Teachers Who Look Like Me?

I recently heard a young black male student give thanks to the fact that at my school, Loyola University New Orleans, for the first time in his academic career, he has had teachers who “look like him.” He meant that at our university, finally, there are African American professors. He was very grateful for that fact.

This young man is in grave error, and the present essay is an attempt to correct him.

I have a brown belt in Shoto-Kan Karate. Virtually none of my senseis (teachers) look like m...