Guest Editor' Introduction: The Problem of Colorblindness in U.S. Education: Historical Trajectories and Contemporary Legacies

Devalued Black and Latino Racial Identities

“…Thus, I am committed to carrying out this research from a race-conscious perspective and to problematizing the success of STEM Students of Color by giving voice to these students through their counternarratives. At the same time, I acknowledge the position of Henry and Generett (2005) that “all scholarship is veiled autobiography” (p. 1). As a researcher, my empirical commitments lead me to seek disconfirming evidence for emerging conjectures and to engage with atypical cases in reporting my findings.…”

Walking on egg shells: colorblind ideology and race talk in teacher education

“…Research on multicultural teacher education programs indicates that students with less awareness and understanding of race are more likely to resist critical examination of race in their teaching practices (Lawrence & Bunche, 1996;Lesko & Bloom, 1998). Many of these teachers may not understand or recognize, and may be resistant or dismissive of, issues of-and their own complicity and participation in-White privilege and institutional racism (Bonilla-Silva, 2006;Cochran-Smith, 1996;Cooney & Akintunde, 1998;Gordon, 2005;Henry & Givens Generett, 2005;Leonardo, 2009;Reason & Evans, 2007;Sbrena & Moras, 2006). In many multicultural and anti-racist teacher education programs, preservice teachers may be reluctant or unsure how to discuss race and racism, as they may be actively and consciously confronting racial issues for the first time (McNeal, 2005;Pollock, Deckman, Mira, & Shalaby, 2010;Wilder, 1999).…”

“…There is a wealth of research on colorblind ideology (Bonilla-Silva, 2006;Brown et al, 2003;Carr, 1997;Dovidio & Gaertner, 2005;Forman, 2004), in education specifically (Anderson, 2007;Aragón, Dovidio, & Graham, 2016;Atwater, 2008;Henry & Givens Generett, 2005;Frank, 2007: Lewis, 2001Spencer, 2008;Timeo, Farroni, & Maass, 2017), and in teacher education even more specifically (Cochran-Smith, 1995, Cooney & Akintunde, 1999Gordon, 2005;Valli, 1995). There is also a wealth of research on race talk in the field of education (Pollock, 2004a(Pollock, , 2008aTatum, 1992Tatum, , 2007Tochluk, 2010;Trainor, 2005;van den Berg, Wetherell, & Houtkoop-Steenstra, 2003).…”

“…Schools and classrooms, as microcosms of society and as primary sites of knowledge construction and production, are key determinants of the ways in which mainstream ideas of race and racism are reproduced and maintained; teachers are the primary authority figures and arbiters of these processes (Apple, 2004;Banks, 1995Banks, , 2004Cochran-Smith, 2004;Richardson & Johanningmeir, 2003;Tatum, 1997). Moreover, historical legacies of race-based stratification have limited opportunities for racial equality and interracial interaction, increasing the likelihood that different racial groups live vastly different lives from one another, and decreasing the likelihood of sustained interracial interaction prior to, and outside of, school (Henry & Givens Generett, 2005;Goldsmith, 2010;Pollock, 2008b;Richardson & Johanningmeir, 2003). This demographic imperative-the diverse student population, the homogeneous teaching population, and the demographic divide-indicates that teachers may be ill prepared to face and understand the complex ways in which race and racism shape the schooling experiences of many of their students (Cochran- Smith, Davis, & Fries, 2004;Gay & Howard, 2000;Larke, 1992;Tatum, 1997).…”