Introducing these topics into class discussions is “a tricky balance, because I don’t know how much these kids, especially white kids, are being exposed to these issues or discussing them at home,” Laguna said. “As a Latino teacher, I am trying to be that role model and at the same time trying to open that door.” While many white students in the country are certainly aware of and sympathetic to the challenges faced by people of color, many others, Laguna suggested, aren’t. This past spring, during the height of the Baltimore uprising, Laguna’s students led a two-hour discussion that examined racial profiling. “A lot of the white kids were quiet,” he said,“but they were listening.” As the conversation progressed, a white student asked why all of the models she sees on billboards are white, too. It was at that moment, Laguna noted, that “I knew we were ‘going there’ with these kids.”

As a teacher of color Laguna feels a responsibility to humanize subjects like immigration to ensure that all students, not just those who’ve experienced it first-hand, understand the issue’s complexities. And when it comes to the white students in his class who he says have had less exposure to different cultural realities, Laguna believes he’s making inroads regarding their perception of people of color. He recounts a lesson last year on undocumented immigrants, most of whom work in low-wage jobs. According to Laguna, one of his white students responded: “Well, if you want a better job you have to work harder.” Laguna didn’t take offense to the comment; the boy, he suggested, simply hadn’t had an opportunity to challenge his own preconceived notions. “What I’ve developed over time is asking, ‘Why do you think that?’” Laguna continued. “Middle school is all about planting seeds,” he said.

Juanita Douglas, a veteran African American teacher at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago, shared similar experiences. Douglas said she’s frequently the first black teacher many of her students have ever had; about 28 percent of the school’s students are white, compared to 9 percent of students district-wide. As an honors history and law teacher she sees her role as helping all of her students sharpen their writing and oral-communication skills. But achieving these goals can be tricky, especially when it comes to her white students, said Douglas, citing the challenges she often faces in connecting with them and reconciling any differences in perspective. “I’ll have white kids come up to me and say, ‘2 Chainz has a new song,’ and I have to stop them and say, ‘I’m sorry, I’m 50 years old, and I don’t know who 2 Chainz is.” While Douglas recognizes their need to connect, she stresses that “I’m not black and cool … their image of black”—an image influenced by pop culture and rap music. “I’m black and a teacher.”