“We are children of God”: White Christian teachers discussing race

Abstract

Abstract We seek to begin to develop understanding of how White racial discourses and Christian discourses intersect, buffet, and shape one another. In this study, we analyzed White Christian prospective and practicing mathematics teachers’ discourses. We found that participants used derivations of the phrase “we are children of God” in contexts in which they were asked about the intersection of their religious beliefs and their perspectives on race. We drew on Bakhtinian ideas to make sense of how these prospective and practicing teachers were using this phrase and found that the use of this phrase is complicated but is likely perpetuating a colorblind discourse. We describe some implications for teacher educators.