White Supremacy in Education White Supremacy Affects Every Element of the U.S

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Social Justice and Math Meet Our New Director Black Male Educators Teaching Liberation and Love And Other Big News! Resisting White Supremacy With Joy TEACHING

ISSUE 66 | SPRING 2021 TOLERANCETOLERANCE.ORG

White Supremacy in Education White supremacy affects every element of the U.S. education system. Find out how students, educators and other stakeholders resist it daily. RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 6–12 THE FORGOTTEN SLAVERY BIBI OF OUR ANCESTORS

Our new streaming classroom film, Bibi, tells the story LESSONS FOR GRADES of Ben, a gay Latinx man, and his complicated relation- 6–12 AVAILABLE ship with his father and his home. The 18-minute film can inspire critical conversations about identity, culture, family, communication and belonging.

AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING ONLY AT TOLERANCE.ORG/BIBI

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 6–12 THE FORGOTTEN SLAVERY BIBI OF OUR ANCESTORS

Indigenous enslavement predated and shaped systems of African American slavery on land that is now the United States, stretching across the continent and through the 19th century. Use this new film to introduce students to what historian Andrés Résendez calls “our shared history.”

AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING ONLY AT TOLERANCE.ORG/FORGOTTENSLAVERY ISSUE 66 | SPRING 2021

DEPARTMENTS 5 Perspectives Our new director introduces herself—and shares some big news! 7 Letters to the Editor Ask Teaching Tolerance 24 9 19 11 Why I Teach Gerardo Muñoz on the importance of centering community—especially this school year.

13 Down the Hall Special education consultant Veronica Menefee on ensuring every student can thrive. 15 PD Café In this conclusion to a four-part series exploring the four domains of TT’s Social Justice Standards, we take a deep dive into action. 59 Staff Picks Our book and film reviews help you keep your practice fresh and informed. 62 Story Corner 64 One World 46 50

on the cover White supremacy affects every element of the U.S. education system.

ILLUSTRATION BY CARLOS BASABE

2 TEACHING TOLERANCE ALL ARTICLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE AT TOLERANCE.ORG/MAGAZINE. IN THIS ISSUE ∞ “The Night Before the Dream,” a new Story Corner from award- winning children’s book author Glenda Armand.

FEATURES 19 The Fight for Ethnic Studies Across the country, advocates are working to ensure K-12 students 42 It Was Always About Control have the opportunity to take ethnic When schools closed due to coronavirus, studies courses. educators and students made big changes to adapt to distance learning. Too many 24 24 A Flaw in the Foundation policies didn’t change at all. If we’re serious about dismantling 28 46 The Classical Roots white supremacy in schools, teacher preparation programs are an obvious of White Supremacy place to start. For most Americans, the classical world means Greece and Rome. That idea 28 Wha t it Means to Be is ahistorical—and it’s an intentional an Anti-racist Teacher creation of white supremacy. TT sits down with #DisruptTexts co-founder Lorena Germán to discuss 50 What Educators culturally sustaining pedagogy. Can Do in 100 Days At the start of a new administration, we 32 Mathematics in Context: can all recommit to working for equity The Pedagogy of Liberation in schools. Members of the Teaching Modeling the self-reflection at the Tolerance Advisory Board suggest some heart of all great pedagogy, two ways to get started. math educators explain how their commitment to equity informs the way 54 “We Won’t Wear the Name” they teach. At these three high schools, each named for Robert E. Lee, students led the way 37 B lack Male Educators toward change. 50 54 Create Space for Joy Resisting white supremacy doesn’t always look like fighting. Making space for community and celebration is also resistance.

SPRING 2021 3 TEACHING TOLERANCE

DIRECTOR Jalaya Liles Dunn SENIOR CREATIVE LEADS Michelle Leland, Scott Phillips, Kristina Turner DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING Hoyt J. Phillips III DESIGNERS Shannon Anderson, Hillary Andrews, Cierra Brinson, MANAGING EDITOR Monita K. Bell Sunny Paulk, Jacob Saylor, Alex Trott, Claudia Whitaker DESIGN ASSOCIATE Angela Greer SENIOR EDITOR Julia Delacroix ASSOCIATE EDITOR Crystal L. Keels PRODUCTION SENIOR WRITERS Cory Collins, Coshandra Dillard PURCHASING PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Kimberly James MARKETING COORDINATOR Lindsey Shelton NEW MEDIA ASSOCIATE Colin Campbell CONTRIBUTORS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Anya Malley 211 Photography, Lhisa Almashy, Glenda Armand, Carlos Basabe, Dani Bostick, Julianna Brion, Val Brown, John Jay Cabuay, Kevin Cordi, Toni Rose Deanon, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINERS Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, Geneviève DeBose, Marian Dingle, Stephanie Eley, Morgan Jon Fox, Lorena Germán, Kimberly Burkhalter Vickie Gray, Angela Hartman, Daryl Howard, Anthony Hudson, Katty Huertas, PROGRAM ASSOCIATE Gabriel A. Smith Bee Johnson, Elizabeth Kleinrock, Cornelia Li, Jenn Liv, Danna Lomax, Mary Kate PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Madison Coleman McDevitt, Amy Melik, Veronica Menefee, Gerardo Muñoz, Olga Muzician, Peter Nguyen, Alicia Oglesby, Meenal Patel, Natalie Odom Pough, Fatinha Ramos, Annie TEACHING AND LEARNING SPECIALIST Jonathan Tobin Ray, Dola Sun, Eso Tolson, Tina Vasquez, Dania Wright, Cathery Yeh TEACHING AND LEARNING FELLOWS Christina Noyes, Ericka Smith SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER Margaret Huang SCHOOL-BASED PROGRAMMING AND GRANTS MANAGER Jey Ehrenhalt PRESIDENT & CEO CHIEF OF STAFF Lecia Brooks Seth Levi PROGRAM COORDINATOR Steffany Moyer CHIEF PROGRAM STRATEGY OFFICER CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER Danny McGregor CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Teenie Hutchison CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER Twyla Williams CO-INTERIM LEGAL DIRECTORS Kim Anderson, Kate Kendell INTERIM GENERAL COUNSEL O.V. Brantley

ADVISORY BOARD Mayra Almaraz-de Santiago, Lhisa Almashy, Julie Bradley, Hayley Breden, Tracy Castro-Gill, Kevin Cordi, Rebecca Coven, Toni Rose Deanon, Geneviève DeBose, Kari Deswood, Marian Dingle, Kim Estelle, Barbie Garayúa Tudryn, Maribel Gonzales, Kishanna Laurie Harley, Angela Hartman, Michelle Higgins, Stephanie Jones, Averill Kelley, Liz Kleinrock, Danna Lomax, Charlie McGeehan, Amy Melik, Veronica Menefee, Henry Cody Miller, Matilda Morrison, Alicia Oglesby, Alice Owolabi-Mitchell, Sonal Patel, Celeste Payne, Jamilah Pitts, Natalie Odom Pough, Marvin Reed, Kinette Richards, Frances Weaver, Bria Wright

SPLC BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bennett Grau (Chair), Karol V. Mason (Vice Chair), Josh Bekenstein, Bryan Fair, Pam Horowitz, Lida Orzeck, Elden Rosenthal, Isabel Watkins Rubio, Katheryn Russell-Brown, Minjon Tholen, Corey Cortez Wiggins, Verna L. Williams, Emery Wright, Joseph J. Levin Jr. (Emeritus)

EDITORIAL OFFICE 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104 EMAIL [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS tolerance.org/magazine/subscribe

Teaching Tolerance is mailed twice and released online three times a year at no charge to educators. It is published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal and education organization. For permission to reprint articles, email us at [email protected]. For media inquiries, email Ashley Levett at [email protected].

THE MISSION OF TEACHING TOLERANCE IS TO HELP TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS EDUCATE CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO BE ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN A DIVERSE DEMOCRACY.

SE RECY A C E L L E

E H Printed with inks containing 27.3% renewable resources L I S B M A L A C G Y A C ZI RE NE IS 100% Perspectives In order for us as a poor and oppressed people to become a part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed. — Ella Baker

I AM JALAYA LILES DUNN, and I am delighted, But learning is only a first step. As honored and eager to be joining you as the Frederick Douglass wrote, “Power con- new director of this important project of radi- cedes nothing without a demand. It cal education, justice and democracy. never did and it never will.” Twenty years ago, I was introduced to the Together, the voices in this issue Southern Poverty Law Center and Teaching demand radical change, challenging Tolerance while serving as an Ella Baker white supremacy in school and teacher Trainer for the Children’s Defense Fund education curricula, school discipline Freedom Schools program. policies, school facilities and classroom climates. An organizer and human rights activ- an urgent call to action: We must learn, Radical change is a persistent and ist, Baker understood the work necessary grow and wield power together. protracted process of discourse, debate, to effect systems change. “We are going That’s how we will make justice real consensus, reflection and struggle. The to have to learn to think in radical terms,” in our lives and in the lives of the stu- stories in this issue reveal the inner she wrote in 1969, “getting down to and dents, families, educators and commu- workings of this process. understanding the root cause. [That] nities we serve. Read on to hear from Black stu- means facing a system that does not lend The rollout of our new name will dents and recent alumni fighting to itself to your needs and devising means take place over the upcoming months. reclaim and rename schools named by which you change that system.” You will start seeing changes on our after Robert E. Lee. Hear what Baker’s leadership in empowering website and social media accounts, and #DisruptTexts co-founder Lorena ordinary people like you and me con- gradually in our publications, lessons Germán has to say about anti-racism tinues to call me to this work. That’s and other resources. The next time and decolonized classrooms. Meet the why I’m so excited to share that the you read this magazine, it will be called activists working to ensure all students announcement of my leadership is Learning for Justice. can find themselves in their curricula. coupled with other important news: That’s why we’re so proud that the Learn how Black male educators are the long-anticipated name change of final issue ofTeaching Tolerance is also finding—and making—space for joy. Teaching Tolerance. a good look at the work we’ll be doing as And join our advisory board to con- As we’ve written before, this project Learning for Justice. sider the significant progress toward needs a name that reflects how our work In this issue, we highlight stories equity you and your school can make has evolved over the last 30 years—from across the wide spectrum of educa- in just 100 days. reducing prejudice to more pointedly tion, examining the ways systems and We’re pleased to share this issue supporting action to address injustice. institutions perpetuate racism and of our magazine with you. We can’t Learning for Justice is the new name white supremacy. think of a better way to say goodbye to for our work in the struggle for radical Learning from one another is how we Teaching Tolerance and begin the work change in education and community! begin to determine what justice looks like of Learning for Justice. We are called as educators, justice in schools. In this issue, you’ll have the We’re grateful to all of you who advocates, caregivers and students to opportunity to learn from student activ- have worked alongside us for so long. reimagine and reclaim our education ists, Black male educators, education pro- And we look forward to continuing our system so that it is inclusive and just. fessors, math educators, school adminis- work together and learning for justice In shifting from Teaching Tolerance trators, grassroots organizers, policy and with you. to Learning for Justice, we’re offering legislative advocates and others. —Jalaya Liles Dunn

@Tolerance_org teachingtolerance.org @teaching_tolerance SPRING 2021 5 SEASON 3 OF THE TEACHING HARD HISTORY PODCAST IS NOW STREAMING!

Teaching Hard History: American Slavery Key Concept Videos A series of 10 videos for teaching and learning about the history of slavery in the United States.

Featuring historians and scholars, including Ibram X. Kendi and Annette Gordon-Reed, our Teaching Hard History Key Concept Videos examine slavery’s impact on the lives of enslaved people in what is now the United States and the nation’s development around the institution. The videos also explain how enslaved people influenced the nation, its culture and its history.

Find our comprehensive K-5 and 6-12 frameworks, including texts, quizzes, professional development resources and more, at tolerance.org/hardhistory.

Watch the videos at tolerance.org/thhvideos.

6 TEACHING TOLERANCE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 7 ASK TEACHING TOLERANCE 9 ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT 10 & 12 WHY I TEACH 11 DOWN THE HALL 13 STUDENT READS 14 FREE STUFF 14

Reader Reactions In our Fall 2020 issue, Senior Writer Coshandra Dillard wrote about the need for white educators to recognize and disrupt a harmful pattern. Read her story “The Weaponization of Whiteness in Schools” at t-t.site/ whiteness-in-schools. Great article for self-reflection on how we use our power and authority as white folks. —@AmyEichMN VIA TWITTER This happens way too often, and it’s past time to call it out and actually address the issue! ‘When white educators weaponize whiteness to affirm their authority, they can change the trajectory of a Black child’s life.’ —Shandreka Rankin VIA FACEBOOK This is a reality at all levels of a hierarchy. Weaponization of Whiteness pushed me out of admin. —@Myrnareli_Myrna VIA TWITTER

ILLUSTRATION BY MEENAL PATEL

Teaching Tolerance depends TT’S NEWEST FILM: THE THE VALUE and I learned so much can’t on your support and critical FORGOTTEN SLAVERY OF EDUCATOR SELF- wait to reach more people feedback to improve our OF OUR ANCESTORS CARE WEBINAR spreading the message of work. We love hearing from I am on the edge of a NM Thank you for the practi- Self-Love and Self-Care you! Please let us know Reservation. My grandma cal tips and resources. I felt —@educators4self.care what you think by emailing talked about her grand- refreshed after engaging VIA INSTAGRAM [email protected] or mother being taken from with the webinar, some- reaching out via Facebook, her family and was enslaved. thing I don’t say very often! AN ANTI-RACIST Twitter or Instagram. I teach near a reservation INTERVIEW WITH —@danieltr83 and 75% of my students are AUTHOR TIFFANY VIA TWITTER Native American. This is a JEWELL I just wanted to say thank great start to the silenced What a beautiful inter- you so much. I attended voices of Native Americans. view with Tiffany Jewell your Educator Self Care Thanks. My students felt about her amazing book!! Webinar this summer and the clip was informative and It is important that we it inspired me to start an interesting. They felt angry, as teachers don’t avoid Educators 4 Self Care club sad, hurt. ... conversations about at my university for our —Amanda racism and a book like Coramae Gallegos Elementary Education this can make having VIA FACEBOOK program! It was incredible those conversations less

@Tolerance_org teachingtolerance.org @teaching_tolerance SPRING 2021 7 My 1st grader begins virtual learning tomorrow and a guest room closet will serve as his school nook. ... I framed three [One World Posters] to brighten the space. Full disclosure: adaptability is NOT my strength, but I’m noticing that even a small project where I get to create beauty has helped me walk into the changes with less anxiety. —@FULLPALETTECOACHING

AWESOME INSTA daunting. Teaching should not just ‘box checking.’ Amazing short film there like them ... endur- #teachallhistory ing biases that will try to be an anti racist act!! The story telling, timing, limit or silence their voice —@MrsKWellsKMS connections made were —@EllieGaudin (because it’s described as VIA TWITTER perfectly executed! VIA TWITTER too loud, too expressive, or Themes of intersectional- Self-examination is so it’s too blunt). I stand with ONLINE ARTICLE: ity and culture captured important as institutions you in support! #everyvoice “ACTIVE LISTENING beautifully MUST BE THE NORM” move to adopt anti-rac- —@shebelya —@persaud_c VIA TWITTER This article seems very ist work. So often these VIA TWITTER relevant for our entire efforts are purely perfor- mative and rarely rooted in “The world needs you to community. I’m sitting ON INCLUSIVE sprinkle your Black girl and reflecting on it, and ideals of justice or equality. Without this praxis we EDUCATION magic any- and every- encourage us all to do the are still mired in quick- This is all ... indoctri- where you go. Don’t let same ... and listening to sand of cognitive disso- nation, not education. anyone bind you to their many, with curiosity. nance. #RootedinPraxis ‘Inclusive education’ is not low expectations or stereo- —@LLAprincipal happening in Saudi Arabia, types. Don’t let anything —@mixxmomma VIA TWITTER or India, or Nigeria, or stop you from sharing your VIA TWITTER China. Their students are magic with the world.” Mrs. Editor’s note: Watch TT learning vital knowledge THE BEAUTY OF BIBI Wright, you’re making the webinars free on demand at It should be the work of to make them competitive world a better place. tolerance.org/webinars. every educator to help and equipped to deal in a —@MAEC4Ed world which is not a warm, PUBLISHED ONLINE: students feel acceptance, VIA TWITTER fuzzy safe space, whilst “ANTI-RACISM WORK: pride, & peace in their own ours become weaker and ARE YOU IN IT FOR intersectional identities. more ignorant by the day. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! THE LONG HAUL?” This story sparks critical Have an opinion about something I read this a few days ago conversations, asks how we —Pixie Leyted you see in Teaching Tolerance and the key questions communicate belonging, VIA FACEBOOK magazine or on our website? & how we respond when Email us at [email protected] were a good starting point LOVE FOR with the subject line “Letter to others share their story. for reflecting on how “WHY I TEACH” the Editor.” Or mail a letter to I commit to long term —@KimberlyWaite8 “Love it!! Our children need 400 Washington Ave., culture shift in my craft, VIA TWITTER to know there are others out Montgomery, AL 36104.

