Many people, educators included, assume that if a child of color is not doing well, it is about race. We tend to assume, based on little more than appearance, that some students are more advantaged than others. This presentation will explore issues of culture (also called ethnicity) and how race, and our perceptions of it, can interfere with our ability to be culturally competent. We will explore issues related to some of the barriers that cultural misunderstandings can create (based on both our cultures and those of our students), irrespective of race. Generational poverty has a cultural component, as does being reared by parents who may not be of the dominant culture. For example, a Russian immigrant may not face racism directly, but they will suffer culture shock, and are much less likely to succeed in school. There is a lot of overlap between race and ethnicity, but to become culturally competent one must learn to differentiate between them and address culture without assuming anything about race.