A Critical Interrogation of Privilege, Race, Class, and Power in a University Faculty–Urban Community Relationship

Abstract

I am the Coordinator of the Urban Teacher Education Center, a teacher preparation program located at a very low income, culturally diverse elementary school that serves children from two neighborhood public housing projects. As a White, middle-class, Ph.D. educated, female, I must consistently consider how people in the neighborhoods may take a racially, economically, and educationally marked view of me, marking me as an “other” while still assigning me with privilege. This paper consists of the presentation of my diary entries during my time spent in the school and its neighborhood communities. The diary entries are then critiqued with a critical interrogation of my reflections on race, class, and based on theory and research. The paper is framed by the analysis of the impact of race, class, power, and privilege, especially White privilege, and it addresses issues of power relations and school-community dynamics in low income, urban communities and schools. The paper provides an example of how a university faculty member can begin to enter an urban community, of the critical interrogations that must take place when entering such a relationship, and the challenges and rewards when such an effort is undertaken.