8 TEACHING TOLERANCE ISTOCK Ask Teaching Tolerance makes its way to them and to look at that information critically and with a healthy dose of skepticism. These skills are applicable in any subject area—and can be incorporated into your existing curriculum. In math, for example, you can have students compare data from a range of sources to see whether its presentation is being skewed to favor a particular position. Educators in any subject can also teach about the algorithms that result in curated filter bubbles and emphasize the impor- My school has gone back and forth between hybrid, tance of distinguishing in-person and virtual learning due to COVID. What can I between fact and opin- Q: ion. You can talk with do to create structure and stability for my students (and myself)? students about ways to take action and push back against misinformation. All of us—including teach- expectations. Bring par- information they find This can include asking ers, school staff, caregivers ents and caregivers into online. How can I remain clarifying questions, cit- and students—are fac- the routine by giving stu- nonpartisan and objec- ing reliable sources, and ing uncertainty almost dents discussion questions tive while giving them challenging misleading daily amid the ongo- they can talk about after the tools to identify mis- or harmful language and ing pandemic. But there school and then—if they information and think information. Tools like are little ways you can choose—discuss in class. critically about sources the TT Digital Literacy create routines and struc- In addition, please they encounter? Framework or Stanford tures that can be easily remember you cannot be Digital literacy is only History Education Group implemented in person a consistent presence for increasing in its impor- resources can be helpful or virtually. Think about students if you aren’t tak- tance. Your students references as you dive into activities like one-min- ing care of yourself. Along will continue to encoun- this work. Collaborating ute check-ins, building in with activities for stu- ter false information, with your colleagues to a few minutes every hour dents, make self-care a opinions framed as develop a common lan- for a short wellness activ- part of your routine. That facts and sources with guage will ensure students ity or a game, and quick can take many forms; only varying degrees of trust- are hearing consistent writes on short prompts you know what works best worthiness. We hope you’ll messaging throughout the for students to focus their for you. You can check out advocate on their behalf school day when it comes thoughts. Give students our webinar The Value with your administration to digital literacy. time to process and take of Educator Self-care for to ensure you are sup- deep breaths. These rou- ported in your efforts to ideas and inspiration. ASK TEACHING TOLERANCE! tines will help ensure teach this critical subject. Need the kind of advice that, no matter the for- Even though election By teaching digital literacy, and expertise only Teaching mat or venue in which season is over, my stu- you can equip your stu- Tolerance can provide? Email you’ll be meeting, students dents are still confused by dents to better understand us at [email protected] with can come with consistent the conflicting and false the ways information “Ask TT” in the subject line.

ILLUSTRATION BY JULIANNA BRION SPRING 2021 9 ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT

Search for these headlines at tolerance.org. • All Students Need Anti-racism Education BY CHRISTINA TORRES

• Pandemic Pedagogy: ARTICLE 6.30.20 // RACE & ETHNICITY, RIGHTS & ACTIVISM A Call to Educators to Bring Their Classrooms to Reality Anti-Racist Work in Schools: BY DR. KIARA LEE-HEART • Are You in it for the Long Haul? The Burden of Critical BY ELIZABETH KLEINROCK Active Conscience BY DR. SHANTÁ As an anti-bias anti-racist (ABAR) facilitator and educator-in-progress, I’ve had the oppor- R. ROBINSON tunity to partner with public, charter and independent schools across the United States and can tell you firsthand that there is no “one size fits all” approach to this work. There are, • however, a number of things schools should consider as they create objectives for the short To Sustain the Tough and long term. Conversations, Active ABAR is trending in mainstream spaces, and more schools are recognizing its Listening Must Be importance and reaching out for resources and training. I do believe that it’s better the Norm late than never, but schools must be intentional and thoughtful as they begin this life- BY CHRISTOPHER long commitment. HOWELL While there is urgency in ABAR work, urgency cannot be prioritized over relationships or centering the voices and opinions of marginalized community members. Without care- ful thought and planning, schools risk alienating Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) stakeholders, reinforcing white saviorism and derailing the possibility of future DID YOU KNOW? efforts. Standards and skills can always be retaught, but school culture is too important DID YOU KNOW? to get wrong. Your north star is always centering your most marginalized and under-resourced students. When reviewing disciplinary records, a 2015 study found, teachers of all races were more likely to label students with And a reader replied... stereotypically “Black names” as troublemakers Another challenging but important article. How do I ensure that my focus on this work after a second infraction is a way of doing business, not a short term response? A question for me to consider. and recommend harsher punishments for them. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: —PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE t-t.site/long-haul

10 TEACHING TOLERANCE ILLUSTRATION BY BEE JOHNSON Why I Teach

Gerardo Muñoz teaches middle and high school social studies at the Denver Center for International Studies in Denver, Colorado. He is the 2021 Colorado Teacher of the Year.

Returning to the Place of Origin One assumption educators often It’s actually about returning to the When young people can develop make is that independence and indi- place of origin: family and community. the ability to connect with others vidual initiative are the highest It’s about rediscovering our humanity and act on behalf of and in solidar- aspirations of education. We must and considering what it means to find ity with a larger community, then ensure, conventional thinking goes, a way forward from that space. they can not only thrive in their own that students are able to complete In that space, we are our most ele- lives and paths but also uplift those work independently. Once we pro- mental selves. I was not raised in around them. A collectivist mindset vide them with tools and a “gradual close proximity to my Indigenous disrupts the alienating prioritization release of responsibility,” they Mexican ancestors, but I know that of the individual. will thrive. in times of difficulty we return to Over 20 years ago, under the This moribund, “every- each other. tutelage of brilliant and generous one-for-themselves” mindset has We connect and talk and, though educators, I decided that students intensified with COVID-19, partic- the problems of the world are many collaborating and addressing real ularly in communities that are fully and overwhelming, we sit in the com- issues in authentic ways was my remote. There, individual profession- munity space that is help for us. I’ve greatest aspiration. I participated in als and learners have only themselves taken this elemental idea and made project-based programs and initi- to lean on to get through this crisis. it my practice as a descendant of ated, in the spirit of the Mississippi But recently, watching an aboli- the original people of the Americas. Freedom Schools, the expectation tionist webinar with Dr. Bettina L. When things become challenging and that “this is a classroom for talking. Love, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad and Dr. overwhelming, I have to come back to We talk here.” Dena Simmons, I arrived at the real- my place of origin, to the people and My students over the years ization that this moment isn’t about communities that inspire me to con- have thrived when they have been simply leaning into the “new normal.” tinue on. expected to connect, communicate,

SHARE YOUR Story What motivates you to get up each morning and serve students in our nation’s schools? We want to hear from you. Send your 600-word submission for the “Why I Teach” column to [email protected].

PHOTOGRAPHY BY 211 PHOTOGRAPHY SPRING 2021 11 collaborate and act as a community. Needless to say, this culture was completely disrupted—even, for a time, destroyed—by COVID-19 quar- antines and shutdowns. It seemed that collaboration would be the last thing we could strive for. In fact, in the last year, the teaching landscape has changed so dramatically that it feels presump- tuous for me to describe any strategy or method that I have used to engage the largely muted and hidden student community in front of me. But if school closures and distance learning have offered me anything constructive, it is a reaffir- mation that education is not simply ARTICLE 9.17.20 // RACE & ETHNICITY, GENDER & SEXUAL IDENTITY about individual students listening to instructions. Teaching is not just about being a taskmaster, assigning Stop Talking in Code: things, collecting them and moving on. Even our technology-driven Gen Call Them Black Boys Z-ers complain that they are tired BY DR. DARYL HOWARD of screens and doing “busy work,” which is code for “work that has no The phrase [“Black males”] brings into our schools a historical stigma and authentic application to the world in all of the resultant baggage of societal misconceptions that come along with which I exist.” it. The stereotype sets the stage for low expectations and underachievement They miss their peers. and the need for highly controlled spaces and zero-tolerance policies. We miss them. As an educator who happens to be a Black man, I cringe every time I hear In one of my classes, after stu- the term, as I see the personhood being stripped from the child or student dents collaborated on a project described. If one is talking about the opportunity gap, why should educators examining virtual communities care about a phrase that doesn’t indicate a real person but merely a descrip- during the pandemic, one even com- tor for data? Why would they adjust their pedagogy and practice for a mere mented, “This was really helpful; statistical term? The same thinking exists for reports, scheduling, articula- seeing other people’s projects made tion, referrals and discussions in conference me feel less alone.” rooms, teachers’ lounges or school parking lots. So my challenge to myself is this: What I’m trying to do here is bring attention to the sin- to center all I do in my place of origin. gular coding of “Black males,” as opposed to the nuanced, Community. Conversation. varied and real human lives of Black boys. Asking my students what is and what isn’t working in my remote class. Offering multiple ways to engage—whether through innovative chat rooms, games or shared play- And a reader replied... lists—and constantly gathering and Wow! Such subtle, yet pervasive biases built right into the vernacular. applying feedback. Thank you for sharing. I am planning less but building READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: more. Because now, more than ever, we need authentic spaces in which t-t.site/black-boys students can consider their humanity—and community.

12 TEACHING TOLERANCE ISTOCK Down the Hall

Demystifying the Process Over the course of her career, Veronica Menefee taught students from Head Start to the college level. Today, she is a special education consultant working with schools, community organizations, students and caregivers within the Baltimore Metropolitan area. Late last year, Menefee took time from her work— transformed, like all else, by COVID-19—to speak with Teaching Tolerance. We’ve edited this conversation for length and clarity.

What first sparked your interest in special education? I had a cousin with special needs who ended up in the same high school with me. She was a year behind me. I could see classmates who didn’t realize that she and I were related—they would make fun of her and say all kinds of things. Veronica Menefee is a special education consultant One day I just had to speak up. in Baltimore, Maryland. She is also a member of the I said, “You do realize we are Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board. related, and she’s no different than you or me? She just learns a little bit differently.” From that point on, I knew I needed to be in education. I didn’t know at that point that I was going to choose special education. I started out in 2000 as an English teacher for high school. By What do you wish people knew collaborating with the parents, speak- 2016, I’d taught on every level from about special education? ing with the teachers at the school and Head Start to college. Within these I wish that people understood that helping structure the meetings. experiences, I was able to see how special educators have added job Special education is not just about important special education is in requirements. Most of the time, you a document. There is a student whose terms of helping students achieve will work as a classroom teacher with name is on that paper who is a real their greatest potential. There a hefty caseload of students to mon- person, and we are doing the best we has to be a partnership between itor, with all of the meetings and can to give that child the services that home and school that helps to shift responsibilities that already come are needed. perspectives, empowering parents— with being a special educator. We want to give support. It might which ultimately benefits You are responsible for doing come in a 504, which provides lighter the students. the informal and formal testing, services than an IEP [Individualized

PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICKIE GRAY SPRING 2021 13 first Bell

Education Plan]. Students can also questions regarding special edu- Student Reads have instructional supports, and cation that they were afraid to ask Our free, online, searchable Student there can be conversations with before. Many parents say after- Text Library is packed with class- teachers to facilitate what these wards, “Thank you so much; I room-ready texts for K-12 educators. will look like. It’s not that we want didn’t know what was possible. I Each is aligned with TT’s topics and our to give an IEP. That is always the didn’t know I could do this and that social justice domains and accompanied last resort because intervention there was help available.” Parents by a set of text-dependent questions. should be attempted within the need advocates who are going to The text library includes informational classroom first. join them and equip them with the texts, images, even videos and songs. It is important for everyone to tools to empower their students. Here are a few of our favorite poems to share with students. understand that an IEP is a process. I make a difference by doing the It starts with a parent, teacher or workshops, hearing parent ques- This Little Light of Mine (K-2) other school personnel expressing tions and then following up with Introduce this anthem of the civil rights a concern. The next step is to do an answers and resources. movement to students by playing the informal meeting to see if all inter- Demystifying the process is included audio recording as they read the lyrics. ventions have been put in place. The what I always set out to do before, t-t.site/light-of-mine ultimate goal in education is to have during and after the IEP process. all students succeed. And within I like to see the calm come over We Live by What special education, we want to give the parents’ faces, especially those We See at Night (3-5) the student resources and support parents who didn’t know they had Have students examine this poem’s rich to thrive and be able to be taken off specific rights when it comes to imagery about Puerto Rico to better understand the role of place and heritage of the IEP. special education. Special educa- in each of our identities. My job is to clarify to parents tion students and their parents and t-t.site/see-at-night what an IEP is and how it will ben- guardians deserve equity within efit their student. I don’t want the educational environment, and Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal parents afraid of giving their child it is my job to work with the team Question (6-8) Encourage students to articulate the this additional help because of to make sure that happens. unspoken as this poem’s speaker antic- labels. As educators, we should be ipates and refutes stereotypes about able to identify a struggling student Indigenous identity and experience. early to provide needed assistance. DID YOU KNOW? t-t.site/personal-question DID YOU KNOW? Hair (9-12) What do you love most about your job? According to a 2016 study, when high Share this video of National Poetry Slam school students at risk of dropping out en- I love it all! I especially enjoy champion Elizabeth Acevedo tracing rolled in ethnic studies courses, their atten- the intersections of history and identity workshops where I can impart dance and grade point averages increased— to explain why “you can’t fix what was knowledge and assist the parents particularly in math and science courses. never broken.” in finding the best ways to sup- —STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL t-t.site/hair port their students and answer OF EDUCATION

News Literacy The Quarry Double Victory BLM at School Project From the poetry nonprofit Education Guide With resources for all FREE STUFF! Offering a variety of free Split This Rock, The Quarry A companion to the educators from early classroom resources and is a database of over 500 Lucasfilm documen- childhood through high These web resources support professional development poems with transformative tary streaming free on school, Black Lives and supplement social justice for educators, the News themes. Searchable by lan- YouTube, the Double Matter at School offers education—at no cost! Literacy Project is a non- guage, poet identity, theme Victory Education Guide a wealth of syllabi, texts, profit dedicated to help- and more, these poems includes lessons about lesson plans and more. ing students build the for justice will inform and the Tuskegee Airmen for blacklivesmatteratschool. skills they need to be crit- inspire students. students in grades 6-12. com/curriculum ical consumers of news. splitthisrock.org/ lucasfilm.com/ newslit.org poetry-database tuskegeeairmen

14 TEACHING TOLERANCE PD CAFÉ OFFERS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES PD CAFÉ TO COMPLETE ALONE OR WITH COLLEAGUES.

ACTION

Unpacking the Social Justice Standards: Action

The Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards are the anchor These standards are divided into four domains: identity, diversity, standards and learning outcomes created to guide teachers in justice and action. This final entry of a series that began in the curriculum development and make schools more just, equitable Spring 2019 issue of Teaching Tolerance walks through the “action” and safe. Our standards are designed to be used alongside state domain to help you give students the skills to take what they have and Common Core State Standards in all content areas to reduce learned about identity, diversity and justice and apply it by taking prejudice and bias and advocate for collective action. action in their communities.

ILLUSTRATION BY JENN LIV SPRING 2021 15 PD CAFÉ

Each student should have a minute to ask follow-up or clarifying Understanding Action questions. After a few minutes, pairs can share out with the class. To explore examples of action, you can use some readings from What Is Action? our text library. For example, K-5 students can read the story “Gloria and Rosa Make Beautiful Music” about two students who • Behavior, conduct, an act of will work together to raise money for a school music program. They • The bringing about of an alteration by force or through a can consider the following questions: natural agency • What injustice do Gloria and Rosa see? What does Gloria’s school have that Rosa’s school does not? Merriam-Webster.com and Dictionary.com • What obstacles do Gloria and Rosa face when they decide to In the context of the Social Justice Standards, “action” includes take action? taking steps to honor and celebrate identity and diversity, as well • What action do Gloria and Rosa finally take? How will it ad- as taking steps to bring about justice. dress the injustice they have recognized?

