ABSTRACT
Rendering the study of racism as marginal or optional belies both the expertise of teachers of Color and a growing and profound body of research that shows the many ways that racism impacts the learning and teaching process. More importantly, the field of teacher education needs to be reformed to reflect the notion that studying issues of racism in education is an essential part of becoming a highly qualified teacher. If anything sets apart the teacher from the person less educated about race, it is the fact that the teacher may be engaged in a more consistent critically reflective process about issues of race and racism. Research has shown that among the many reasons why White people express why they find it difficult to learn about racism in classroom settings stems from a sense of feeling shame or guilt about being White and a feeling that the teacher/facilitator is talking down to them or patronizing them.
