by Peniel J | Jun 24, 2020 | What can we learn from the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed?
“As a 47-year-old African American, I received news of George Floyd’s tragic death as a painful reminder of my own personal vulnerability. When I was a black child growing up in New York City during the 1980s and 1990s, racial divisions were a prominent part of the social, political and cultural landscape that shaped my early life and my generation. We were told vivid stories by schoolteachers, via television documentaries and politicians of the way in which the civil rights movement transformed America by ending racial segregation, securing black voting rights and moving the nation closer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a ‘beloved community.’
My first encounter with the fear and loathing that black men could inspire in white people was both political and painful. In 1986, I started attending an overwhelming white high school in Queens. My freshman year was the first time a white person ever called me the N-word, a circumstance that ignited a melee and landed us both in the principal’s office.Michael Griffith, a black man chased to his death by a white mob in the Howard Beach section of Queens that same year, fared much worse than I did. Both events left me deeply troubled, but also politically exhilarated by the realization that the narrative of civil rights in America in history books differed greatly from my own experience.
Spike Lee’s film “Do The Right Thing” premiered the summer before I turned 17 and quickly became my own personal touchstone. My identification with the character Buggin’ Out’s efforts to boycott an Italian American-owned pizzeria for their failure to include pictures of black people on the restaurant’s wall of fame proved instructive. As did the movie’s heartbreaking depiction of the death of Radio Raheem from police violence. The movie’s coda, which drew quotes from Malcolm X preaching black dignity and Martin Luther King Jr. promoting black citizenship, remained stamped in my soul and is reflected in my work as a scholar to this day.
The precocious black boy who used the realization of personal vulnerability as inspiration to study broadly, empathize deeply and organize politically resides inside of me today, periodically brought to the fore by the latest example of a black man dying unjustly in America. George Floyd’s death is already affecting millions of precocious black boys and girls in America today, many of whom have taken to the streets to demonstrate both the values of their own lives and to honor those taken from us too soon.”
by Antoine G | Jun 24, 2020 | What can we learn from the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed?
“George Floyd. One in dozens of names that we know off the top of our heads, along with Ahmaud Arbery. Trayvon Martin. Sandra Bland. Philando Castille. Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. Laquan McDonald, Brionna Taylor. Racist actions resulting in the murders of Black people. Some by citizens, some by police. And countless others that have died at the hands of racism, whose names we forget. Why? Part of the reason is systemic racism in education. Seventhy-nine percent of educators are White. Yet 52 percent of our students identify as Black, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, or Native American (National Center for Education Statistics).
So, what SHOULD we learn from George Floyd’s murder?
First, we must learn how to be anti-racist, not NOT racist. Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (author of How to Be an Antiracist) says, “I define an antiracist as someone who is expressing an antiracist idea or supporting an antiracist policy with their actions, and I define an antiracist idea as any idea that says the racial groups are equal.” To be anti-racist, we should learn about bias and do the lifelong internal work of uncovering, naming, sitting with, and talking about our biases. We ALL have biases. They’re part of our socialized brains. I have uncovered many of mine (and have many more) that have changed the way I interact with my Black students and students of color. The internal work is messy. It’s hard. You’ll get defensive. But keep asking yourself, “What will happen to my Black students if I don’t advocate for them?” DiAngelo’s White Fragility is PERFECT for this work.
Most important of all, we need to LISTEN to the Black community. We need to pull back the curtain on micro (and not-so-micro) aggressions toward students of color. There are infinite resources that will allow you to listen to the Black community and begin to understand why “reverse racism” and “all lives matter” are not things. Some are listed here, with the knowledge that my anti-racist journey is built on the shoulders of GIANTS, to whom I am immensely grateful.
Books I’ve used on anti-racism for teachers and students:
- How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram Kendi
- White Rage by Carol Anderson
- Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl
- Stamped by Kendi & Jason Reynolds (great for the younger set if you’re looking to do this work with your children at home or your middle or high school students)
- This Book is Antiracist by Tiffany Jewell (great for middle grades and up in classrooms and at home)
- We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be by Cornelius Minor
- Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed. I use this as the base of my teaching bias and discrimination with my students.
- An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People, adapted by Jean Mendoza and Dr. Debbie Reese. This is the student version of the original written by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and is a vital component of my social studies curriculum.
Finally, we must learn to teach this relevant and current topic to our students, no matter our discomfort. Our discomfort doesn’t matter. Again, sit with it. Say you are uncomfortable. Say you are new at being anti-racist. It’s OK to be vulnerable with students as you grapple with this work together.
This lifelong work: Uncovering our biases, listening, and teaching anti-racism is the work of teachers, and it is past time that we act on behalf of our kids.”
by Lorie B | Jun 24, 2020 | What can we learn from the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed?
“It is not enough to not be racist, we must be anti-racist. Many individuals, whether they are teachers, administrators, or teacher aides point to their own efforts working with minority communities and ask themselves what can I do to be part of the solution for their students. There are many things that can be done, from valuing diversity in the workforce, particularly in leadership, to teachers actually living in the community in which they teach. However, the greatest catalyst for change is to realize that we as individuals make up the system.
Teachers, coaches, support staff are the educational system. Each individual might not have personal animus toward any race, but that’s not enough. Neutrality is what gives us the system we have today. Silence in the face of systemic racism and oppression is no different from the police officers who stood idly by while Mr. Floyd pleaded for his life. We must be anti-racist, we must confront, name, and actively dismantle a system that benefits some but marginalizes others. That means we don’t teach history as a dry collection of facts but as a living, moving, drama that affects our students today. That means we select a curriculum that is not only from diverse editors but also raises issues of oppression. It means schools try to intervene when a student is chronically absent or in the behavior office regularly. It means we actively talk about race and racism in faculty meetings and department meetings instead of assuming “colorblindness.”
Unfortunately, the story of George Floyd is an all too familiar one. We have seen this story before; the protests eventually fade, the crowds will soon disperse until the next victim. Let’s hope that the legacy of Mr. Floyd this time is to do what we can as individuals to right the wrongs that we see everyday and be the voice to so many students who are voiceless.”
by N. Bailey | Jun 24, 2020 | What can we learn from the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed?
“Systemic racism is not unique to the criminal justice system. It is far too easy to point out the martyrs of police killings: Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, and Freddie Gray just to name a few. It is also easy to point out the racial disparities in incarceration rates, bail determinations by judges, and felony disenfranchisement to see that the criminal-justice system works differently for different races. Many have pointed out that the criminal-justice system isn’t dysfunctional at all but does exactly what it was designed to do.
After the bloody Civil War and the end of slavery, the 13th Amendment freed the slaves but offered the caveat of “involuntary servitude” for duly convicted criminals; shortly thereafter, black men began to be incarcerated at alarming rates for minor offenses such as loitering. The “War on Drugs” which succeeded the “Law and Order” platforms of the ’70s began the age of mass incarceration where millions of black and brown people were imprisoned and millions more were relegated to second-class citizens for being a felon.
Many would argue that the criminal-justice system offers a window into the American psyche, and what it reveals is a criminalization and fear of black and brown people and a dehumanization of said people.”
Recent Comments