Students in grades 6-12 can read about a different form of action Exploring Action with the informational text “The First Americans,” a 1927 letter to the mayor of Chicago calling for better teaching of Indigenous In the feature “We Won’t Wear the Name,” later in this issue, TT history. They can discuss these questions: Senior Writer Coshandra Dillard tells the stories of students and • What injustice do the letter writers identify? What examples do alumni who took action to change the names of schools honoring they name? Robert E. Lee. • What action are they taking against this injustice? • Do you think this injustice has been addressed? Why or why The story explains how the students and recent graduates of not? How are people today working to fight similar injustices? these schools acted against an injustice they saw, even though How might you? they were at times intimidated or even threatened for using their voices. Finally, have students discuss the concept of action together. Divide students into groups of three or four and ask each group to When talking about action with students, it’s important to brainstorm answers to this question: “What are some of the ways remember that anyone can find a way to take action against young people have taken action to fight for justice?” injustice—students included. Throughout history, change has happened not because heroes have acted alone but because Have students record their responses and, using our teaching communities have acted together. strategy “Text Graffiti,” have them respond to one another’s ideas. (This strategy can work in class by having students record their To introduce students to the domain of action, you can adapt our responses on graph paper or remotely by having them record their teaching strategy “Say Something.” Put students into pairs and responses in a shared document.) have them take turns answering the following questions: • What counts as action? After a few minutes, bring the class back together and have them • What do you think motivates people to take action share ideas that stood out to them. Discuss the following questions: against injustice? • What are some reasons that prevent people from taking action? • When is a time you or someone you know has taken action to • Do people have an obligation to take action against injustice, address an inequity or injustice? even if it doesn’t directly affect them? Why or why not?

16 TEACHING TOLERANCE Essential Questions

You can incorporate the action standards into your curriculum by writing essential questions for your units of study. You’ll Action Standards find two examples for different content areas below. Anchor Standards 16–20 of the Social Justice Standards 16. Students will express empathy when people are excluded or Sixth Grade Science mistreated because of their identities and concern when they them- A.19, A.20: How can the work of young people such as Mari selves experience bias. Copeny (also known as Little Miss Flint) be used as an example 17. Students will recognize their own responsibility to stand up to for students taking action in fighting for environmental justice? exclusion, prejudice and injustice. 18. Students will speak up with courage and respect when they or Answers will vary. Mari Copeny rose to prominence advocating someone else has been hurt or wronged by bias. for safer water in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. She helped 19. Students will make principled decisions about when and how to bring Flint’s water issue into the national spotlight by writing to take a stand against bias and injustice in their everyday lives and will then-President Obama. Through her activism, she has raised do so despite negative peer or group pressure. awareness for other cities across the country impacted by 20. Students will plan and carry out collective action against bias pollution and climate change. and injustice in the world and will evaluate what strategies are most effective. To take action in their own communities, students can test the water purity at their homes or schools or in nearby water- Next, consider how the action standards show up in the ways. They can plan ways to take action, including designing following scenarios. campaigns to write or call elected officials, regulatory bodies and private corporations. Scenario #1 Marcus has noticed some of his classmates using phrases such as High School Math “That’s so gay” or “Don’t be gay” when joking around. He has also A.16, A.18: How can students analyze data about differences noticed that some of his queer friends tend to get quiet or walk away in school budgets and resources to advocate for equity? when these classmates are nearby. One day, Marcus finds his classmates after school and asks if he can talk with them. He explains that Have your students research publicly available data on equating being gay with something shameful demeans people who school budgets. Start with your own school. How much are LGBTQ and can make them feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. gets spent every year on facilities? Maintenance? Supplies? Marcus shares that his dads are gay, and he says very clearly that Technology? Staff? Then, have them compare that data jokes about gay people aren’t OK. After his classmates apologize, he with other schools in your district or city. What is similar? invites them to their school’s GSA meeting the following week. What is different? What inferences could be made about • Which of the five action standards are demonstrated in Marcus’ the disparities in budgets? Have your students brainstorm conversation with his classmates? ways to address inequities. You could even share the Spring 2020 Teaching Tolerance story “They Deserve Better,” about Scenario #2 students in one underfunded Mississippi high school who Kia is a Deaf sixth grader who wants to join her school’s chess club. organized to rally support for a local bond issue that funded But Mr. Blake, the club sponsor, tells her she probably shouldn’t a renovation of their building. because she “just wouldn’t be able to participate on the same level as the other students.” Kia challenges Mr. Blake by telling him that this Now you try! Write an essential question based on one of the is unfair and unjust. five action standards for your own grade level or content area.

Catherine has been in the chess club ever since she started middle Additional Resources school. Now, as an eighth grader, she is the leader of the club. She Our free film Mighty Times: The Children’s March tells the story witnesses the conversation between Kia and Mr. Blake. After Kia of how, in 1963, young people in Alabama banded together to leaves the room, Catherine finds Kia and asks how she can support protest segregation—and won significant victories. her. Kia tells Catherine that it’s critical to create safe spaces for all students in their school, regardless of their ability. With Catherine’s In the Fall 2020 story “School as Sanctuary,” TT Senior help, Kia organizes the other members of the chess club to boycott Writer Cory Collins highlights educators, school leaders meetings. The news of the student protest eventually makes it to and advocates who pushed to gain stronger protections for some parents and guardians, who decide to sponsor a new chess club. immigrant students and their families. The accompanying They work with the school to ensure that a sign language interpreter toolkit provides concrete ways you can take action to support is available at all of the club meetings moving forward. immigrant students and families in your school community. • Which of the five action standards are demonstrated in how Kia communicates both with Mr. Blake and Catherine? And “Responding to Hate and Bias in the West,” a story by TT • How do Kia’s and the club members’ actions illustrate their under- Senior Writer Coshandra Dillard published in the Spring 2020 standing of the connection between justice and action? issue, explains how a group of parents and caregivers worked together to fight racism in their children’s Las Vegas school.

SPRING 2021 17 BUILDING RESILIENCE & CONFRONTING RISK IN THE COVID-19 ERA A new guide from the Southern Poverty Law Center and American University’s Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab offers parents and caregivers tangible steps to counter the threat of online radicalization.

THIS GUIDE CAN HELP YOU: Understand what online radicalization is Understand why young people are drawn to extremist groups. and why should you care. Engage and empower young people. Identify new risks in the COVID-19 era. Respond to hate. Recognize warning signs. Get help for children at risk for radicalization.

Download the free guide at splcenter.org/PERIL

18 TEACHING TOLERANCE The Fight for Challenging white supremacy Ethnic Studies in curriculum.

BY TINA VASQUEZ ILLUSTRATION BY KATTY HUERTAS SPRING 2021 19 ON THE LAST DAY OF CALIFORNIA’S LEGISLATIVE SEASON, September 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 331, a bill that would have mandated ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement. Proponents across the state—including educators who had been deeply involved in the fight for ethnic studies for decades—were shocked by the development. At the crux of Newsom’s decision was continued disagreement over the proposed model ethnic studies curriculum, which inspired contentious public debate over the framing of history and concerns over who is included and excluded as part of ethnic studies. Throughout the state, rationales support- Gaining a Foothold ing the proposed curriculum relied on a com- Newsom’s veto was an “unexpected blow,” said Dr. mon definition of ethnic studies as “the criti- Dale Allender, associate professor of language, lit- cal and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity eracy and culture in the Department of Teaching and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences Credentials at California State University- and perspectives of people of color in the United Sacramento. After all, if ethnic studies could not States.” In the decades since it first emerged from be mandated in its birthplace of California, what California in the 1960s, advocates nationwide have does that mean for those living in states that have faced an uphill battle in getting the public, school been hostile toward ethnic studies? districts and state legislatures to support and But all hope is not lost, said Allender, co-editor of adopt a curriculum that includes the perspectives what is believed to be the nation’s first high school of groups historically denied the rights outlined in ethnic studies textbook, Our Stories in Our Voices. the United States’ founding documents. While the “The most recent activism fighting anti-Black veto of AB 331 was shocking, the bill was a bold step racism resurfaced the importance of Black studies in attempting to address the persistent erasure that and the ethnic studies movement. When AB 331 students of color in California experience—and it passed the state Legislature, it was a full circle has reignited crucial conversations about the role moment,” Allender said. “You see the same senti- of ethnic studies across the nation. ments present in the push for ethnic studies today

In 1968, members of the Black Student Union and Third World Liberation Front at San Francisco State College protested for five months until the school established the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies. AP IMAGES

20 TEACHING TOLERANCE It was so beautiful to see students make sense of the world and to feel affirmed and seen and feel like their culture matters. —MAYRA ALMARAZ-DE SANTIAGO

as you did in the ’60s. The recent activism pushed strikers spent five months protesting and perform- things forward quickly, and people are committed ing sit-ins to call attention to the misrepresenta- to seeing this through.” tion and disregard of Black, Indigenous and peo- This includes educators like Dr. Theresa ple of color in the curriculum. Their activism led Montaño, a professor of Chicana/o studies at to the creation of a Black studies department and California State University Northridge. Montaño the establishment of the College of Ethnic Studies. was one of the leads on AB 1460, which success- A bulk of young people first encounter ethnic fully created an ethnic studies graduation require- studies in college because implementing ethnic ment in the Cal State system. She was also an advi- studies in K-12 education remains deeply conten- sory committee member for the first iteration of tious, as evidenced by the challenging, imperfect the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. process and subsequent failure to pass California’s Montaño said that when fights for ethnic stud- AB 331. The proposed curriculum drew criticism ies are successful, it’s the result of a coalition of from the Legislature’s Jewish caucus, which ques- caregivers, community members and teacher tioned why Islamophobia was defined but not activists working together, all of whom under- antisemitism. Issues were also raised by pro-Is- stand there will be no “easy wins.” rael groups upset by the framing of the Israeli- “When you’re pushing against systemic racism, Palestinian conflict, and Armenian Americans, it takes years to actually attain something, and I Indian Americans and Sikhs objected to the model think one of the reasons ethnic studies is gaining curriculum excluding their experiences. such a foothold right now is because of the Black Historically, ethnic studies in California has Lives Matter movement,” Montaño said. focused on African Americans, Mexican Americans, Many teachers involved in the fight for eth- Asian Americans and Native Americans. More nic studies talk about the continued importance recently, Wayne Au said, some educators have of activism, protest and community coalitions— pushed to transform ethnic studies into “global the same strategies that led to ethnic studies as education” or “multicultural education.” we know it. In 1968, the Black Student Union and Au is a professor at the School of Educational a coalition of other student groups known as the Studies at the University of Washington Bothell Third World Liberation Front sparked a move- and an editor for the social justice teaching orga- ment at San Francisco State College (now known nization Rethinking Schools, which last year pub- as San Francisco State University) that would lished Rethinking Ethnic Studies, a book offering

AP IMAGES affect education for decades to come. Student examples of ethnic studies frameworks, classroom

SPRING 2021 21 practices and organizing at the school, district and they are living in,” Au said. “There is immeasur- statewide levels. The former high school teacher able value in that. You see kids start to value them- has long been involved in racial justice work in selves and their communities, and they start to education on a national scale, and in Seattle and envision a different future for themselves.” neighboring school districts, he conducts work- There is also evidence that ethnic studies pro- shops around K-12 ethnic studies implementation. pels young people to become educators. Allender “For some people, ethnic studies is purely a dif- said that in California, kids who experience ethnic ferent version of multicultural education and they studies in school are more likely to approach teach- want something that’s going to be palatable, some- ing as a career path. Mayra Almaraz-De Santiago, thing that doesn’t challenge whiteness or white recognized with a 2018 Teaching Tolerance Award supremacy in schools,” Au said. “Ethnic studies is for Excellence in Teaching for her work as an eth- supposed to help us challenge the white suprem- nic studies teacher, echoes this assertion. Her eth- acy in our curriculum, not aid it.” nic studies students at Chicago’s Taft High School Montaño said it’s imperative that educators were voracious for more learning. They wanted an work with the same definition of ethnic studies. ethnic studies part two, Almaraz-De Santiago said, According to the professor, there are characteris- or asked if she could teach them ethnic studies tics that make ethnic studies distinct from other again the following year. While she now works as disciplines: its history—including where it came a high school social science specialist for Chicago from and that it centers race—as well as the strug- Public Schools, she maintains communications gle against racism and a focus on the groups that with former students, many of whom tell her they racist policies have affected. are pursuing education. “If we can all operate with these understand- “It was so beautiful to see students make sense of ings, ethnic studies has positive effects on the the world and to feel affirmed and seen and feel like entire community,” Montaño said. their culture matters,” Almaraz-De Santiago said, growing emotional. Immeasurable Value “Kids would tell me I was their first The academic and social benefits of 21% Mexican American teacher and that ethnic studies are well documented. the increase in they left my class feeling proud of their In 2011, the National Education attendance found heritage. Kids told me they wanted to Association found that when stu- when a group of major in ethnic studies or that they dents of different ages are exposed students were were going to major in Latin American to ethnic studies, they consistently enrolled in ethnic Studies. Ethnic studies so clearly had a experience “academic achieve- studies courses. profound effect on their lives.” ment, high level of awareness of race Even having tangential exposure and racism, and positive identifica- —STANFORD STUDY to ethnic studies can change a stu- tion with one’s own racial group.” A dent’s path; such is the case with 2016 study by scholars at Stanford Alexis Mburu, a student at Foster Graduate School of Education also found that High School in Tukwila, Washington. While she’s a “high school ethnic studies course ... boosted never taken an ethnic studies class, Alexis has attendance and academic performance of students decided to fight for other young people to have at risk of dropping out,” Stanford News reports. the opportunity. What is perhaps more challenging to convey In middle school, Alexis knew of a teacher is the transformation educators watch unfold in who taught an ethnic studies class, but she never their classrooms. had the opportunity to take it. This same teacher “All of a sudden, there is a fire in their hearts recognized Alexis’ interest and introduced her to and in their bellies. You can see them connecting the NAACP and Washington Ethnic Studies Now, the dots and begin to understand who they are and which advocates for ethnic studies and focuses how they are in the world and the conditions that on professional development and anti-racist

22 TEACHING TOLERANCE Valley. Educators have long argued that the cur- Ethnic studies is riculum is just one facet of ethnic studies, and of increased importance is training educators. supposed to help us Teacher activist and TT advisor Tracy Castro- Gill, the executive director of Washington Ethnic Studies Now, explained that teaching ethnic stud- challenge the white ies requires a completely different approach to education and instructional practices. In the supremacy in our nine-module, 18-hour course she developed for educators interested in teaching ethnic studies, curriculum, not aid it. Castro-Gill said it’s only in module nine that curriculum even comes up. —WAYNE AU “There’s a fundamental shift that needs to happen first in the understanding that we’re not here to create better workers; we’re here to create better engaged citizens and humans of the world,” training for educators who want to teach ethnic Castro-Gill said. “You can’t do that with tidy little studies. Alexis is now on the youth advisory board rows in your classroom where children only speak for both organizations. when they’re spoken to. It’s a lot about interro- Alexis said ethnic studies “should be the stan- gating and deconstructing the white Eurocentric dard,” noting her interest in education. “When norm of the classroom and expectations of edu- I imagine my younger self and my younger sib- cation. That’s what the professional development lings being taught the education they deserve, I is based on—that and building on background see a classroom filled with truth, joy, opportunity knowledge about critical race theory and inter- and prosperity.” sectionality and anti-racist theories.” As the co-chair of the Sacramento State Best Practices—Beyond Curriculum Ethnic Studies Teacher Training Credentialing While the benefits of ethnic studies are clear, the Consortium, Allender facilitates and provides path forward remains murky—especially in hos- professional ethnic studies and social justice tile states. However, backlash against ethnic stud- development for teachers in Northern California. ies can sometimes lead to progress. His advice to anyone who wants to teach ethnic In 2010 when former Arizona Governor Jan studies is that, first, they have to engage in a pro- Brewer signed HB 2281 prohibiting schools from cess of self-study and go through their own eth- teaching courses “designed primarily for pupils nic studies journey. of a particular ethnic group,” it ignited a larger “So many of us were subjected to socio-cul- movement across the Southwest, prompting edu- tural deprivation, and that causes a tremendous cators in Texas to begin fighting for ethnic studies cognitive dissonance,” Allender said. “When you in K-12 education. promote ethnic studies, it has to be done pro- In states where ethnic studies is treated as grammatically and personally. This work must be highly controversial, there is a hyper focus on done in community because it is more than just the curriculum, said Dr. Christopher Carmona, readings and tests and papers and presentations. who chairs the National Association for Chicana Ethnic studies is rooted in civic engagement, ser- and Chicano Studies committee for implement- vice learning and community collaboration. This ing Mexican American Studies in pre-K-12 educa- has always been about being out in the community tion. But that’s because of misconceptions about as much as it was about being in the books.” what is being taught, explained Carmona, who is also an associate professor of Mexican American Vasquez is a movement journalist who covers gender, Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande labor, immigration and culture from North Carolina.

