ABSTRACT
August 31 I was inspired to write these reflections after reading White Teacher by Vivian Paley and reflecting on the comments of a colleague. We have many stories such as Paley’s where the white teacher, after much introspection, examines her racist beliefs and realizes the need for other perspectives with which to deal with her students. She changes to become a better and more reflective teacher, illustrating to the white students in my class to whom the book is assigned, that they can do the same. I remember my colleague saying,
“That’s all well and good, but where are the stories for the black students?” Buying into the clearly constructed black and white notion that we have
in our U.S. society, I asked in agreement where are the stories for the black students? Yes, we do have models from popular culture in the form of romanticized movies of effective white teachers working with black and Latina students, but few role models, to my recollection, of the black teachers working with white students, or black teachers working with their own.
