White Power and Privilege: Barriers to Culturally Responsive Teaching

Many in the United States of America perceived the election of the first African American president as an indication that the nation had finally achieved racial equality. Two African American teacher educators argue that the nation continues to function from a longestablished paradigm of white power and privilege and as such, the need persists to enlighten future teachers about the existence of white privilege, its roots, functions, and social affects. In this essay, the authors share their efforts to sensitize teachers to the presences white power and its accompanying privileges, all with an aim of building transformative teachers.