A Morrisonian call for the death of (critical) whiteness (studies) in teacher education

This theoretical paper is a Black feminist love letter to Toni Morrison from three cultural theorists and critical (teacher) educators constellating in a multiracialized doctoral student-professor assemblage. Following the claim that Morrison’s work is central to Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS), we articulate our unease with the ongoing epistemic anti-Black violence evidenced in CWS scholarship in teacher education. We wonder, what is the work of CWS in teacher education? Must we continue this work? Must we continue this work? Who are we and what has whiteness (work) done to us? Through a Morrisonian reading with the critical interventions suggested in Playing in the Dark, we closely read CWS in teacher education literature whilst employing letter writing, an exegetical cultural studies method, to explore the above questions. We further call for the death of whiteness while delighting in what Morrison’s theorizing vis-à-vis possibilities that lay in the beyond and after.