This study is a narrative inquiry that explores the understandings of elementary
principals in schools where the racial and cultural makeup of the student body differs
markedly from the racial and cultural makeup of the teaching staff. I purposefully
selected principals who work in majority-Black schools staffed with majority-White
teachers. I conducted in-depth interviews with ten Midwest elementary principals, five
White and five Black, in three different urban areas. I transcribed these interviews and
used the resulting transcript data as well as my field notes as the primary data sources
from which to draw conclusions. My data analysis surfaced three themes that describe
how principals collectively understand such schools and their leadership in them. First,
the principals’ own biography seemingly influenced how they understood, experienced,
and engaged race and racism in their schools. Second, principals envisioned their
leadership role as moral agents and used their moral power to assuage the perceived
social injustices experienced by students. Third, principals understood that they
functioned in a culture of fear where teachers were afraid of Black students, their parents,
and the Black community surrounding the schools