The Twin Tales of Whiteness: Exploring the Emotional Roller Coaster of Teaching and Learning about Whiteness

Abstract

Teaching about race is understandably daunting, taxing, and emotionally draining especially within the U.S. context where whites significantly outnumber People of Color as teachers. In order to co-create a more humane and racially just society in the U.S. and beyond, however, race educators and scholars remain steadfast in their pedagogies and curricula, hoping that the "burden" of teaching teachers (a majority white) is a small price to pay for the hope of a better society. This article examines what happens when one educator refuses to remain silent about race-moreover whiteness-in a graduate course consisting mostly of U.S. white teachers. Employing critical race theory (CRT), critical whiteness studies (CWS), and critical emotional studies (CES) to position our narratives and analyses, we detail the emotional roller coaster we all undergo when teaching for racial justice. In doing so, we begin a journal that therapeutically understands our racialized emotions for the hope of racial harmony.