Negotiating Antiblackness as Non-Black Latino Men Teachers: Relational Race Politics in the Discourse on Men of Color Teachers

Abstract

This article examines the ways non-Black Latino men teachers understand their relationality to (anti)blackness in urban education. While the dominant discourse surrounding men of color teachers presumes an innate allyship among all men and boys of color, the Latino men in this study describe being positioned as multicultural punishers for Black boys and needing to confront their own internalized antiblackness. This led them to challenge liberal multiculturalist beliefs in their schools, which upheld anti-Black racism. Overall, this study brings a relational-race approach to the topic of men of color teachers to help honor difference and deepen visions of racial justice.