On the "Flip" Side: A Teacher Educator of Color Unveiling the Dangerous Minds of White Teacher Candidates (original) (raw)

2013, Teacher Education Quarterly

The dominant narrative dispelled in many films and mass media is a fear of the urban student of Color (Kellner, 1995; Leonardo & Hunter, 2007). Dominant narratives indicate that as innocent, well-intentioned White women enter urban schools, ridden with gangs, promiscuity, and drugs, they themselves become victims of the illness of urbanity that plagues People of Color and in doing so, they become White martyrs/messiahs for taking on the risk of contaminating their inherent purity (Vera & Gordan, 2003a). According to this account, the fears are real for White teachers who are willing to sacrifice themselves in the battle to humanize savage students who cuss at them, disrespect their presence, and cannot even read. And as this narrative of White saviority (a form of benevolence) persists in the recounts of countless films, newscasts, and textbooks, society cries and empathizes with the heroic action of weeping White teachers. Because as society watches tears of anguish roll down the c...

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