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)….”

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“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….'”
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“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.
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“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….”
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