Introduction: schooling racial illiteracy: the excavation of racial stress and resilience through storytelling -- If elephants could talk: stress and incompetence in the politics of American race relations -- Recasting the history of racial "firsts": dancing around stereotypes in American schools -- Fearing racial discourse: the socialization of racial threat in schools -- Recasting racial threat: a model for coping and assertiveness during conflicts -- Walking while talking: what parents and educators can do to promote racial literacy -- Racial literacy as civil disobedience: practicing racial assertiveness in schools.