SPRING 2021 23 A Flaw in the Foundation

BY NATALIE LIKE MANY PRODUCTS of the U.S. education sys- knowledge. It erases the things that the students ODOM POUGH tem, I read The Scarlet Letter in high school. My hold dear.” English teacher practically danced around the Years later, in my own teacher training and ILLUSTRATION classroom—she loved the story so much. I remem- school leadership preparation, I didn’t learn the BY DOLA SUN ber feeling conflicted. I knew some of my class- culturally relevant pedagogy and cultural con- mates had children. Others had unmarried moth- sciousness that would have helped me preserve ers. The discussion felt unfair. I was left feeling the things my students held dear. Instead, I was We can’t dejected by a book that did not speak to me and by taught the one-size-fits-all approach to mathe- a lesson I knew could harm my classmates. matics education that has historically and dispro- stop white In that class, I learned something all teachers portionately harmed students of color. I spent my supremacy should understand: first year as a teacher fumbling through multiple in schools “[S]chooling often asks children to be some- strategies to best serve my students. until we stop thing or someone other than who they really are,” Today, as a mathematics teacher educator, I Gloria Ladson-Billings wrote in Crossing Over to prioritize critical conversations about building it in teacher Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse cultural consciousness and incorporating cultur- preparation Classrooms. “It asks them to use language other ally relevant pedagogy. programs. than the one they come to school with. It asks But when I begin them, I’m frequently met them to dismiss their community and cultural with students opening their laptops, pulling

24 TEACHING TOLERANCE out their phones to text or just to demand they be seen, heard Ladson-Billings wrote, “Rather looking uninterested. and respected. Teachers are than dismantle the ‘tried and In most cases, I follow up to ask working to decolonize curric- true’ practices, teacher edu- why they chose not to engage. I ula and interrogate instruc- cators believed that adding a keep hearing the same responses: tional resources. Parent and course, a workshop or field expe- “I thought math was a neu- family organizations are sup- rience on diversity would be suf- tral content area. Why do we porting students, teachers and ficient to suggest that real change have to learn about culturally schools through these efforts. was occurring in the profession.” relevant pedagogy in this class?” Rather than refuting the exis- “It’s not my experience.” tence of white supremacy, edu- “I was taught not to see color.” cators are acknowledging how it is embedded into the fiber of our “We were taught that green is a White Supremacy Culture in nation and our schools. good color for our walls and that Teacher Preparation Programs Teacher preparation pro- We know there’s an overwhelm- grams can equip future educa- at least 20% of our walls should be ing need for teachers who are tors with the knowledge and bare. But we never discussed the willing to “see color,” who are skills to provide positive learn- practices that we see in the field committed to anti-racist peda- ing experiences and environ- gogy. And with over 1,200 insti- ments for students of color. But and how they are rooted in white tutions offering teacher prepa- first, they’ll need to acknowl- supremacist ideology.” ration programs and countless edge, examine and work to BREANA THOMAS alternative certification routes, eradicate the white supremacy the way these future teachers culture that exists within their are prepared to educate the own programs. Breana Thomas, an early next generation can be a key childhood teacher resident contributor to systemic change. The Cost of Comfort at Clemson University, illus- Unfortunately, far too often, While explicit curriculum may trates how conversations teacher preparation programs push back against racist or white about race and racism are maintain and support white supremacist systems, teacher often pushed to the side. In supremacy culture—and sus- preparation programs often graduate school, she says, she tain it in K-12 schools. train white preservice teach- has had one course focused on “Culture is powerful,” writes ers to expect what Okun calls classroom management. educator and social justice “a right to comfort.” A common “We were taught that green activist Tema Okun, “precisely characteristic of white suprem- is a good color for our walls because it is so present and at acy culture, the right to com- and that at least 20% of our the same time so very difficult to fort is the “belief that those with walls should be bare,” Thomas name or identify.” In her essay power have a right to emotional said. “But we never discussed “White Supremacy Culture,” and psychological comfort.” the practices that we see in the Okun explores the ideology that It’s important to note that field and how they are rooted in constructs and justifies racist the K-12 teacher population is white supremacist ideology.” policies, practices and behaviors. largely white, middle-class and Marilyn Pugh, a third-year White supremacy culture, she female. White supremacy cul- teacher in Dekalb County, writes, appears in any organiza- ture, by definition, works to cen- Georgia, had an experience that tion that is not actively and effec- ter that whiteness. And schools of was different but no better. “My tively working to dismantle it. education recenter it when they teacher preparation program Across the United States, limit conversations about race didn’t teach classroom manage- many in K-12 school commu- and racism to certain courses. ment,” she said. “I figured it out.” nities are doing that work. In that way, not much has If future educators aren’t Students are coming together changed since 2001, when learning about the common

SPRING 2021 25 disciplinary practices that dis- is no understanding of the sys- their teachers and their fam- proportionately remove BIPOC temic barriers they face. ilies. She knew they had seen students from classrooms; if the media coverage that showed they aren’t taught about the The Cost of Keeping the Peace their teacher was wrong. But she role of implicit bias and adul- Closely aligned with the dam- didn’t know what to do. tification bias on educator per- aging expectation of a right to With no safety net, student ceptions of student behavior; if comfort is another characteris- teachers often see no way to they aren’t encouraged to trace tic of white supremacy culture: challenge their mentors. That’s the similarities between “zero the “fear of open conflict.” This why university-school partner- tolerance” disciplinary poli- fear, Okun suggests, becomes ships and clinical practice should cies and the “broken windows” evident when “people in power go beyond the traditional role of approach to policing that has are scared of expressed conflict” providing student teachers with done so much damage in some and equate “the raising of diffi- exposure. Instead of avoiding communities of color, then the cult issues with being impolite, “uncomfortable” or “confron- seeds of these racist practices rude, or out of line.” tational” discussions, teacher can be planted even before pre- For some, this conflict avoid- preparation programs should service teachers complete their ance goes so far that it shuts teach future educators how preparation programs. down an understanding of to advocate for their students. white supremacy before it can Current teachers, school lead- “Teacher education programs even begin. But educators who ers and district personnel should teach and normalize respectful work alongside teacher educa- should weave the thread of race disagreement are incorporating tors to discuss what is happening throughout the entire program.” critical social emotional learn- in schools and in local districts. ing skills in their classrooms. How else can we ask future DR. KRISTEN DUNCAN And those who manage open teachers to engage in an educa- conflict to stand up for their tional system we expect them students demonstrate a form of to change? bravery that needs to be recognized and appreciated. A Better Way I remember a time early in Educators need support in my teacher education career teacher preparation programs when a student approached me so they can push back against with a concern that brought her white supremacy in K-12 to tears. Earlier that day, fol- schools. Along with teaching lowing yet another police-re- content areas and instructional lated murder, she sat in a methodology, teacher prepara- classroom while her mentor tion programs need to provide teacher shared her faith in the tools to critically interrogate police officers in their town. curricula and school policies The teacher told students they and practices. A racial justice would always be safe if they lens—such as the one taught Limiting or avoiding dis- complied with police. in critical race theory—would cussions of racism and white I recall watching my own stu- equip preservice educators to supremacy does a disservice to dent struggle with not speaking recognize and interrupt racist students and the teaching pro- up, not knowing how to speak curricula and practices and to fession. There is no clear path up. She hurt for the students of explore critical consciousness. to understanding how to educolor who had to wrestle with “Teacher preparation pro- cate BIPOC students if there the conflicting statements from grams teach for perfect-world

26 TEACHING TOLERANCE philosophy: “Instead of view- ing themselves as managers of students,” she said, “we encourage preservice teachers to establish classroom learning environments where students build community, establish clear expectations for socially accept- able behavior, self-regulate their own behavior and interactions. And for instances when socially accepted norms are violated, then there are restorative justice practices in place.” IUPUI’s preservice teachers learn how equity affects all Rather than aspects of the work, from curriculum to classroom manage- refuting the ment—and they learn to work existence through discomfort so they can scenarios,” explained teacher looked like me be intentional directly confront the ways white of white Cornelius Blanding, “but we about their approach to pre- supremacy manifests in schools supremacy, need real-world scenarios and paring us to be great teachers and classrooms. educators are strategies to overcome them.” for all students.” Williams said As Jackson explained, “equity Blanding said he learned to it was in those courses that he and anti-oppression are cen- acknowledging approach his work with a racial first grasped a philosophical tered and threaded throughout how it is equity lens through South outlook for teaching. the courses in our programs.” Carolina State University’s Call Dr. Kristen Duncan, assis- That kind of reimagining is embedded into Me MiSTER program. The pro- tant professor of education exactly what’s needed. White the fiber of gram operates in 30 colleges and at Clemson, believes a more supremacy and racism are so our nation and universities in and around South holistic view of race in educa- deeply embedded in our edu- Carolina to increase the number tion is critical to better equip cation system that they will our schools. of effective male teachers of color anti-racist future educators. not be eradicated until every- in schools across the nation. “Teacher education programs one who wants to see change is It was gratifying, Blanding should weave the thread of ready to accept responsibility said, to unpack critical race theory race throughout the entire pro- for enacting it. and racial consciousness as future gram, to where race is discussed We must recognize and dis- Black teachers and school leaders. in every single aspect [of the mantle the deep-rooted pres- Damian Williams, a fourth-year work],” she explained. ence of white supremacy in our teacher and graduate of Clemson The Indiana University- institutions of learning. This is University’s Call Me MiSTER Purdue University Indianapolis the only way to build the safe, program, agreed. He attributed (IUPUI) School of Education is healthy and responsive schools two courses led by Black instruc- one of the nation’s leading pro- that all students deserve. tors with his introduction to cul- grams in education, culturally turally relevant pedagogy. relevant pedagogy and devel- Pough is visiting clinical assistant “As the sole Black male oping anti-racist educators. professor of education at Indiana in my classes,” Williams Dr. Tambra Jackson, dean of University–Purdue University explained, “it made me so com- IUPUI’s School of Education, Indianapolis and a member of the fortable to see professors who described the program’s Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board.

SPRING 2021 27 28 TEACHING TOLERANCE What it Means to Be an Anti-racist Teacher Talking culturally sustaining pedagogy with Lorena Germán.

BY VAL BROWN EDITED BY CRYSTAL L. KEELS PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNIE RAY

LORENA GERMÁN HAS WORKED IN EDUCATION FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS. As director of pedagogy at EduColor, chair of the National Council of Teachers of English Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English and co-founder of Multicultural Classroom, she has advocated for culturally sustaining pedagogy and practices. Nearly three years ago, Germán joined together with educators Tricia Ebarvia, Dr. Kim Parker and Julia E. Torres to form #DisruptTexts, a grassroots movement encouraging K-12 English teachers to rethink their approach to teaching the “classics,” including deciding whether they need to teach them at all. In 2019, she published The Anti Racist Teacher: Reading Instruction Workbook, a resource to help educators develop anti-racist practices in their ELA classes. And late last year, Germán sat down with then-TT Professional Development Manager Val Brown to discuss the damage white supremacy causes in education—and the uplift inherent in reimagining the process. Their conversation, included here, has been edited for length and clarity.

“Interrupting white supremacy,” When a lot of people think of white “decolonizing education,” “develop- supremacy, they connote white men ing abolitionist education”—people in hoods on corners screaming racial use these phrases but aren’t always slurs and doing extreme things, but sure what they mean. How would you white supremacy could be used inter- define these terms as they relate to changeably for racism. your practice? It’s the belief system used to bring White supremacy literally means that racism into action. There are many “We have to envision whiteness is supreme over others. other terms in education, too, like We see that present in our values as a “equity,” that are unclear to people. something that is nation, in our culture, in our ways of They do have their own definitions, but not what many of us being and, therefore, embedded in all they are all related and they do depend of our systems. on each other. experienced growing up.”

SPRING 2021 29 What’s important is that we Racist Teacher: Reading Instruction don’t get caught up on these terms Workbook. Can you talk about that? because it’s less about the words and So I graduated college and I’m like, much more about the approach, the “Me? Teacher? No. I will never go philosophy and the theory. That’s why work in classrooms.” But I have always I use “culturally sustaining.” I find that been drawn to working with young it’s the most inclusive. Culturally sus- people, and eventually I made my way taining tells you what I’m for—to nur- back into the classroom. I went back to ture and build. the very high school that I had gone to “What’s important because, clearly, I had some things to How did white supremacy show up for resolve. I was like, “OK, fine. I guess I’m you as a student? is that we don’t get back.” It was so much. As I was there, I grew up in a town where most of my I was like, “OK, the way I’m going to classmates were, like me, brown children, caught up on these stay sane here is to remember what I’m but most [teachers]—and probably all, up doing, that I am here to be the teacher until high school—were white women. terms because it’s that I never had.” It all really started Is it bad to have a white woman then: having to re-envision, to recon- teacher? No. Is it bad to have all white less about the words sider, to rethink what teaching meant women teachers over x many years? and much more and looked like. The workbook comes Yes. Because there’s so much that hap- out of all of those years of trying to fig- pened in terms of how I perceived edu- about the approach, ure that out and wanting to be practical. cation to be, how I functioned in the classroom and the tangible cultural the philosophy and What do you see that needs chang- gaps that I experienced. ing? How do you see white supremacy The memories I have, unfortunately, the theory.” showing up in curriculum and instruc- are overwhelmingly negative. I didn’t tion today? ever have powerful teachers of color in It looks like this overwhelming sense my field, English, until graduate school, engineer; that other person is actu- of urgency to meet particular dead- which is where I met Dr. Django Paris ally a lawyer. In the same way, I would lines that don’t necessarily speak to and his wife, Rae Paris, who were both think about how my grandfather was a actual student growth. It’s like, “Well, amazing educators. I also met Dr. David science teacher in the U.S., but he’s an we have to cover this book because Kirkland and Dr. Adam Banks: I ended engineer in Dominican Republic. Oh, that’s what’s on the test and we have up getting flooded. It was a wonderful my grandmother is a seamstress, but more, more, more.” It’s about quantity over-compensation for everything that over there she was at the Department over quality. I think it’s really hard for I went through. But if education was of Education. I was always very aware English teachers to consider, “Oh, we not something that in my home meant of that duality. I had a consciousness will just read two books this year.” If everything, I wouldn’t have made it of, “Yeah, we might be whatever this an English teacher said that, somebody there. Why would I go to graduate school experience is here in the U.S., but I somewhere would faint. That would after the types of experiences I had? also know that I have a whole nation of be dope, that the whole first semester Being an immigrant, particularly people.” It was always very much like, you go so deep into a rich book and you from our Black and brown country, one “This might be my reality, but this ain’t [work just] with that book. Young peo- interesting aspect of that experience is the truth.” ple learn it, and you use it to not just that we come here and while we’re taxi read the word but read the world. drivers, or we’re somebody’s cleaning You turned much of your experience This value for individualism, this lady or we’re a barber, in Dominican as a student and graduate student idea of “you pull yourself up by the Republic, actually, that person is an into a resource for educators, The Anti bootstraps”—we see that in classrooms,

