For a faculty member of East Asian ancestry, raised in Latin America, race became a salient part of the author's identity during adulthood while living and working in the southern United States. While the race-related experiences the author continues to have on and off campus are deeply personal, race became an academic undertaking, and centering race has changed her approach to understanding and teaching her area of specialization. As a biological anthropologist, she finds the race concept interesting in its many applications and abuses in the social and life sciences, and she is particularly interested in the works of those individuals who study humanity as a research subject. But the four-letter word, imbued with deep historical and emotional roots, can be a precarious topic to teach to undergraduates in this age of political correctness. The concept eludes many students, creating anxiety, fear, and confusion. This essay recounts the author's experiences in teaching about race as a faculty member of color at a predominately white liberal arts college, and the valuable lessons she has learned.