Silencing Racialized Humor in Elementary School - Consequences of Colormuting and Whiteness for Students of Color

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man

Racial humor among students of color creates a sociopolitical challenge for teachers, demanding quick judgments about when and how to respond to sustain an inclusive, equitable classroom climate. This study analyzes two instances of racial humor in an elementary classroom, examining how a White teacher’s interventions affected students of color as both creators and audiences of racial jokes. Findings map layered consequences for silencing and racialization, offering a framework to navigate race talk and enable anti-racist pedagogical conversations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background: Race talk and racial humor in classrooms

Race talk as interactional discourse

Racial humor as multimodal status work

Teacher judgment and Whiteness-related anxieties

Study focus: fifth-grade interactions and trade-offs

Method: layered analysis of humor interactions

UC Berkeley Berkeley Review of Education Title Silencing Racialized Humor in Elementary School: Consequences of Colormuting and Whiteness for Students of Color Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/99s9t7h8](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/99s9t7h8) Journal Berkeley Review of Education, 8(1) Author Yoon, Irene H. Publication Date 2018 DOI 10.5070/B88136900 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Available online at [http://](http://eScholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre)[eS](http://eScholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre)[cholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre](http://eScholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre) Silencing Racialized Humor in Elementary School: Consequences of Colormuting and Whiteness for Students of Color Irene H. Yoon 1 The University of Utah Abstract Racial humor among students of color presents a sociopolitical dilemma for teachers, requiring rapid calculations of if and how to respond in ways that support an inclusive and equitable classroom climate. This analysis uses two instances of racial humor in an elementary classroom to unpack a White teacher’s responses to students of color who were both creators of and audience to racial jokes. Startingfrom the point of affirming the teacher’s decision to intervene, findings explore the ramifications of how intervening had multiple, layered consequences for the dynamics of silencing and racialization among students of color. The purpose of this approach is to model how to sift through the complications of silencing race talk and to support conceptual and practical conversations about anti-racist pedagogical moves in the midst of fleeting, meaningful moments in classroom socialization to race. Keywords: racial humor, silence, colormute, whiteness, white teacher Throughout a given school day, students interact with numerous identities. In this world of interaction and identity, students of color in racially diverse schools predictably engage with each other over race, ethnicity, language, and culture. In many situations, students talk about academic work simultaneously and seamlessly with social conversations that perform identity work around race and ethnicity. This social talk includes race talk and racial humor, a source of rich cultural-historical and communitybased knowledge but also a potential source of psychological or emotional bullying. These slight nuances in intention, tone, and interpretation often depend on who tells the jokes, about whom, and for whom. Race talk is an interactional discourse that is substantively about race, racism, and racialization (Pollock, 2004) . Racial humor is race talk that is intended to be funny, often playing with racial meaning and identity (Rappoport, 2005; Weaver, 2010) . Racial humor 1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Irene H. Yoon, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership & Policy, 1721 Campus Center Drive, SAEC 2235, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. Email: [irene.yoon@utah.edu. My deepest](irene.yoon@utah.edu. My deepest) thanks go to Elizabeth, the teacher in this paper and my primary thought partner in this project. My sincerest appreciation and love to Mike Knapp, Becky Aanerud, Joy WilliamsonLott, Chip Turner, Nolan Cabrera, The Midwest Whiteness Collective, and Decoteau Irby, who helped me think through iterations ofthis analysis. Berkeley Review of Education Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 117–144 118 Yoon can be multi-modal, encompassing jokes, teasing, gestures, and facial expressions. In schools and classrooms, racial humor performs status work around power, friendship, and identity in front of a classroom “audience.” Racial humor may or may not be considered racist—depending on the speaker, intended target of humor, and other contextual factors (Mayo, 2008; Rappoport, 2005; Weaver, 2010)—and may not even be perceived as funny. Instead, humor may also intend to harm. Thus, racial humor presen

FAQs

What is the core sociopolitical dilemma addressed in the study?

The study addresses how racial humor involving students of color forces teachers to decide rapidly if and how to respond in ways that maintain an inclusive and equitable classroom climate.

How does the analysis examine the teacher’s responses?

It analyzes two classroom instances in which a White teacher intervenes in racial humor produced by and directed at students of color, focusing on layered consequences for silencing and racialization.

Why can intervening in racial humor produce multiple consequences?

Because intervention can shift classroom dynamics of silencing and racialization in complex ways, creating both immediate and layered effects on students’ social interaction around race.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mary Man