30 TEACHING TOLERANCE that you do the work all by yourself, This overemphasis on some of this this. Activism could be anything—start- you got the A and you’re at the top of is, in fact, indoctrination. We have to ing a book club with colleagues, push- your class. Instead of, “Look, this group revisit it. We have to. ing your principal to do PD, joining your took on this work together, and every- professional organization at the national one explored their strengths, improved Can you explain why this work should level and just learning. All of that counts. in their areas of growth and there was not solely be the concern of human- learning that was both curricular and ities teachers? Describe a classroom that’s decolo- extracurricular.” That’s the real world; If the institution is problematic, then nized, that’s culturally sustaining. that’s professional life, and we don’t all aspects of it need to be reimagined It does require us to reinvent the wheel. necessarily value that in classrooms. and reevaluated. There’s this big nar- We have to envision something that is It requires stepping back, being hon- rative in education and among teach- not what many of us experienced grow- est and reevaluating a lot of the things ers that’s like, “Oh, English and his- ing up. It looks like a classroom where that we’ve taken as orthodox practices. tory, that’s the easy part, because you people, regardless of age, are able to guys can talk about books with people,” come in and be their full selves, mean- Why is it necessary to talk about these and it feels really obvious. But when we ing that they don’t have to lose or deny things? Folks will say, “Why are we think about the way that racism was any element of their identity or their talking about this when we have actual even thought of, it was actually [framed culture at the door to achieve success. work to do?” as] science. We have to deconstruct the That’s culturally sustaining pedagogy. Because that is the work to do. These way that science is taught, the concepts Then, as a teacher: What am I doing in are not mutually exclusive. A lot of peo- that are included and the concepts this room to celebrate their strengths, ple who say, “Just teach the standards” that are excluded, because what we’re build on their weaknesses and help or “Just teach your content” don’t not talking about is also a problem— them learn actual skills, so that they’re understand that I’m already doing those silences in our curriculum are not just reading words on paper and political work just by saying that I teach problematic. The same goes for math: doing things on paper but participating the standards. I am already indoctri- We need to think about the way that in thinking critically about our society? nating, if you will. For example, in the math has been implicated in the proj- That’s where social justice comes in. English field, this whole pedestal that ect of racism. For example, the idea of This has become a real catch-all phrase. we have the five-paragraph essay on— three-fifths of a person—that’s math. Or It’s another term for civic engagement it’s problematic! Continuing to demand when you think about Indigenous peo- and fighting for what you believe in and that students perfect this five-para- ple who have to use DNA to prove their the betterment of others. Education graph essay is actually not prepar- Nativeness—which nobody else has to is supposed to do that—to push us ing them for college, which is what we do, anywhere in this country—that is towards social justice. Otherwise, what think we’re doing. In college, you don’t both science and math. is this? And it looks like a classroom need to write five-paragraph essays, Educators need to understand that where there’s joy, there’s pain, there’s number one. Number two, what we’re it’s important to unpack their own biases silence, there’s talking, there’s activity, doing is this factory-model approach and interrogate the ways that their val- there’s academic learning, but there’s where everybody can crank out the ues and their biases show up in how also personal learning. It’s inside, it’s same thing. It’s very much an American they design their content and lessons. outside, it’s talking, it’s in groups, it’s social construct. If I go to Turkey, Then it’s important to move past that individuals, it’s with partners. It’s a they’re not telling me to write in five and think more critically about their classroom where social justice is a term paragraphs. If I go to Brazil, they’re just approach, their practices and the impact that everybody understands. writing! If I go to the Cochiti people in that they’re having on students and how New Mexico, they’re not even writing. to take action, both through their con- Brown is the principal academic offi- They’re like, “We’re a storytelling peo- tent area in their classroom, and also in cer at Stand for Children’s Center for ple, so you can take your paper and put their field outside of their classroom. Antiracist Education. Keels is associate it in the trash.” That’s why activism has to be a part of editor at Teaching Tolerance.

SPRING 2021 31 MATHEMATICS in Context: THE PEDAGOGY OF LIBERATION Math education has harmed students, but it can also repair that harm.

BY MARIAN DINGLE AND CATHERY YEH PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER NGUYEN AND STEPHANIE ELEY

32 TEACHING TOLERANCE AS AN ELEMENTARY teacher with a pas- the power of mathematics to quantify availability of PPE and statistics on sion for math and an assistant pro- the past and present and to also serve rising xenophobic and racist attacks. fessor of education who specializes, as a tool for liberation. The easy action would be to analyze in part, in math education, our paths this real-life data with our students have crossed because we both believe Math Is Political in mathematics classes. But data and in the humanizing power of mathemat- Math—including math education—is mathematical models include and ics. Engaging in mathematics educa- absolutely political and has been used exclude information to capture a snip- tion with a humanizing love can allow in violent ways to subjugate, harm and pet of the world at a particular time and students to see themselves as complex even kill. The use of data science to place. Failure to consider the context, human beings who are affected by insti- identify suspects or sentence people politics and history behind the data is tutionalized racism but not defined by to prison has been widely criticized in itself failure. it. As educators, mothers and organiz- for bias. And the legacy of racist ide- How can we use math, acknowledge ers of color, we make this argument out ologies can be found in the use of data the harm it does and also drive libera- of radical love for our students and the and mathematics today. tion? Educators must spend significant education community. For example, the spirometer, a med- time understanding some basic truths. In Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, ical tool that measures lung capac- We must start by acknowledging that Democracy, and Civic Courage, Paulo ity, was once used on plantations to we all lead very different racialized Freire describes radical love as an unjustly argue enslaved Black peo- lives and that legacies of racism and “armed love.” In Women, Culture & ple were most fit for field labor. The white privilege permeate our work. Politics, Angela Davis argues that rad- tool’s settings, often including a but- For too many of our students, doing ical means “grasping at the root.” In ton that “corrects” for race, are still in school mathematics consists of sit- this spirit, we invite you to consider use today. This is one of many medical ting silently, using algorithms that are how education, specifically mathe- tools shaped by anti-Black racism. foreign to them and solving problems matics education, has harmed stu- In the beginning of the COVID-19 irrelevant to their interests and expe- dents and, importantly, how it can pandemic, we were inundated with riences. Their knowledge and per- also repair that harm. We believe in charts and graphs of infection data, spectives are pushed to the margins,

SPRING 2021 33 leaving them, especially students of How Marian humanizes math color, silenced and misinformed. For most of my career, I have taught ele- As educators of color, even we must mentary students multiple subjects, yet unlearn our conditioning to hold space students past and present refer to me for whiteness. We must recognize the as their math teacher. I carry that title ways math education functions to with pride. This mathematical part of destroy students’ cultural identities. my identity, along with my Blackness, We must intentionally center folks of informs the reframing of math we’re color and marginalized voices. arguing for. We work daily to bear this out in our On a nondescript day, I’m read- lives and pedagogy. ing aloud to my fourth and fifth grad- ers the picture book The Other Side by Marian’s Context Jacqueline Woodson. As children dis- I am a Black cover a different set of expectations for woman, mar- Black and white characters in the book, ried to a Black symbolized by the fence that separates man, with adult their properties, I encourage them to Black children. I dig deeper, relating this story of a time don’t know much before they were alive to now: about my ances- Why did both the white and Black tors beyond a few tales parents want their children not to cross of great-grandparents. I do know they the fence? What was different about were enslaved. There is a certain shame their reactions? Who created the fence? about not knowing your true country of Whose job is it to cut it down? origin, not knowing your native tongue. I want them to see the interpersonal Honestly, there is a certain envy I carry biases and the systemic forces that of those who do. create and maintain the fence. I then I also know that mathematics is the direct them to the present and connect lens through which I see the world. It’s it to relevant mathematics: not something I became; it’s who I have You have said that the neighborhoods always been. My parents raised me to concepts and my ability to connect in the book were segregated. Are your quantify everything. them to life were what mattered. neighborhoods segregated today? What My educator mother, who did not Similarly, long sessions at the about schools? Is this school segregated? describe herself as a math person, kitchen table with my dad as he Has it ever been? would periodically dump the contents revealed the secrets of numbers and I bring in pie charts of the school’s of her purse onto the bed to reveal shiny algebra made me believe he was mag- current and past racial demographics. coins of every color. The ongoing chal- ical. That math was magic. I loved Students also analyze historical data lenge? To correctly count it in any way mathematics—it was as natural to me of the city’s racial demographics. I ask, I chose and then present her with my as breathing. My parents both allowed “What story are the numbers telling?” findings. If I could do that successfully, me to emerge confident in my mathe- Looking at history through a mathe- the bounty was mine. In pedagogical matical reasoning. matical lens is a step toward humaniz- language, I had engaged in productive Is it possible to teach mathemat- ing math. As children learn how to cre- struggle, persevered, made use of struc- ics this way? It is, and I do. The educa- ate their own graphs and charts, they ture, modeled with precision, used reg- tor in me thinks mathematically. The can also interrogate how the nexus ularity and constructed my argument. accepted mathematical canon is full of of history, math and humanity lies in Did I know I was doing this? Did my Eurocentric postulates and formulas. the formation of the question to be mother make sure that I knew those Cathery and I sense, though, that math- answered. Whose story is not being words? Of course not. She knew that the ematics is far more intuitive. told? What question was not asked?

34 TEACHING TOLERANCE The data is only as good as the ques- what mathematics is and who can or literacy. Do you see yourself represented tions that birthed it, and if the assump- cannot do mathematics. Mathematics is in the data? Who is included? Who is tions under which the questions were a human activity tied to languages, his- missing? How do the data display, labels formed are biased and racist, then the tories, lands and culture. As a classroom and scales convey a particular message? math is inevitably racist as well. teacher, I visited over 300 students’ What is the message? From whose per- The lesson using Woodson’s book homes while community members and spective? These questions allow stu- continues with an analysis of local gen- members of grassroots organizations dents to see the subjectivity in all text, trification—with math at the root. came into my classroom. We taught les- including mathematical text, and to sons together centering on the mathe- examine the histories and backgrounds Cathery’s Context matics that takes place within homes that inform the data. I am Chinese and communities—from braiding hair, Naturally, students want to look up American, an baking bread, doing carpentry and shop- and create data displays that honor immigrant and a keeping to examining homelessness, their social identities, including their mother of a child gentrification and affordable hous- membership in multiple groups, as with a disability. ing. These experiences and communi- well as honoring their peers. Using this These social iden- ty-based pedagogies bridged classrooms approach, my math education students tities shape who I to community and social movements. have had their K-12 students share their am and what I see Now, as a teacher educator with own data displays with their peers, the and feel about the world around me. I future mathematics teachers as stu- school board, city council and curricu- am exhausted. I can’t sleep. My heart dents, I use the Teaching Tolerance lum publishing companies to stand up aches. I can’t get the image out of my Social Justice Standards as a road to exclusion and injustice. head: Tou Thao, the Asian American map for humanizing mathematics police officer who stood by as Derek education. Within my mathemat- Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s ics methods course, I ask my stu- neck. He stood by in silence, with his dents to develop and implement jus- hands in his pockets, even as onlookers tice-aligned math lessons that address pointed out that Floyd wasn’t moving, both a mathematics standard and a didn’t seem to be breathing and cried social justice standard. out for his mother. Thao remained The TT standards offer a way to use silent. Indifferent. mathematics to locate inequities and Within the Asian American com- to look critically at how mathematics munity, I have seen us join our voices is used inside and outside the class- in ongoing protests speaking up room. For example, data on issues of against anti-Asian xenophobia and race in the United States are cast along racist attacks normalized by a leader the lines of Black and white. Asian who called the current pandemic the Americans and other communities of “Chinese virus” and the “kung flu.” Yet, color are intentionally included in sta- too many remain silent in the face of tistical models at times and excluded injustice toward Black lives. at others when the data perpetuates Within the mathematics educa- the model minority myth. Such use tion community that I call home, how of data creates a monolithic identity often do we speak boldly for justice but for Asian Americans and also drives a actually continue to inflict violence on wedge between communities of color. Black lives? Mathematics is used to divide. Attending to the TT Social Justice How Cathery humanizes math Standards shifts a math lesson from Humanizing mathematics begins with mere statistical calculations to the challenging racialized myths about development of critical statistical

SPRING 2021 35 Third World Liberation Front, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the formation of the United Farm Workers Movement by Latinx and Filipinx labor workers and the Black Lives Matter movement all started with a few people who mobilized millions. For decades, social justice organizers have modeled nonlinear growth and the fact that our sum is greater than our division. I am inspired by these narratives despite the social and structural inequalities at hand. Our lives are interwoven; our numbers matter. Our liberation is intricately bound together.

The Path Forward Conflict has always been a central part of mathematical stories, but we need to highlight working together and the day-to-day work of finding solutions to problems. Now, as the United States sees mass uprising against racial injustice and police brutality, we need to center the mathematics of solidarity and challenge the mathematics of division. The way we teach math is key to this shift. We don’t need to reimagine teaching mathematics for liberation. Mathematics—data, mathematical models and numbers—lives every- What is missing from mathemat- United States, Douglass highlighted where, especially in our organizing. ics education is the mathematics of the nation’s diversity and used mathe- We need only to look to current and solidarity and interracial resistance. matical language to argue for equality: historical moments of strategic, math- Asian American liberation builds on “Only one-fifth of the population of the ematical insurgence against structures a history of solidarity between the globe is white,” he argued in 1869, not- of oppression as blueprints for libera- Asian and Black American communi- ing that “the other four-fifths are col- tory mathematics education. ties, starting from Frederick Douglass’ ored and ought to have some weight denouncement of anti-Chinese laws and influence.” Dingle is an elementary teacher in and continuing to current fights against Let’s use Douglass’ work as an exam- Georgia and a member of the Teaching the racism of the pandemic. When ple and create lessons on the mathe- Tolerance Advisory Board. Yeh is an assis- it came to welcoming Asians to the matics of community organizing. The tant professor of education in California.

36 TEACHING TOLERANCE When Black male educators build community, they find healing, learning and growth.

BY COSHANDRA DILLARD ILLUSTRATION BY ESO TOLSON AND ALEX TROTT

IN FEBRUARY 2020, 65 BLACK MALE EDUCATORS ASSEMBLED receive what they crave in their school communities: a safe on the campus of Clayton State University just outside space to revel in joyfulness despite the way the world views Atlanta for a day of community building. They workshopped, Black men and the expectations placed on them. This full encouraged each other and shared experiences from their breadth of Black men’s humanity, which includes joy, often respective classrooms. goes unrecognized or is undervalued. The men high-fived, hugged, laughed heartily and The Atlanta event, BMEsTalk LIVE, is a culmination of expressed gratitude during workshopping sessions. It was online engagement in weekly Twitter chats and at social in those moments that they were free of the white gaze and gatherings. Organized by education consultant and for- filled with joy. When Black male educators gather, they mer teacher Ayodele Harrison, it is a way to give this small

SPRING 2021 37 segment of the nation’s educators a chance to bond and grow participating in the school community, impacting their abil- professionally. The day focuses on personal and professional ity to be effective and ultimately their desire to remain in success analysis, mentorship, pedagogical techniques and the profession.” school community empowerment. BMEsTalk spaces help Black male educators feel part of Attendees assert that the meeting counters the daily iso- a community. They feel valued. They feel seen. lation many of them feel at school. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a space that was specifically That’s because Black male educators make up only focused on Black male educators and engaging with each about 2% of all public school teachers in the United States. other, sharing the successes, the challenges and the oppor- Recruiting and retaining Black male educators has been a tunities,” one attendee says in a BMEsTalk LIVE recap video. struggle for schools. In addition to isolation, the “invisi- This community building—and its subsequent joy—is ble tax”—the expectation that educators of color handle essential work, the men say. It’s necessary to stay motivated, issues around cultural competency, discipline and relation- a feat that can become difficult for those who are thrust into ship-building with students of color—makes it more difficult disciplinarian roles or feel tokenized and burned out. for them to thrive. This pervasive charge means that Black BMEsTalk isn’t the only group of Black male educators educators are left with less support or end up “typecast” into doing this work. There are numerous organizations and alli- non-academic roles. ances across the country creating spaces to celebrate and Just as society doesn’t see Black men’s full humanity, uplift these educators while helping to broaden their mem- the education community also doesn’t see Black male edu- bers’ career opportunities. cators as multi-dimensional beings with skills vital to nur- But it’s not enough to acknowledge the need for Black turing young minds. The fact that these men must find heal- male educators to have a safe space for professional devel- ing, learning and joy in platforms outside of their schools opment or celebration. School communities must recon- acknowledges the tokenization and pigeonholing they face. sider how they perceive Black men’s roles in education. These phenomena result from existing white supremacist They should act more intentionally so that Black male edu- structures prevalent in schools, making it more difficult for cators feel included in students’ learning. Colleagues need students and teachers of color to flourish. to respect their skills and abilities and see them more fully. According to a 2016 Education Trust report, Through Our Eyes: Perspectives and Reflections From Black Teachers, IN THEIR SHOES Black educators “face racial discrimination and stereotyp- Now in his second year of teaching, Eric Parker can’t imagine ing that leave them feeling alienated and restricted from himself doing anything else. When he decided to become a

