First Generation Equity Practitioners: Are They Part of the Problem?

In order to teach Black, Latinx, Native American, Asian, and other racially minoritized students with fidelity, professors must develop racial literacy. Hiring practices adversely affect the ability to teach Black, Latinx, Native American, Asian, and other racially minoritized students. Professors developing a critical race conscious lens provide the opportunity to address racial inequities within their classes. In the context of this article, the authors use the term racialization to make the point that racist outcomes are produced through and by the habitual practices of faculty and others who the authors describe as "first-generation equity practitioners." First-generation equity practitioners who acquire effective equity-minded competence seem to all share certain qualities. To illustrate the process by which first-generation equity practitioners have learned to be more critically race conscious about their identity and to be more cognizant of racialization as a process inherent in their pedagogy, relationships with students, and in departmental and institutional practices, this article provides some examples from the authors' work, focused on everyday practitioners that have participated in Center for Urban Education (CUE) initiatives.