This paper reflects our experience working with a 2016 Environmental Justice class in an early college in Flint, Michigan. We explore the complexity of engaging with students about issues of racism and racial stereotyping in response to their experiences living through the "water crisis" in Flint. In this paper, we question our role as researchers and educators from outside the community and identify a tension that we experienced between cultivating students' conscientização (Freire, 1970) and supporting the students as they construct their own narratives about themselves and their community.