38 TEACHING TOLERANCE “Seeing other people just expressing the same feelings and having that open, safe space to talk about your thoughts, your dreams, desires and things like that—it’s been really nice.” ERIC PARKER social studies teacher, he remembered that he’d never had a “I think I’m seen as a rebel,” he says. “I don’t feel that, teacher who looked like him or had similar life experiences. but people have told me that.” He adds, “You may see my He was going to be that for future students. Today, he teaches passion as angry. ... I’m just speaking my truth.” middle school students who reflect a very racially diverse Beyond being pigeonholed into disciplinarian and coach- part of northern Oklahoma City, including students from ing roles, some Black male educators also feel they must immigrant families spanning from Central America and prove themselves to colleagues or administrators. Africa to Asia and Europe. Parker says some coworkers aren’t confident in his con- One of the youngest teachers at his school, Parker is tent knowledge. He feels supported by colleagues in his empathetic, committed to social justice education and eager social studies department but not by others. to learn new pedagogical techniques. But he admits some “I keep having to prove myself, especially to some of colleagues look beyond that and instead assume he’s there our newer teachers that haven’t spent time with me, that I for one reason. know my content matters,” he says. “I research these things, “The first thing I got from a lot of my colleagues was, learn more every day about what I teach because I’m con- ‘What do you coach?’... So, it gets annoying, just those lit- stantly challenged.” tle microaggressions like that. They’re saying, ‘Oh, you In Parker’s case, the scrutiny comes from coworkers and coach?’ I’m saying, ‘No. I just do this.’ And they’re just caregivers. He has submitted primary sources to some care- like, ‘But you want to coach something.’ I’m like, ‘At givers when challenged about his content knowledge. the moment, no. That’s not what I’m focused on. Let’s He’s felt the sting of the generations-old view that Black talk about what I’m doing in my room rather than any people must work twice as hard in their workplace. other stuff.’” Black male educators are often seen as their schools’ BMEsTalk Director Ayodele Harrison embraces a participant “managers of behavioral misconduct” by default. While during the live convening themed "Connect. Grow. Lead." they assert that they can effectively manage their classrooms, they note that all teachers should commit to doing the same. It shouldn’t be their burden to manage multiple classrooms. “As Black male educators, we use our knowledge, expertise and experience to improve school culture, climate and equity in our school communities, which extends far beyond regulating student behavior,” Harrison explains. LaMar Timmons-Long, an English teacher in Brooklyn, concurs: “It is a piece of the profession that needs to be amplified. We’re only looked at from one lens. ... We’re the ones who are stern and firm. We bring that to that space and [are] not looked at as something else.” Timmons-Long also couldn’t imagine being anything other than a teacher. He dreamed of that opportunity in the fifth grade. “I had really good teachers,” he says. “I thought, ‘If I can feel this happy as a student, then I’d probably be happy as a teacher.’” But being a youthful Black male educator who is pas- sionate about social justice education has earned him some labels he doesn’t necessarily appreciate.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY HUDSON SPRING 2021 39 A group of men engage in discussion during the February 2020 BMEsTalk LIVE event at Clayton State University in Atlanta, Georgia.

RESISTING WITH JOY, SUPPORT AND COMMUNITY “When it boils down to it, our jobs aren’t easy. Whether it’s In 2018, the hashtags #Blackboyjoy, #Blackmenjoy and battling curriculum, battling colleagues or dealing with the #Blackmensmiling began to trend on social media platforms. things that our students have to deal with, you always need The messages and the images of men laughing, embracing that time to just recharge yourself. That’s what it feels like and frolicking served as a reminder to imagine Black men it is: It’s like a recharge, a needed quick moment, a breath of beyond media stereotypes that portray them as stoic and fresh air, then back to work.” hardened. It was also aspirational. It was liberating for Black Black male educators uplifting and celebrating one men to unapologetically tap into joy despite the many ways another in communal spaces is also a way to resist a white society attempts to rob them of their dignity. Whether in supremacist culture that shows up in school communities. their neighborhoods or as professionals in classrooms, Black “What we experience as a Black man and as an edu- men must continuously fight for their dignity. cator can be difficult and tough, so we have to stand on Establishing connectedness through platforms like the backs of each other in order to support each other, BMEsTalk is part of that fight. whether it is emotionally, mentally, pedagogically,” “Seeing other people just expressing the same feelings Timmons-Long says. “There’s like an automatic broth- and having that open, safe space to talk about your thoughts, erhood that happens when we teach together, especially your dreams, desires and things like that—it’s been really when we are on the same page of equity for students nice,” says Parker, who has participated in BMEsTalk chats. of color.”

40 TEACHING TOLERANCE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY HUDSON But the BMEsTalk gatherings don’t always focus on discrimination, inequity or microaggressions. Connecting with other Black male educators reminds Parker to be mindful of self-care. “It can be a little taxing when everything you talk about is something negative or an issue,” Parker says. “[A topic] usually opens up with something like, ‘Tell me a story about something funny, or a time when you did this or a time you did that.’ Not everything has to be bad. That’s a lesson I’ve had to figure out throughout my life: that anger’s taxing. Especially when you’re aware of things, you always have to set that time aside to relax and enjoy something.” Organizations that cater to Black male educators also provide support through mentoring programs, recruiting initiatives, leadership trainings and annual conferences. All efforts are intended to help these men thrive—not just sur- vive—in their careers and at their respective schools. It helps that they know they’re not alone. Timmons-Long says he didn’t have a Black male educator as a colleague until three years into his profession. “He took me under his wings like a little brother,” he recounts of that colleague. “When we became close and we started to support each other as teachers and Black men, it was pure Black boy joy. ... Our experiences are similar yet different, and we are always learning from each other. There’s nothing like the power and love of Black male educators supporting each other.”

THE FUTURE OF BLACK MALE EDUCATORS Studies about Black male educators support the same conclusion: Schools need more of them in classrooms because all students, particularly students of color, benefit from having Black male educators in school. Their presence means lower dropout rates, fewer disciplinary actions and improved test performances. This is why there have been concerted efforts in cities such as New York City, New Orleans, St. Louis and Indianapolis to “All educators, particularly white educators, should do attract more Black male educators. But Black male educators an investigation of their own identity and understand the say these initiatives must be for the right reasons. way they show up,” Harrison says. “Because, honestly, that’s Through Ayodele Harrison’s consulting work, he often where the work is, right? It really is about going internally fields questions from school administrators who want to know and looking at, ‘Well, what is it that I need to do to be a better how to recruit more Black male educators. educator, to be a better colleague, to be a better contributor “Just tell me how you support and celebrate the current to this community so that it’s welcoming to all?’” ones in your schools,” he tells administrators. “If you don’t Black male educators say it all comes back to wanting to be have an answer to that, it’s going to be a huge uphill climb themselves and be respected for their skills. School adminis- to get Black male educators to come. How can we create trators and colleagues, they say, must trust that their pres- schools that are welcoming of Black male educators, that will ence in the classroom is integral rather than ancillary. While support them, allow them to be who they are to be and not finding connection in safe spaces brings Black male educa- only disciplinarians?” tors joy, they need to feel that same happiness at work. Harrison says white educators must first be mindful of how they contribute to an environment that hinders Black male Dillard is a senior writer for Teaching Tolerance. educators’ professional growth.

SPRING 2021 41 IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT CONTROL How Schools Maintain Order White Supremacy

BY CORY COLLINS ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN JAY CABUAY

42 TEACHING TOLERANCE LAST SEPTEMBER, IN LOUISIANA, 9-year-old were overrepresented in every punish- All systems Ka’Mauri Harrison was taking a test ment measure evaluated, regardless of in his bedroom—a reality for many poverty level or school type. create what they students engaged in online learn- The numbers’ severity and lon- ing during the coronavirus pandemic. gevity underscore a systemic and were designed to His brother walked in, tripping over a seismic pushout of Black students, create. Sadly, the BB gun in the background. Ka’Mauri whose disproportionate contact with picked it up and carried it toward the law enforcement leads to disproportion- education system computer. His teacher kicked him off ate rates of dropouts, disengagement and the video conference. incarceration. Disrupting that cycle of has been designed For briefly brandishing a BB gun in punishment will be necessary to end the to weed out, to his own bedroom, Ka’Mauri faced nearly school-to-prison pipeline and protect two weeks of suspension and a social the students most disproportionately discriminate and to worker was sent to his home. harmed by such policies—namely Black, “It is our policy that teachers and Indigenous and Latinx youth. provide success for administrators may employ reasonable But experts in school discipline say disciplinary and corrective measures,” a there is something more insidious and kids of privilege. spokesperson for Jefferson Parish Schools emblematic behind distance learning said at the time, “to maintain order.” discipline measures. It hasn’t just been —Miriam Rollin Ka’Mauri is Black. So is Isaiah Elliott, suspensions. In a moment when stu- a Colorado seventh grader who was sus- dents needed grace and leniency amidst COMPLIANCE AT THE ROOT pended for holding a toy gun during art brand-new challenges, a reliance on Dr. David Stovall, a professor of Black class. So is the 15-year-old girl who, in a compliance emerged again and again. studies, criminology, law and justice at now infamous case, was incarcerated in Students had to keep cameras on in the University of Illinois at Chicago, Michigan for not doing her homework their homes. Students got in trouble for draws a distinction between schooling and thus violating her parole. missing school days or assignments as and education. “Schooling in its tradi- The en masse switch to distance they were forced to work or care for sib- tional sense is not necessarily about learning was unprecedented. But these lings. Schools enforced dress codes and learning as much as it is about order outsized discipline measures against codes of conduct most Zoom-bound and compliance,” he explains. “And Black students, sadly, were not. Zoom adults could not follow. All designed, [historically marginalized students] suspensions followed similar patterns as the Louisiana spokesperson put it, are the ones who will be compelled to to in-person classroom management to maintain order. adhere to this order and compliance tactics that feed Black students into the Experts say these stories underscore because schools have always reflected school-to-prison pipeline. the limitations of fixing disproportion- a desire to control them.” “It’s a pathway that is sadly well-worn ate discipline outcomes strictly in terms This function of schooling echoes and very visible,” says Miriam Rollin, the of removing school police or eliminat- in the history of assimilation schools, director of the Education Civil Rights ing the school-to-prison pipeline. The where Indigenous children were forced Alliance assembled by the National U.S. school system is dependent on to abandon their homes, languages, Center for Youth Law. control and compliance—and histori- hair and customs. It echoes in the his- According to analysis of public data by cally this dependence reaffirms and is tory of policies that have increasingly ProPublica, Black students, nationally, inextricably bound up with tenets of regulated Black students’ hair, dress, are 3.9 times more likely to face suspen- white supremacy. Whether advocates behavior and speech. sion than white students. In some states, call for reform measures or for a more Stovall pushes people to think like Wisconsin (7.5 times), Minnesota systemic abolition of all school practices beyond the school-to-prison pipeline (6.2 times) and Connecticut (6 times), that resemble the carceral state, it’s clear and consider what he and others call it’s even more stark. And according to that they agree on one thing: Equity the school-prison nexus. The pipeline, a 2018 analysis by the U.S. Government requires understanding and excavating he says, is an argument that schools put Accountability Office, Black students those white supremacist roots. students on a pathway to prison based

SPRING 2021 43 on dehumanizing actions, including One definition of white supremacy “So you just had a history in which arcane discipline policies. that gets at its many systemic tendrils, Black students have never been fully “What those of us who are arguing including in schools, comes from Dr. accepted in any educational space,” about a school-prison nexus are saying Frances Ansley, who has described it as Bell explains. is that we have to pay attention to the “a political, economic and cultural sys- Bell says that students he interviewed fact that the logics of those schools and tem in which whites overwhelmingly often felt targeted based on the way they the logics of those prisons are almost control power and material resources, dressed, their hair (e.g., locs) and their identical, especially when we talk about conscious and unconscious ideas of culture. One student Bell interviewed discipline,” Stovall says. He draws direct white superiority and entitlement are was facing financial hardship and there- connections between hallway protocols, widespread, and relations of white dom- fore didn’t have consistent access to restrictive bathroom policies, surveil- inance and non-white subordination are laundry. When the student didn’t have lance cameras and metal detectors that daily reenacted across a broad array of clean, white-collared shirts to wear, he exist in both spaces. institutions and social settings.” came to school out of dress code. He “It’s something a little more insid- In schools, this concentration of received a 30-day suspension. ious” than the school-to-prison power and resource control might look It’s an all-too-common occur- pipeline, Stovall explains. “[Students] like the overwhelmingly white stake- rence—and one that didn’t end during are reminded based on the discipline holders who create curricula, decide state distance learning. and curriculum policies that they’re in standards, determine school funding and, “What we’re finding is it is just a a de facto prison in those spaces.” yes, teach. Superiority and entitlement continuation of bad practices from Stovall links the continued use of might look like codes of conduct and in-person spaces that has moved into punitive policies and whitewashed cur- curricula filtered through a Eurocentric the virtual,” says Dr. Nataki Gregory, ricula to a history of racism in schools. lens. Dominance and non-white subordi- the CEO of CT3, an organization that He says we know that more inclusive nation often play out in the enforcement provides training focused on relation- and less punitive environments lead to of policies; this includes the obvious (dis- ship building and student engagement better learning outcomes. proportionate punishment) and the in service of high student achievement. “But under white supremacy,” he says, more subtle (tracking for AP classes). Gregory says policies must be con- “the argument is that [a more inclusive “All systems create what they were nected to learning and equitable approach] works for the wrong people.” designed to create,” Miriam Rollin says. outcomes. She instructs school leaders “Sadly, the education system has been to consider who a policy benefits and for designed to weed out, to discriminate and whom it might be harmful. to provide success for kids of privilege.” “Because the truth is there are some It’s a painful message sent loud of these policies that just make zero and clear to Black students and their sense and have nothing to do with learn- The truth is there families. Dr. Charles Bell, a profes- ing,” she says. “It’s really just about sor of criminal justice at Illinois State compliance or oppression. And if that’s are some of these University, has devoted much of his what you’re trying to bring into the research to speaking to Black students school, then you have the wrong focus.” policies that just and caregivers about their perceptions And that focus—endemic in schools make zero sense of school discipline. across the United States—is doing “[Black students’ and caregiv- active harm. and have nothing ers’] experiences suggest that school inherently functions as an anti-Black THE HARM CAUSED BY COMPLIANCE to do with learning. institution because they criminal- Over the years, Bell says he’s seen two It’s really just ize Black students’ behaviors in ways competing, but interconnected, narra- they do not criminalize white students’ tives. He has witnessed Black parents about compliance behaviors,” Bell says. removing students from predominately Bell points to the resistance to inte- Black schools where they felt punish- or oppression. gration from white caregivers, educators ment tactics were putting their kids “on and schools, and the creation of the a pathway to prison.” And he has wit- —Dr. Nataki Gregory school-to-prison pipeline that followed nessed Black parents removing students shortly after the final court-ordered from predominately white schools, ends to segregation. which they saw as anti-Black.

