Pity Y’all Don’t See Me: Differential Racialization, Resistance, and the Persistent Erasure of Invisible Boys of Color in Science Classrooms

ABSTRACT

Using previously collected data from a multi-site, mixed methods longitudinal study, we operationalize a conceptual frame of invisibility to describe and understand the phenomenon of erasure that some Boys of Color experienced by teachers in science learning environments where most others were hyper-visible (and subsequently hyper-criminalized). Recentering these invisible Boys of Color revealed three descriptive categories: (a) introversion, (b) newcomers, and (c) frequently absent. In detailing these categories and their associated narratives and labels, we complexify our understandings of the lived experiences of Boys of Color in science education and offer frameworks for ways in which teacher education can equip pre-service and in-service science teachers to disrupt these insidious and sophisticated forms of systemic racism.

KEYWORDS:

• Criminalization
• resistance theory
• differential racialization
• boys of color
• elementary education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ See Basile (2018) and Basile et al. (2019) for detailed descriptions of the methodology and findings of prior iterations of the research.