colleagues.”
November 2006: Michael Richards, actor and comedian, during a comedy show yelled out racial epithets, including calling four Black patrons in the audience niggers after the four supposedly were disrespectful to Richards during his standup comedy act.	Richards apologized on David Letterman’s CBS show as well as to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
November 2006: Michael Irvin, ESPN football analyst, talked about the Dallas Cowboys’ 21-14 win and suggested that Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo must have some “brother down in the line somewhere” to play as well as he does.	Irvin apologized but was still fired by ESPN.

Source: Adapted from Petrecca and Strauss (2007).

The incidences provide a glimpse into the kinds of racial matters that emerge in society although many others are common. Matters of race and racism can be ingrained in the language that people use although it may seem tangential to hate or racism. People may claim that they have no malice or negative intent to what they say. Just as race and racism can manifest in society through language and other behaviors, it can also emerge in the classroom. These manifestations may be implicit and hidden but are still prevalent (Lewis, 2001). Color blindness can emerge in some destructive ways in the classroom especially through/in curriculum and instructional practices as well as policies and patterns in a school.

Curriculum and Instruction

From a curriculum perspective, it is important for teachers to reject color blindness and recognize the racial and ethnic background of students as they are developing the curriculum. In its simplest form, the curriculum should reflect the racial and ethnic background of those in a classroom (Banks, 2001). What teachers cover, how much time they spend on aspects of the curriculum, whether the curriculum materials and information included are appropriate and accurate representations of the people and their experiences from various racial and ethnic backgrounds are all essential in developing a race-conscious curriculum. For example, when teachers do not include curriculum content related to Native Americans, students are actually learning something about Native Americans through the absence of the content in the curriculum.¹

Although and perhaps unknowingly, teachers who avoid infusing Native American content into the curriculum or who are not conscious or deliberate in race/ethnic conscious curriculum development can be denying Native Americans the right to recognize their contributions to the fabric of U.S. society and beyond. Moreover, those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds miss opportunities to deepen their knowledge about that group. This forces students, very often, to learn from a curriculum dominated by White contributions and White norms to the exclusion of curriculum contributions from other racial and ethnic groups (Banks, 2001). At the heart of what is and is not emphasized in the curriculum is teacher identity—who teachers are and how they represent their worldview to others has an influence on what teachers teach and what students learn (Milner, 2010). In this way, teachers do have some control over what gets covered in the curriculum (McCutcheon, 2002), even with the push for common core standards and pacing guides to facilitate student learning opportunities. Race and teachers’ experiences around it can have an impactful bearing on what teachers decide to emphasize in lessons. Thus, race matters in curriculum development and enactment. Sadly, teachers can sometimes design curriculum and instructional practices, which are grounded in a “White norm” (Foster, 1999) that students of color simply have to accept or just deal with because they may not have the power to counter what is emphasized. Curriculum and instructional practices matter (Eisner, 1994; McCutcheon, 2002) and can make a meaningful difference in how students in urban classrooms experience education.

Summary and Conclusions: Challenges to Practicing Teachers

In summary and conclusion, I argue it is critical for teachers to recognize their own and their students’ racial backgrounds to plan for, work with, and teach their complete students, rather than fragmented, disconnected students (Milner, 2010). Although students have a range of identity markers, their race is part of their identity that really can be essential to their overall being. How do teachers contribute to individual and structural forms of racism (albeit unknowingly) that can have influence on student opportunities to learn? The adoption of color-blind ideologies, orientations, approaches, and behaviors in teachers’ work can make it difficult for them to recognize broader systemic disparities, patterns, and dilemmas in education such as

An overrepresentation of students of color in special education;

An underrepresentation of students of color in gifted education;

An overreferral of students of color to the office for disciplinary actions and consequences;

An overwhelming number of students of color expelled or suspended;

An underrepresentation of students of color in schoolwide clubs and organizations, and in other prestigious arenas, such as the school’s homecoming court and student government.

To illuminate, if students of color are not holding offices such as school president or if they are not represented in the student government association, school officials and other educators should be concerned and take steps to address, redress, and correct this. Students of color representation primarily in athletics is problematic, for example, rather than in accelerated academic programs and courses. Some may argue that the students themselves cause such patterns of underrepresentation and disproportionality, not the school’s race-neutral, color-blind policies and procedures. Thus it is critical that teachers (and others) remember race and racism in their work with students on both individual and systemic levels (Lewis, 2001) in urban classrooms and schools.

Finally, in summary, I am challenging teachers away from color blindness in their practices. Teachers are challenged to rethink persistent notions that they should avoid recognizing race—their students’ and their own. They are challenged to understand how our race-central experiences can influence our worldviews and practices with students. Rejecting color blindness can allow teachers to understand fundamentally that race matters for all involved in education (West, 1993), even White people, and to recognize their students’ multiple and intersected identity with race as a recurrent theme. Not only is race an essential facet of what happens in a classroom on a micro-level, teachers are also challenged to move beyond individualized ideas about race and racism to understand how systemic barriers continue to marginalize particular groups of students.

I am aware that when teachers do not believe they are racist or for those who believe that racism has ended, it can seem logical for them to ascribe to and embrace color blindness in their work. However, when they examine the complexities and experiences of their students’ experiences, I am hopeful they recognize that color blindness may be inappropriate in their practices. In taking steps to lose their color-blind mind, I have found the reflective questions in Table 2 below essential. The critical questions are designed to help teachers themselves reflect about their own practices and their own work as a first step to losing the color-blind mind. Before thinking deeply about others’ race, it is important for teachers to examine their own. As West (1993) declared, we (as individuals) cannot work for emancipation for others until we are free ourselves.

Table 2.

Teacher Self-Reflection About Race

Critical questions	Reflective purpose and significance
How does my race influence my work as a teacher with my students, especially my students of color?	This question challenges educators to reflect on the raced privileges and/or the lack thereof that they experience inside and outside of the classroom. In this way, educators are guided to think about how their race connects with or diverges from their students to either hinder or enable learning opportunities.
As a teacher, what is the effect of race on my thinking, beliefs, actions, and decision making?	This question challenges educators to reflect about their conceptual and cognitive positions and positioning that may have been hidden previously. As a consequence of such reflection, beliefs and ideas may become more visible through educators’ conscious deliberation. Educators are challenged to connect their raced beliefs with their practices and are invited to think about how their race shapes the kinds of examples used to elucidate curriculum content with students.
How do I, as a teacher, situate myself in the education of others, and how do I negotiate the power structure in my class to allow students to feel a sense of worth regardless of their racial background?	With these questions come reflection about the relationships between race, power, and actions. Educators are challenged to think about whose voice matters in the classroom and are challenged to recognize students can feel marginalized and insignificant in classrooms when educators do not recognize the important contributions of students.
How do I situate and negotiate students’ knowledge, experiences, expertise, and race with my own?	This question challenges educators to decide if they are willing to negotiate expertise and ways of knowing with their students. It allows educators to understand important relationships between knowledge, experience, expertise, and race. Educators are challenged to understand that they need to negotiate and learn from/with their students and others (such as community members) about how they will need to negotiate knowledge and expertise in the classroom and how some groups of students have been silenced due to their race.

H. Richard Milner IV Nashville, Tennessee

Footnotes

Notes

References

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