1. Sleeter critiques how meanings of empowerment and multicultural education have been filtered through white teachers' perspectives rather than communities of color. 2. Gutstein views the purpose of empowerment and multicultural education as the liberation of oppressed groups and development of students' identities and abilities to critique and affect society. 3. Both argue power needs to be redistributed from white educators to students and communities of color, and that multicultural education should empower its natural constituents - oppressed groups - rather than be reshaped for white educators' interests.