Colorism as a Salient Space for Understanding in Teacher Preparation

Abstract

In this article, we posit the salience of colorism as an important aspect of race in the knowledge construction and preparation of teachers. Although many more teacher education programs across the United States have begun to infuse aspects of race into their curricula, there is sparse literature about the role of colorism in teacher preparation and its potential impact. This article explicitly focuses on darker-skinned students, who experience trauma differently from lighter-skinned students. This research chronicles the particular experiences of African American female students who endure deep-seated biases and attitudes regarding their skin color, both outside of and within school environments. We argue that teacher education programs should include learning opportunities on construction of race as a phenotype (the physical construction of skin tone, hair texture, facial features, and body physique) as an influence on the thinking, beliefs, and consequent practices of teachers in P–12 classrooms. The article concludes with an explicit recommendation for teacher education programs to prioritize colorism in the preparation of teachers.

Notes

Dr. Ebony O. McGee, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Diversity and Urban Schooling, Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Adam Alvarez is a Doctoral Student at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Urban Education. Dr. H. Richard Milner IV is a Professor of Education, Helen Faison Professor of Urban Education and Director of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh.

^1. The terms Black and African American are used interchangeably throughout this article.

^2. The term pigmentocracy has recently been adopted by social scientists to describe societies in which wealth and social status are determined by skin color. There are numerous pigmentocracies throughout the world, and they all have the remarkable characteristic that, invariably, the light-skinned peoples have the highest social status (Lynn, 2008).