“It’s More than Teaching. We’re Fighting to Live More Dignified Lives”: The Racial Literacies of Ethnic Studies Teachers of Color

Given the ongoing attacks on race conscious learning in K-12 classrooms, there is an urgency for educator practice that affirms students’ lived experiences with racial injustice and facilitates their engagement with accurate histories and critical frameworks of race and racism. Drawing on data from a year-long critical ethnographic study in secondary Ethnic Studies (ES) classrooms, this article explores how racial literacy—the capacity and praxis to name and interrupt racism—was present in the pedagogies of two teachers of Color. Through analysis of documents, classroom observations, and individual interviews, the article highlights three pedagogical stances in teachers’ enactments of racial justice teaching. The article argues that teacher education programs and practitioners can move towards racial justice by following the lead of, and by partnering with, ES teachers of Color whose pedagogical approaches draw from their experiences, commitments, and goals as racial justice leaders.