For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education (Race, Education, and Democracy)

by Christopher Emdin

She was white and from a middle-class background and had seen pictures of her parents when they were in their twenties feeding poor children in Africa on missionary trips. She was chosen to teach in the school based on her good grades and “change the world” attitude as identified by a teacher-recruitment program that brought white folks to teach in the hood. A recent college graduate from a private liberal arts university, she was inspired by the idea of giving back to poor communities. She took the job to get the free master’s degree that many new urban teachers receive, but was drawn into the profession by the opportunity to experience some version of her parents’ missionary trips. The exotic images from her parents’ photographs could be played out in her life through urban America, and her privilege had created a guilt that could be eased by teaching the poor black and brown kids in her classroom.