This paper presents selected findings from an ethnographic case study of at a public junior high school. Analysis of White teachers' discourse implicated a perspective of Mexican-American children that we describe as a "mañana complex," a perceived association between Mexican-Americans and the term "mañana" (Spanish: "tomorrow"). We outline how this mañana complex among White teachers is indicative of historical racial tropes of Mexicans in the United States while also reflecting current anti-Mexican discourse emboldened and made more fervent by the current US presidential administration. Ultimately, the mañana complex is an example of both racial disgust toward Mexican-American children (Matias and Zembylas in Crit Stud Educ 55(3):319-337, 2014) and presumptions of White innocence and neutrality (Orozco in Crit Stud Educ 1-17, 2017. http://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2017.1285335) among White teachers. Such narratives have profound implications for the education of Mexican and non-White children in US schools that are herein discussed.