For decades there has been much research done on the best ways to prepare teachers for racially diverse students. With over 50 years of U.S. teacher education program (TEP) reform (Liu & Ball, 2019), TEPs are still in a nascent stage for training preservice teachers to teach Black and Brown students. Public schools have fallen short of supporting novice teachers with the tools necessary to teach students of color (i.e., through a multicultural, multiracial lens and mentored in self-reflection and racial reflection). The purpose of this interpretive study (Merriam, 2002) was to understand how 12 novice teachers reflected on and made meaning of their teacher preparation for and practice with their Black and Brown students. Based on relevant literature drawing upon Schon's (1983) theory of the reflective practitioner, Milner's (2016) practices on racial reflection, and the philosophical influence of Greene's (1971) notion of wide-awakeness for teachers' critical awareness, this study describes how teachers use reflective practice to make sense of their own racial identities in their teaching practice. Three interconnected themes relating to novices' unpreparedness to teach Black and Brown students emerged: (a) Feeling Unprepared; (b) Whose Got My Back; Mentoring Matters; and (c) Identity, Especially Race, Matters. Discussion of these themes revealed nine of the 12 participants had minimal to no explicit exposure to cultural, historical, social, or instructional preparation through a multiracial lens. Three of the 12 participants received a deep multicultural experience in the same mentorship program associated with their TEP. The program was designed to support teachers of color and was not included as part of the participants' program for certification. Recommendations for practice are made for teacher education programs, higher education degree programs, public school systems, and state governments. Recommendations for future research include further observations of novice teachers' classrooms with Black and Brown students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]