Teachers’ Rights Versus Students’ Rights

In 1968, New York City’s unionized teachers participated in three separate strikes that spanned two school years. Teachers clashed with Black parents and activists who called for community control as both groups sought authority and recognition in the schools. Racialized assumptions in place before and extending beyond the labor skirmish infused teachers’ professional identity as well as how they understood their students and the communities they served. This article provides a history of how constructions of Blackness and Whiteness permeated teacher preparation programs, administrative policies, and the teachers’ union, in turn delimiting teachers’ collective professional persona. This historical analysis provides a framework to understand the persistent strains between social institutions and the communities they serve.