Race as a Durable and Shifting Idea: How Black Millennial Preservice Teachers Understand Race, Racism, and Teaching

The rapidly changing landscape of 21st-century education has sparked intense conversations around the need for a more racially and ethnically diverse PK–12 teacher population. Drawing from critical race theory and racial formation, I describe findings from a qualitative case study that examined how a group of black millennial preservice teachers understand race and racism. Findings from the study illuminate that race and racism continue to hold relevance for the participants, even as they recognized generational differences in how these issues operate in past and present social relations. Additionally, as the participants express both sophisticated and simplistic understandings about racism, social media and university spaces allow students to expand their knowledge about race and racism.