Black students at the K–12 level are more likely to attend schools or be tracked into programs in which foreign languages are not available; they complete the least number of high school credits in this subject; they earn only 4% of bachelor’s degrees conferred in the field of foreign languages; and Black teachers comprise just 6% of instructors in the humanities and a mere 3% of postsecondary foreign language faculty (Musu-Gillete, et al., 2017; US Department of Education, 2016). This underrepresentation, however, is not due to low interest or Black students’ lack of motivation to study languages (Glynn, 2012). It can be traced back to past and current segregation, inequitable distribution of resources, and the systemic exclusion and marginalization of African Americans in US schools. For example, schools that many Black students attend also map onto indexes of broader socioeconomic disparities between neighborhoods and districts, and they typically struggle with the availability of funding for language programs. In schools that do offer these programs, Black students are frequently placed in academic tracks without them, and institutional gatekeepers (eg teachers, counselors, school leaders) with deficit notions of their supposed linguistic and cultural disadvantages and their families’ purported lack of value for education encourage Black students to pursue “less intellectual” or “more practical” subjects (Schoener & McKenzie, 2016). Additionally, Black students report negative language classroom experiences, poor instructional environments, unfavorable (and racist) teacher and classmate attitudes and perceptions, apathy and low expectations from instructors, and language curriculum/learning materials that they find unappealing and irrelevant to their cultural identities (Davis & Markham, 1991; Gatlin, 2013; Pratt, 2012). As a result of these conditions, they are underrepresented in language education, and therefore do not realize all the benefits that our field can offer. Without intervention, the pattern will continue.

Representation matters in language education, and it goes beyond merely ticking demographic boxes on student and teacher diversity. To assure equity and meaningful participation of language educators and learners from minoritized racial backgrounds, we must openly address race and racism in language education policies, instructional practices, and curriculum, regardless of the arguments that some make alleging that such discussions court controversy or are “political,” and thus have no place in language education. Language educators and learners cannot leave racial differences and the social impact of these identities outside the classroom.