Using critical race theory as a framework and methodology, this qualitative study of 10 Black graduate students examines how teaching and learning in the racialized context of a predominantly White institution affects the pedagogical interaction between Black faculty and Black students in the classroom. The findings of this study suggest that some Black graduate students enter classrooms taught by professors who are Black like them with the perception that Black faculty (a) are innocent until proven guilty, (b) will serve as role models who hold them to higher standards, and (c) will view Black students and be viewed by these same students as representatives of their race. This manuscript concludes that Black professors must be aware of such perceptions and discover how to navigate this racial paradox if they are to successfully fulfill their responsibility to lift up the souls of Black graduate students in the presence of their academic experience.
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