44 TEACHING TOLERANCE “What that does,” Bell says, “is it creates a dynamic of, ‘I’m not safe anywhere.’” That lack of safety is tangible and has lasting effects. The educational harm is obvious. Bell’s interviews supported what we know empirically: Suspensions, time out of the classroom and school climates wherein certain students feel unwelcome or undervalued hurt those students’ grades and engagement. Students become more likely to tune out and drop out. Gregory says this educational harm contradicts the stated mission of schools: to center learning and develop- children that look a lot like post-trau- “Our system is failing kids,” Rollin ment. And for some students, punitive matic stress disorder. says, “and we need to hold that system policies become an escape valve. In set- “In adolescence and early child- accountable.” tings that frequently dehumanize or hood, there are buffers against negative In an ideal world, advocates say, humiliate them, students may act out effects of trauma, including peer con- transformation happens from the bot- to get kicked out. nectedness and school connectedness,” tom up: Educators take the steps they “If the goal is to get students to González says. “And when you remove can take today to interrupt their own engage more, do more, achieve more, someone from a classroom environment harmful practices. And going forward, and ‘discipline’ doesn’t get them more or a learning environment or a school coalitions of students, educators and excited about doing that, then the dis- community, you tear that apart.” families shape more culturally sustain- cipline is ineffective,” Gregory says. Bell has also seen this firsthand in ing school communities. School policies “Because then the discipline is just pun- his work. “I’ve seen some students encode a more restorative approach. ishment. And if punishment is your goal, internalize school rejection or being State policies and codes are amended to then you’re never going to get to a place targeted,” he says, “to the point where incentivize a severe reduction in suspen- where students attend to their work, to I had a few students who told me that sions and policies imbued with racism, your leadership, to your teaching in a they were considering suicide as a such as dress codes or modes of compli- way you want. Because now I feel like result of this continuous targeting and ance. And if all of that hits a roadblock, this is the place I come to be punished. rejection from educators.” Rollin says, it may be time for a lawsuit. And punishment is always a threat that’s Focusing on health outcomes, But while long-term solutions must looming over my head.” González stresses, does not mean be found systematically and delib- For Dr. Thalia González, the effects of ignoring the ways in which racism, erately, educators and students face that looming threat are key to reshaping white supremacy and social control urgent need—and immediate conse- the way advocates talk about school dis- lead to punitive discipline policies. But quences. Whether learning at a distance cipline practices. A nationally renowned it stresses the urgency and stakes for or in person, the harm perpetuated by expert in restorative justice, González demanding change. punitive policies is happening to stu- says much of the discourse surrounding “It’s about saying, ‘How do we make dents right now. discipline focuses solely on the fact that, this change, and how do we disrupt these Before a Colorado school suspended over time, Black students are more likely drivers for young people that will con- Isaiah Elliott for holding a toy gun, they to face punishment and pushout. But she tinue to persist if we can’t get rid of—or sent a police officer to his home. “You says that ignores, in some ways, the real- at least purge to a large extent—this put his life in jeopardy,” his mother said time disproportionate health effects. whole structure that is about social con- to the school—a school that had fol- “It’s a public health issue at its core,” trol of a particular set of bodies?’” lowed its systems and policies exactly González says. She notes that data show as designed. high school graduation can increase AN URGENT NEED FOR CHANGE life span by as much as 15 years. She Across the country, schools will have to Collins is a senior writer for Teaching points to research that illustrates how take a systematic approach to undoing Tolerance. removal from school and classroom structures that rely on compliance and environments causes symptoms in punitive discipline.

SPRING 2021 45 The Classical Roots of White Supremacy A whitewashed history of the ancient world lays the foundation for white supremacy across the curriculum.

BY DANI BOSTICK ILLUSTRATION BY FATINHA RAMOS

46 TEACHING TOLERANCE i have taught ancient greek and latin, collectively organization for teachers of Greek and Latin languages, literatures and cul- known as classics, for most of my adult life. When I started tures. Recently, ACL acknowledged that it “has been involved in, perpetu- studying Latin in seventh grade, I bought into the value of ated, and tolerated acts of racism and classics promoted in pamphlets from the American Classical intolerance within [the] organization.” Bethany Hucks, a Black classicist, League (ACL)—as the demarcation between what was explained the impact: “It requires the descendants of enslaved people to talk worth knowing and what wasn’t worth even acknowledging. with white kids and teachers as though this kind of thing didn’t directly affect Even today, a tie to the classical used by Southern enslavers and Lost our families through violence for cen- world often provides an instant sense Cause Confederates. turies until the present day.” of legitimacy, context and greatness. One textbook, for example, unques- Today, high school Latin class- There’s a reason why, when President tioningly reproduces the myth of the rooms are overwhelmingly white, even Donald Trump wanted to “make fed- benevolent enslaver. Students read in schools that are otherwise diverse. eral buildings beautiful again,” he that when Davus is sold at auction, One of the few sources of data about exhorted architects to design buildings “[H]e was filled with fear and doubt as high school classics, the College Board, in the style of ancient Greek temples. to what might happen to him. But he reveals that only 3.62% of AP Latin But there are real consequences needn’t have worried. Old Titus proved Exam test-takers in the last decade to positioning ancient Greece and to be the kindest of masters.” were Black. It’s unclear whether this Rome as the foundation of “Western A discussion question again reduces lack of diversity explains how the field Civilization,” as the unquestioned systemic oppression to an interper- has maintained racist ideas and prac- standard of quality for everything sonal matter when students must imag- tices for so long or whether the hostile from literature to sculpture to archi- ine themselves as enslavers: “If you spaces created by racist policies and tecture—especially when “Western were a Roman slave owner, would you practices explain the overwhelming Civilization” is aligned with whiteness. use strict discipline or relative kind- whiteness of the field. In schools, the glorification of classics ness to manage your slaves? Why?” and its artificial linkage to whiteness is A question from the 2015 National Whitewashing the a toxic combination. Latin Exam (NLE) required students Classics Curriculum to select an adjective to describe a per- In 1933, historian Carter G. Woodson Maintaining Hostile Spaces son who says to his father, “The slave wrote that the education system “dis- There is a centuries-long tradition is valuable. Sell the slave and keep misses the Negro as a nonentity” and of white Americans abusing classics the money.” The NLE is taken by over noted, “[Black students are] taught to justify enslavement and, by exten- 125,000 students annually. The answer to admire the Hebrew, the Greek, the sion, to promulgate anti-Black racism. to the question was “practical.” Latin and the Teuton and to despise This is part of a history of intentional, The problem is pervasive. As late as the African.” overt white supremacy within classi- 2019, events held under the National Classics is often ground zero for the cal education. Junior Classical League (NJCL) brand positioning of Europe as the pinna- Even now, as school districts and featured fundraising auctions, in which cle of human achievement. Although departments of education challenge students posing as enslaved people ancient Rome encompassed parts of the ways slavery is taught, classics were “sold” to the highest bidder. The Africa and the Middle East, in text- instruction too often supports a san- NLE and NJCL are not rogue organi- books, the ancient Romans are often itized, inaccurate version of slavery, zations; they are part of the American all white. Even ancient Greco-Roman one that relies on the same tropes Classical League, the professional temples and statues are shown as

SPRING 2021 47 white, although the marble would assumption that Greco-Roman have been painted vibrant colors. antiquity is admirable, foundational Today, classics curricula still elevate and refined. Thus any presentation whiteness and devalue contributions that promotes uncritical admiration to American culture that originate for the ancient world, by presenting outside of Europe. it as a source of ‘timeless’ models and “Whenever I learn about the ‘his- wisdom, has the potential to be com- tory of medicine,’ I learn that the plicit in white supremacy.” Greeks and Romans invented sani- Cassie Miller, a senior research tation practices,” said Queen McKee, analyst at the Southern Poverty Law an undergraduate at Wake Forest Center, said the use of classical imag- University. “[And] the Egyptians ery is “common in white suprema- and Babylonians did nothing to fur- cist propaganda.” ther the progress of medicine aside Furthermore, according to Miller, “For example,” she explained, from herbal remedies. ... I learn that “most English curriculum doesn’t even “American Identity Movement, a Hippocrates invented the standard of include ancient writers from Africa or white nationalist group that formerly medical care—the oath that everyone Asia.” Instead, students are taught that used the name Identity Evropa, has takes to ensure proper medical care— “The Odyssey has ‘universal’ themes.” used images of classical sculptures and no one else. But that’s not true. ... Chinua Achebe spoke to this phenome- on their flyers along with phrases I know that my ancestors and many non in 1974: “In the nature of things the like ‘Protect Your Heritage’ and ‘Our people of color have made technolog- work of a Western writer is automati- Future Belongs to Us.’ ical advancements, discoveries and cally informed by universality. It is only “In 2018, they concluded their first significant contributions to the field others who must strain to achieve it.” national conference by hosting a of medicine.” demonstration at the Parthenon replica Across education, curriculum sig- Beyond the Classroom in Nashville, where participants held nals the superiority of knowledge Those framings have a real-world a banner that read ‘European Roots, from ancient Greece and Rome. In impact. Curtis Dozier, an assistant pro- American Greatness.’” math classes, for example, Euclid fessor of Greek and Roman studies at This connection to classics, Miller and Pythagoras figure prominently, Vassar College, directs Pharos, a proj- said, “helps legitimize white nation- while contributions from Babylonia, ect that documents the ways classics is alist goals: They are, they claim, the Egypt and Arab-Islamic cultures are deployed by white supremacists online. inheritors of a culture passed down for often invisible. “The civilizations of ancient Greece centuries that deserves to be preserved An uncritical veneration of a white and Rome have always been attractive and protected.” classical world has a foothold in K-12 to European nationalist and racist Given the ways classics has been lev- schools, where ancient Greeks and movements, and in more recent years eraged to legitimize white supremacy Romans are protagonists across the have been adopted by other so-called in our communities, it is imperative curriculum. In the humanities, this alt-right groups,” the project’s web- that educators consider how they pres- focus influences what history is taught site explains. Those who have histor- ent this content in their classrooms. and which texts are viewed as scholarly ically deployed and exploited clas- or rigorous enough to be worthwhile. sics to justify white dominance have A Critical Approach to Classics “Traditional humanities curricu- included American enslavers, Hitler There is a cost to an uncritical teach- lum associates multiculturalism with and Mussolini, and members of mod- ing of classics. Students of color can modernity ... as if before we had the ern white identity groups. receive an education that amounts to modern world, we had a white world,” “The white supremacists I docu- intellectual abuse and betrayal, while said Henry Cody Miller, assistant pro- ment on Pharos,” Dozier said, “turn to white students end up with a sense of fessor of English education at SUNY Greco-Roman antiquity for validation inflated dominance. Brockport and TT advisor. As a result, of many of their political views.” Educators can interrupt this harm he explained, “works like Gilgamesh The problem for educators, as by refusing to teach classical content are positioned as the start of the con- Dozier explained, is that these views through a Eurocentric lens. They can structed West.” “all depend on the widespread expand their learning and teaching

48 TEACHING TOLERANCE about what constitutes the “classical be critical consumers of what they’re world.” They can push back against learning beyond our classes, where textbooks or curricula that frame clas- In schools, the students often learn about the influ- sics as a matter of European heritage. ence of Greco-Roman antiquity on And they can teach students to recog- glorification the United States as indisputably and nize—and challenge—these character- exclusively positive. izations for themselves. This is the idea of classics pre- Ancient Greece and Rome were of classics and sented by the National Junior Classical not monolithic in terms of culture, League, which seeks “to impart an and their geography extended out- its artificial understanding of the debt of our own side of Europe. Students benefit culture to that of Classical antiquity.” from a broader conception of clas- linkage to It does so, as its constitution details, sics that challenges assumptions to help students “pattern our citizen- about Eurocentrism. whiteness ship in respect to family, school and Joshua Johnson, a Black classics nation after the best examples of clas- major at Cornell University, said that sical civilizations.” he believes current classical education is a toxic So students learn about the clas- encourages students to think of non- sical roots of American government Greek or non-Roman inhabitants of the combination. without learning about the use of clas- classical world as uncivilized, “just like sics to justify the institution of slavery. the Greeks and Romans did.” They learn about democracy in Athens “I was truly excited when I first but nothing of how the founders’ spe- encountered a version of classics that cious establishment of ancient Greece moved away from Eurocentric dom- and Rome as the cultural forebears of inance and gave voice to Afro-Asiatic American identity worked to erase the contributions to the ancient classical Indigenous nations already established world,” he said. on this land. College should not be the first Students deserve to know that the place students encounter a balanced, version of classics too often taught in critical approach to history and today’s schools is essentially the same human achievement more generally. as the one crafted by white Americans Teaching classics ethically, however, over centuries to justify racist claims involves more than adding “non-Eu- of cultural and intellectual superior- ropean” content to a Eurocentric ity. Educators cannot convey this rep- curriculum as a footnote. It involves resentation as neutral. presenting a more expansive view Of course, no one is saying that to begin with—decentering ancient we should not teach about ancient Greece and Rome to stress that they Greece and Rome or that classics were one part of the ancient world, should not play a role in students’ not the ancient world; disrupting education. But it’s our responsibility the idea that Europe has a monop- to provide students ethical encoun- oly on civilization and progress; and ters with history. This involves rec- legitimizing sources of knowledge ognizing the ways Greco-Roman and achievement outside of Europe. antiquity has been exploited to estab- Teachers can also expand the arti- lish and maintain white supremacy, ficially demarcated boundaries of a naming that exploitation and inter- European classical world in terms of rupting it. geography, language and culture. But educators can’t just rethink con- Bostick is a Latin teacher in Winchester, tent. We also need to teach students to Virginia.

SPRING 2021 49 BY TEACHING TOLERANCE A new administration. A new year. Join ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS our advisory board in recommitting to ILLUSTRATION BY MARY KATE MCDEVITT equity in education.

THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR can feel like a whirlwind, sweeping educators and administrators into a frenzy of excite- As this new semester begins, a new presidential ment, anxiety and anticipation. It’s always administration is embarking on its all-important “first easy to get lost in the “busy-ness,” this year 100 days.” This public goal-setting got us thinking: What more than most. But as anti-bias, anti-rac- are some things educators can do in 100 days to improve ist educators, it’s important we periodically equity in their schools? take a moment to refocus, recognize the We reached out to members of our Teaching Tolerance accomplishments of our commitment and Advisory Board for answers. Here is their response. look to the work that lies ahead. The new term gives us an opportunity to do that.

50 TEACHING TOLERANCE In 100 days, I can reflect on my learning. I can remember courageous conversations I’ve shared with students, colleagues and supervisors. I can consider the ways I’ve adjusted in response to what I’ve learned— and the things I still need to examine or interrogate.

In 100 days, I can practice getting used to discomfort. I can push myself to answer hard questions. I can hold myself accountable for moving myself forward, always. I can promise to speak up against unjust or biased speech or policies whenever I can.

In 100 days, I can return to the question, “What role does my identity play in my work with youth?” I can lay out an answer.

In 100 days, I can speak up for my students. I can share my ideas at a staff meeting, a school board meeting, on social media or in an opinion piece in the newspaper. I can share my expertise, my experience and wisdom.

In 100 days, I can share my values across my life. If I’m having critical conversations in my classroom, I can make sure I’m having critical discussions at home with my friends and my family, too.

In 100 days, I can set the habit of reflecting every day. I can ask myself, “What went well?” “What didn’t?” “How can I challenge myself?”

In 100 days, I can recenter my work around equity. When looking at grading or programs or school data, I can ask, “What is the equity issue here?” I can insist on an answer, regardless of pushback.

In 100 days, I can audit my curriculum, assignments and assessments. I can ask, “Who isn’t included?” “Does this assignment measure learning—or compliance?” “Why this text?” “Why this assignment?” “Why this assessment?”

SPRING 2021 51 In 100 days, I can ask others for feedback. I can practice accepting critiques with an open mind and heart, no matter how they come. I can adapt where I need to.

In 100 days, I can ensure I am speaking only for myself, not for others, unless they give me permission. I can speak from my experiences, not others’.

In 100 days, I can get cozy with humility.

In 100 days, I can practice offering grace. To myself, my colleagues, my students and my community. I can make mistakes and learn something from those mistakes. I can remind myself that with practice, patience and determination, we grow.

In 100 days, I can find my people, my thought partners, my challengers. I can reach out to those in my school, my network, on Twitter or elsewhere. I can find the educators who get me, support me and teach me—and I can be that person for someone else. No one should do this work alone.

In 100 days, I can work toward recognizing the funds of knowledge my students’ families bring. I can build community, co-creating and holding affinity spaces with families in their home languages. I can invite families to be part of the curriculum.

In 100 days, I can take time to focus on the physical and mental health of my students, colleagues, and parents and guardians during the pandemic. I can ask what they need in this moment to be better moving forward.

In 100 days, I can help connect families with local agencies to meet basic needs like food, housing and medical care. I can set up a video call with experts to visit with families and students in breakout rooms to answer questions and assist them.

52 TEACHING TOLERANCE In 100 days, I can practice self-care. I can recognize that it is necessary to build and sustain my capacity to be effective in this work. Whether it’s a warm bath, a morning walk, a great TV show, a dance class, a nap, a delicious meal, time with friends and family or time alone, I can do the things that feed my soul and spirit.

