Silencing Racialized Humor in Elementary School: Consequences of Colormuting and Whiteness for Students of Color

Abstract

Racial humor among students of color presents a sociopolitical dilemma for teachers, requiring rapid calculations of if and how to respond in ways that support an inclusive and equitable classroom climate. This analysis uses two instances of racial humor in an elementary classroom to unpack a White teacher's responses to students of color who were both creators of and audience to racial jokes. Starting from the point of affirming the teacher's decision to intervene, findings explore the ramifications of how intervening had multiple, layered consequences for the dynamics of silencing and racialization among students of color. The purpose of this approach is to model how to sift through the complications of silencing race talk and to support conceptual and practical conversations about anti-racist pedagogical moves in the midst of fleeting, meaningful moments in classroom socialization to race.

Race Talk Moves for Racial Literacy in the Elementary Classroom

“…While many codes were applicable, I removed codes that were irrelevant to Ms. Allen's multiracial classroom and added new codes identified in recent scholarship on racism, whiteness, and discourse. For example, I expanded the genre code of "humor" to "telling jokes" (Yoon, 2018) or "giving compliments"' (Kohli et al, 2018) to more specifically account for the interactions I observed and to expand my analytic frame with research from critical race scholars (Appendix B).…”

“…Classroom race talk is often difficult to sustain, especially for white teachers whose racial identities influence how they resist or comply with dominant social and political discourses that silence conversations about race. Research consistently shows that white teachers often fall short in talking critically about race by drawing on ideological frameworks of neutrality and race evasion that minimize the history and continued impacts of racial oppression (e.g., King, 1991; Yoon, 2018). Beneke and Cheatham (2020) found that in the context of field-based teacher education, white preservice teachers employed a range of strategies that silenced race-based discussions, including “turning the page” to limit conversation and employing humanist discourses of “sameness” that avoided race- and ability-based discrimination (p. 255).…”

Race talk tensions: practicing racial literacy in a fourth-grade classroom

“…In this review of extant scholarship, I focus on how teachers and students engage in conversations about race while reading and discussing literary and informational texts. Research on classroom race talk includes several areas of focus, including informal conversations amongst students (Martínez, 2017) and exchanges that include a blend of academic discussion and social small talk (Yoon, 2018). Here, I examine a third area of research characterized by Brown et al (2017) as “curricular” where teachers intentionally plan for race talk by selecting texts and topics and setting learning goals in advance (p. 462).…”

Educational Experiences of Students Learning English: Deconstructing Barriers

“…Though attempting to instill an independent work ethic, the nuanced relationships the teacher has with students based on proficiencies further marginalizes those students most likely to struggle with instructional content when they are discouraged from asking for help when they need it. When looking at this idea of work ethic through critical whiteness, the silence on the part of the teacher in "never" helping without the prerequisite effort or on the part of the student in not asking for help becomes an active choice of empowerment or disempowerment that on its surface seems to fairly align to ideals of meritocracy (Yoon, 2018). This is, however, a subtle power differential that has lasting ramifications for disempowered populations.…”

“…Compliance and docility, however, can also encourage a sense of powerlessness and a lack of entitlement when students like Lissette become too nervous and afraid to ask the teacher for help. Some white teachers' intentions with marginalized students can unintentionally reproduce whiteness by silencing students at the very intersections of power, equity, and academic engagement (Yoon, 2018).…”