Racism, sexism, and homophobia are pervasive in society and in education. Through institutional policies and social norms, people of color, women, and members of the LGBT community experience inequality, marginalization, and violence. In schools, discriminatory practices and hostile environments lead to underachievement, silencing, and even suicide. While some teachers fail to interrogate these important issues in their work, others take on the challenge of helping their students examine the effects of oppression and the power of resistance. This study examines the experiences and perspectives of three such teachers. They are African American public school educators who systematically address racism, sexism, and homophobia through their teaching. Essential to their practice is that they resist privileging race over gender and sexual orientation; they recognize the importance of resisting multiple forms of oppression. The purpose of this study is to understand how the participants developed a critical consciousness of these three issues, how they address them through their teaching, and what supports and challenges they experience in doing this work.
Framed by research on African American teachers, teacher autobiography, and critical pedagogy, this study uses the methodology of portraiture to trace the individual, familial, and sociocultural factors that influence the participants' perspectives, and to document their pedagogy in their particular school contexts. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and relevant documents, I attempt to understand their individual experiences and to explore the ways in which their stories diverge and intersect. Stories of Black teachers who dare to use their teaching to resist racism, sexism, and homophobia are largely missing from the literature. In exploring the experiences and practices of these three courageous teachers, this study intends to address this gap and inspire other teachers to examine these important issues in their classrooms and schools.
