In the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States, schools across the country saw an uptick in the number of racist incidents occurring on campus, from the elementary level to institutions of higher learning. Ninety percent of educators who participated in a survey conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2016 immediately following the election reported their school climate had been negatively impacted, and that they did not expect racial tensions to subside anytime soon. Subsequent studies (see Barshay 2018) documenting the continued rise of racist incidents and racial bullying in educational settings following the election bear out these educators’ concerns.

Yet, racism in education is nothing new; it can be traced back to the very origins of schooling in the United States. Which is why, as we continue to monitor closely these overt examples of interpersonal racism, we must not lose sight of the fact they are deeply connected to the institutional racism that remains firmly entrenched. At present, institutional racism in education is largely reinforced by policies and practices that appear “race neutral” or “colorblind” on the surface but result in very racialized outcomes for students. Today, racial disparities continue to exist in rates of graduation, educational attainment, test scores, special education referrals, and access to rigorous coursework and highly qualified teachers, to name but a few examples.

Even with the increased attention to more overt examples of racism in the US at the moment, many continue to believe the best way to deal with racism in schools is to be colorblind. But is it? This book invites a wide audience to join me in answering this question. We begin in chapter 1 by parsing the difference between colorblindness as an ideology and colorblindness as an identity and explore the empirical evidence on colorblindness and teacher bias in schools. In the second chapter, we evaluate several examples of what colorblindness looks like in schools today and discuss the consequences for teachers and students. In the final chapter, we return to the central question of the book and examine how people coming to this work from multiple entry points can engage in antiracism and social justice work in education.

I draw on several sources of knowledge in writing this book: my background in social inequalities in education; my research with school districts in the Midwestern United States; my work conducting professional development on equity-related issues with educators; and my experiences as a publicly elected school board member. It is also important to acknowledge that I come to this work not just as a sociologist who studies racism in education but as a white, straight, cisgender, female-identifying sociologist whose research in education is examined through a critical, feminist, antiracist lens. I share this because my positionality (or social location) at all times informs how I think about this work, as does my experience as a non-traditional, first-generation college student who grew up in a white, working-class family in the deep South. Because social location is central to our understandings of race and racism, readers will note that, whenever possible and where appropriate, I also include descriptors such as the race and gender identity and/or gender expression of the teachers in this book.

I have several people to thank for their help in bringing this book to fruition. First, I want to thank all the educators who graciously and generously gave of their time to provide insights. Second, I want to thank my team at Polity Press, specifically Jonathan Skerrett and Karina Jákupsdóttir, for their support throughout the production process. Third, I want to thank my research assistants, Kaitlin Meye and Tyler Besaw, for their assistance in the early stages of this book. Last but not least, I want to thank my partner, Chuck, and my children, Emily and Anna, who have been on this journey with me every step of the way.

Finally, I wanted to dedicate this book to my students, past and present, because they continually inspire me to be a better teacher, researcher, and human. I often learn as much from them as they do from me, and I never take this for granted. I am grateful to be a part of their lives even if only for a brief time.