COLOR BLINDNESS, UNCONSCIOUS BIAS, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SUBURBAN SCHOOLS

In this chapter, the author explores the two issues and apply them to what it means to be a White educator in a suburban school and what it means to be a student of color in a suburban school. These two issues are: teachers have biases based on race, whether conscious or unconscious, and negative stereotypes of people of color affect them in adverse ways. Color blindness affects many White teachers in suburban schools. Suburban teachers tend to see students as individuals and do not acknowledge racial and cultural differences, which may be crucial to their students’ identities. Educators working in suburban schools have difficulty confronting the possibility that they may not be as equipped to teach the increasing number of students of color that are entering their suburban classrooms. The author concludes the chapter with suggestions to help teachers recognize the impact that race has on teaching and learning.