What is White People

This chapter will rely on both poetry and prose to communicate the ideas the author teaches prospective mathematics teachers about social justice and develop their social awareness. She uses qualitative methods developed from performative autoethnography, poetic inquiry, and poetic-narrative autoethnography to accomplish three goals: 1) describe her definition of social justice education, 2) articulate the experiences that led her to use poetry in class, and 3) expand on the ways she uses poetry with prospective mathematics teachers. Further, she explores how different kinds of silence are a necessary component to developing social awareness and how poetry can foster these productive silences and allow students to break through unproductive silences.