In this paper, I consider evidence of how students of colour enact whiteness by being violent towards depictions of Black people even in spaces without Black people. I argue that people who engage in anti-racist pedagogy have to be vigilant -- aware that anti-Black spaces will be created and ready to respond.

Schools in underserved districts experience pressure to improve achievement outcomes, trapping curricula, teachers, and students in a skills-driven literacy framework, repeatedly reinscribing a racist pedagogy. Although the research community recommends resisting skills-based literacy, researchers often neglect to commit to a research-practice…