Are Virtual Classrooms Colorblind?

•E-learning is flourishing as a teaching/learning approach in nursing education.•A digital divide exists between diverse communities and the general population.•Culture, a primary medium for learning, has been minimally exposed in e-learning.•Disregard for culture and ethnicity in e-learning reflects a colorblind pedagogy.

E-learning, increasingly employed in nursing education, has been embraced as a means to enhance options for all students, particularly those with limited educational opportunities. Although a desire to increase access for underserved students is often cited, disparities in availability, usage, and quality of e-learning persist among diverse households and student populations when compared to the general population. In this article, these issues will be examined along with reflection on the extent to which culture has been integrated into on-line design and instruction. Historical and cultural aspects, circumscribing virtual classrooms, are discussed using African Americans as an exemplar. The imperative to harness the democratizing potential of this educational format is underscored. In this article, culture will be examined in light of the significant growth in on-line nursing education over the past several decades.