Pramod Sah

Native-speakerism is racialized
Being recognized as a legitimate “native” English speaker was not determined simply by linguistic competence. Whiteness, nationality, and passport status shaped who was readily recognized as an authentic English speaker and teacher, while racialized educators often had their linguistic and professional legitimacy questioned.

Inequality is intersectional
Race does not operate independently. Race, gender, nationality, age, and employment status intersected to produce different forms of professional advantage and marginalization. White male educators were disproportionately represented in secure positions, while educators of color—particularly women of color—were more concentrated in contract and part-time employment.

Racism is also emotional
Racial inequality was experienced through anxiety, shame, frustration, anger, insecurity, and emotional exhaustion. Credentialism and native-speakerism operated as forms of affective governance, repeatedly requiring racialized educators to prove their competence and professional worth.

Whiteness produces unequal emotions
Institutional racial hierarchies distribute not only opportunities but also emotional experiences unequally. While racialized teachers described heightened scrutiny and insecurity, Whiteness was more readily associated with institutional trust, legitimacy, confidence, and professional ease. This supports the broader conceptualization of “unequal emotions” (Sah, 2023)—the unequal recognition of people’s linguistic and educational resources producing unequal affective consequences.

Emotions can also enable resistance
Teachers were not simply recipients of racialized harm. Care, pride, solidarity, advocacy, and collective action became resources for challenging marginalization, supporting colleagues and students, and creating more equitable professional and pedagogical spaces. Individual advocacy mattered, but the research also shows that lasting change requires structural, not merely individual, responses.