In 100 days, I can remember my ancestors. I can remember the lessons from those who came before me. I can read the words of Frederick Douglass, listen to Nina Simone and look for inspiration in how our people have thrived in trying times.

In 100 days, I can find ways to remind myself I’m not alone. I can go back to the work of Gholdy Muhammad, Bettina L. Love, Gloria Ladson-Billings and others to remember that I do this work in community, to remember what is possible.

In 100 days, I can support students as they lead. I can identify opportunities within and outside of school for students to organize, inspire, teach and learn with their peers, families and communities. If we want this work to continue, young folks will need to be leading it.

In 100 days, I can meet individually In 100 days, instead of feeling like I am with students, in person or over video hammering my head against a stone calls. Just for 10 minutes, just to talk. I wall of opposition, instead of getting can check in not about grades or school discouraged, I can think of myself as a but about their lives. I can share some beacon. Those who need light will find of who I am with them. me. And I will pull in close those who are reaching for me. In 100 days, I can build strong connections with each of my students. I can remember that I don’t need to control everything they are doing. I can laugh with them. I can get to know them as full human This collaborative piece was written beings—their interests, their passions, by Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board their goals, their dreams. I can remember members Lhisa Almashy, Geneviève that none of this work is possible without DeBose, Toni Rose Deanon, Angela strong relationships. Hartman, Danna Lomax, Amy Melik, Veronica Menefee and Alicia Oglesby. TT Senior Editor Julia Delacroix provided editorial support.

SPRING 2021 53 PHOTO CREDIT GOES HERE

54 TEACHING TOLERANCE We Won’t Wear the Name How students at three schools named for Robert E. Lee fought for change.

BY COSHANDRA DILLARD ILLUSTRATION BY CORNELIA LI

GERTRUDE “TRUDE” LAMB, 16, describes the attention of the school board and and political discord culminated into herself as a shy person. She never national media outlets. She later coura- a perfect storm. Thousands of young wanted to be the center of attention. geously read that letter to school board people across the country joined others But, in the summer of 2020, when members at a June 22 meeting. in the streets, at school board meetings Trude became the face of a movement Trude read, in part: and city halls, building on a valued tra- to rename Robert E. Lee High School “I love and enjoy the sports I play at dition of youth-led activism to demand in Tyler, Texas, she was suddenly in a Robert E. Lee. I cannot bear and will the dismantling of Confederate iconog- spotlight she’d never imagined. no longer wear Lee’s name on my race raphy in their communities. School A friend nudged her to join a local jersey. … As one of your students I am boards across the country, primarily campaign and send a letter to the respectfully asking you to take up the in the South, voted to change schools’ school board, but she wasn’t sure why. Robert E. Lee name change issue.” names, often as a result of pressure Trude, who emigrated from Ghana in Trude said she was scared and from students. 2014, wasn’t familiar with Lee or any- incredibly nervous to speak up, but she Young people have always led the thing related to the Confederacy. So, did it anyway because it was “the right way—from the Adkin High School she began to research. thing to do.” Support from friends and students in Kinston, North Carolina, “At school, they usually just teach family got her through it. who staged a massive march in the good part about somebody,” she “I’m also doing it for others out 1951, to the Children’s Crusade in says. “They don’t teach the bad part.” there, other Black people, and it was Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. More A star athlete on her school’s var- the time to get it done,” she says. recently, we’ve seen the same activ- sity cross-country team, she’d penned In August, school board mem- ism in Black Lives Matter and March a letter to school board members stat- bers voted to rename the school Tyler for Our Lives organizing. ing she’d no longer wear a jersey that Legacy High. Students’ activism can lead to cul- bore the name of an enslaver. Trude isn’t alone in her activ- tural and policy change, especially The letter went viral after her mother ism. During the uprising of 2020, the when adults—whether educators, care- shared it on social media, catching impact of COVID-19, police violence givers or community leaders—elevate

SPRING 2021 55 their voices and give them space to with the history of the dungeons that diverse school in Springfield, Virginia. bravely express themselves. held enslaved people on the shores of Kadija served on one of the school Trude’s teammates and commu- her home country. Seeing a commu- board advisory committees, while nity members had her back. Athletes nity divided brought these two stories Kimberly served as a student repre- from her school began posting pho- together. She was witnessing, in real sentative on the school board during tos of themselves wearing Lee jerseys time, the residual effects of the transat- the 2019–2020 school year. that were blacked out on an Instagram lantic slave trade. Discussions about renaming the account called “wewontwearthename.” school had happened in the past, but Some of her teachers, including one Persistence and Support they didn’t get far. In March of 2020, who attended a rally for the name The histories of most U.S. cities have school board members began a five- change, encouraged her to keep using left some of their citizens marginalized month process to rename the school. her voice. or traumatized. In cities where schools Then the proposal took a back seat However, other community mem- are named after Confederate figures, to equipping students with tools for bers spoke out against change, as chances are the same names can also online learning. they’d been doing for years. And Trude be found on other public buildings, Students still saw the name change received a number of threats, including street signs, parks and monuments. as a priority, however. In June, Kadija one from a classmate who said on social In Tyler, Texas, Confederate Avenue started a petition, which earned 1,000 media they’d bring a knife to school. runs straight through a predominately signatures within 24 hours. Kimberly “I can remember them saying some- Black neighborhood. In Fairfax County, wrote an open letter, which included a thing about I’m from Africa, I’m not Virginia, county officials are still taking link to the petition, and sent it to the from the U.S., so I don’t really know inventory of the numerous spaces that school board, the superintendent, the what I’m saying,” Trude recounts. pay homage to Confederates. school regional offices and the Fairfax “[They said] I’m just being put up to That’s where seniors Kimberly County NAACP. Community leaders, this, like I have no idea what I’m doing.” Boateng and Kadija Ismail demanded including the NAACP, boosted the girls’ While unfamiliar with the Lost Cause that their school board rename their voices online. They also found support narrative, Trude was very familiar Robert E. Lee High School—a racially in a new principal.

56 TEACHING TOLERANCE “It wasn’t just like a student outcry,” Today, Kadija says, students there Confederate general. That’s common Kadija says. “It was like the community, can say where they attend school sense to me.” the teachers that attend the school, the more confidently. staff members, the alumni, everyone “There’s more pride that comes with Why Local History Matters was just kind of like, ‘OK, we want this the name John R. Lewis High School,” Last summer’s nationwide protests to happen.’ And so the added support she says. “You don’t feel ashamed to say were more than a rallying cry against from all realms was really what helped.” the entire name.” police violence; they were also an Kadija notes that some educators Kimberly and Kadija learned a valu- opportunity to reckon with the history and administrators had underestimated able lesson through their advocacy: It of white supremacy. how the name affected Black students. takes passion and persistence to move That history is still very much alive in “People didn’t really necessarily know people in power. Alabama’s capital. At city hall, a seal pro- that this was something that was really But the teens note that educators claims Montgomery is the “Birthplace impacting the students until the whole should be more open to listening to of the Civil Rights Movement”—right thing was happening, and people went students’ concerns before there is out- above a proclamation that the city is out and spoke at the hearings,” she says. side pressure. They shouldn’t have to the “Cradle of the Confederacy.” In July, facing the added pressure of be the ones advocating for dropping a Following the police killing of a national uprising around racial injus- Confederate name from a school. George Floyd—and after activists top- tice, the school board swiftly renamed “When they first introduced the pled a Robert E. Lee statue in nearby the school John R. Lewis High School. forum topics this past year in March Birmingham—Montgomery activists “It put them in a difficult space to rename the school, I heard one of decided to confront their own city’s because they’re giving statements about the school [board] members say, ‘We Confederate legacy. At Robert E. Lee how racism does not belong in Fairfax haven’t heard of advocacy involv- High School, protesters, including County, and everyone was like, ‘Well, ing the name change,’” Kimberly former students, took down a statue prove it,’” Kimberly says. “It was very recounts. “That bothered me so much of its namesake. obvious that if they hadn’t done some- only because you shouldn’t need a lot Amerika Blair graduated from thing about it, there would be backlash.” of advocacy to change the name of a Robert E. Lee in 2009. She and other

57 TEACHING TOLERANCE SPRING 2021 57 “I think I’m at a point where I don’t feel like “I want [students] to be mindful of those who will attempt to steal their we should have to argue a point of why this voice, those who will attempt to make them feel like they don’t matter and what is wrong. And we should definitely not have they’re doing doesn’t matter,” Blair says.

to pressure anyone to do the right thing. What to Tackle Next And the right thing is to denounce the white Activists are optimistic that ridding their schools of Confederate icons will lead the supremacy that this country was built on.” way to addressing systemic problems. They all name discipline disparities — AMERIKA BLAIR as a key focus to tackle next. Trude, for example, pointed out that white students, such as the ones who sent threats to her online, weren’t treated the same as Black students, who are punished for members of a social justice organiza- Confederate-Named Schools,” these lesser offenses. tion called Southerners on New Ground names function as symbolic violence. Kimberly and Kadija note that (SONG) pressured Montgomery Public They undermine the work educators do there is a lot of work to be done around Schools to rename the school, along to help create inclusive environments anti-Black racism. While they recog- with two others—Sidney Lanier and and unite school communities around nize the need to make school safe Jefferson Davis. Blair was among those common moral values. and inclusive for everyone, they also who gave impassioned speeches urging To ignore the pain Confederate feel there should be more intentional the school board to change their alma names bring students, particularly efforts to make learning equitable for maters’ names. In summer 2020, they Black students, is to trivialize the terror Black students. voted to change all three names. inflicted on their ancestors and to con- “They have a fear that if we elevate It was a long time coming. tinue the dehumanization and lack of one voice, that they’re not elevating Blair explains that educators did not regard for the dignity of Black people. other voices,” Kimberly says of school spend enough time in school examining “I think I’m at a point where I don’t administrators. “They were afraid to the city’s role in national history. As a feel like we should have to argue a talk about specifically Black people. … student, she didn’t realize the impact of point of why this is wrong,” Blair says, They liked to use the word ‘all’ a lot. … that lack of historical context. “and we should definitely not have to I’m like, ‘But why don’t we talk about “So we—me and my peers—never pressure anyone to do the right thing. Black students?’ I talked a lot about really took in the fact that we were And the right thing is to denounce the Black students and how we’ve got to say going to a school named after the white supremacy that this country was certain words. Specifically, right now, Confederate general, and even chant- built on.” Black lives are being targeted.” ing, “Go Generals!” during our athletic Removing a Confederate name from Any advocacy for change isn’t just [events],” she says. a school name is more than symbolic. A for right now, the young activists say. She adds, “It’s really a slap in the Confederate name on a building does They realize they might not see the face. And still ... I don’t think we do a what the Lost Cause narrative designed fruits of their labor for years to come. good job at narrating the truth behind it to do: remind people that a racial “I’m hoping I do, but we may not the Confederacy, the truth behind the hierarchy reigns in this country. It’s see it,” Blair says. “But others coming birth of America. We fail everyone on critical that educators have conversa- behind us will get a taste of it, and they that case.” tions with students about their educa- deserve it more than anything.” As Gregg Suzanne Ferguson explains tion, which should include how they’re in the 2019 Teaching Tolerance arti- taught history and their feelings about Dillard is a senior writer for Teaching cle “Black Students and Educators at Confederate names and symbols. Tolerance.

58 TEACHING TOLERANCE staff picks

Teaching Tolerance loves to read! Check out a few of our favorite books What We’re Reading for diverse readers and educators.

Missing Daddy by Mariame Kaba addresses the youngest victims of the prison indus- “Kaba’s emotive work trial system—children with loved ones who helps children, their are incarcerated. Alongside beautiful illustrations by bria royal, Kaba renders in detail caretakers and other the experience of children who may not interested parties fully understand their loved ones’ extended acknowledge the absence. The story’s description of ridicule painful impact of at school, domestic stress when caretakers incarceration.” manage households alone and enforced sep- —Crystal L. Keels, aration from a beloved father may help young Teaching Tolerance readers feel less alone as they manage the Associate Editor impact of long-term and long-distance incarceration on their families and themselves. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ELEMENTARY Judith Heumann’s memoir, Being Heumann, paints a detailed histori- SCHOOL cal portrait of the birth of the 20th century disability rights movement. Her Body Can Writing with Kristen Joiner in witty and personal prose, Heumann by Katie Crenshaw and describes how she and fellow disability activists established the Ady Meschke groundbreaking Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, developed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and shifted the narrative of disability from a medical issue to a question of civil rights. MIDDLE SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL American as Paneer Pie by Supriya Kelkar “If you’re searching for an excellent primer on the disability justice movement or a firsthand account of the power of the collective voice, you’ll want to pick up this book!” MIDDLE AND — Jey Ehrenhalt, Teaching Tolerance School-Based HIGH SCHOOL Programming and Grants Manager Freedom Summer for Young People: The Violent Season Punching the Air, by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, is an intricately That Made Mississippi Burn crafted novel in verse that paints a portrait of a young Black boy’s and Made America humanity. At 16, Amal Shahid fights to find hope, freedom and his a Democracy truth through the arts in the most debilitating space—a juvenile by Bruce Watson, adapted detention center. Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five, writes with by Rebecca Stefoff Zoboi to expose how systemic racism creates disdain for Blackness, repressing the genius and creativity of Black boys. HIGH SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT “This must-read, rhythmic masterpiece amplifies the The Savvy Ally: A Guide often stifled gifts of Black boyhood while reminding us for Becoming a Skilled to extend grace and mercy to those who are failed by LGBTQ+ Advocate oppressive systems.” by Jeannie Gainsburg —Coshandra Dillard, Teaching Tolerance Senior Writer

SPRING 2021 59 staff picks

“This beautiful book is a cele- “Dr. Michie makes it clear that, for bration of the fat and fierce and educators, any division between a love letter to fat bodies. This inside and outside the classroom is a book I wish I’d had as a fat is impossible.” teenager, from a community of — Crystal L. Keels, Teaching Tolerance incredible fat people with a pow- Associate Editor erful message about fat accep- “This book not only reminds youth tance and loving yourself.” (and adults) to take action; it — Lindsey Shelton, Teaching Tolerance guides them on how.” Marketing Coordinator — Kevin Cordi, Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board Member

Written by Carole Lindstrom, an Anishinaabe/ in middle school. Yet, as she grew—and with Métis author tribally enrolled with the Turtle the help of her support network—she started Mountain Band of Ojibwe, and illustrated by to trust in the power within herself to make real Michaela Goade, an enrolled member of the change. The incredible story takes readers all the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, We Are way through her co-founding of the Black Lives Water Protectors connects Indigenous traditions Matter movement. to present-day activism. Facing the threat of a MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL “A beautifully illustrated pipeline—a manifestation of a tale of the snake and profoundly told tale that will threaten the land—a young water pro- Turn the page of a traditional planner, and it that centers the coura- tector explains why water is sacred and vows to might include the date and a quote. However, geous work of Indigenous defend it. This story is a call to action insisting Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for activists while reminding that Indigenous people are not only still here but Social Justice Educators by the Education for readers that we are all still at the forefront of the fight for climate justice. Liberation Network, prepares the reader to take connected by the water ELEMENTARY SCHOOL action. Each page is filled with details about they protect.” champions of social justice, quotes by social —Cory Collins, Teaching Tolerance The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat movers, powerful images and informative arti- Senior Writer and Fierce combines personal essays, prose, cles. The book includes reminders of conferences, poetry, fashion tips and more into a visual cele- essays about current work and thorough sugges- bration of fat bodies. Edited by Angie Manfredi, tions on how to take action for social justice. This this groundbreaking collection of diverse voices plan book is a great tool for educators, caregivers combines the talents of renowned fat YA and and community organizers. middle-grade authors with those of fat influ- HIGH SCHOOL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT encers and creatives. It offers fat teen readers a guidebook to becoming their best, most confi- In Same as it Never Was: Notes on a Teacher’s dent selves while providing readers of all sizes a Return to the Classroom, Gregory Michie road map for reconceiving our notions of body recounts returning, after 12 years away from K-12 and acceptance. schools, to teach at the Chicago public elemen- MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL tary school where he started his career. With testing requirements and the school’s probation- Patrisse Khan-Cullors’ When They Call You ary status, Michie, a white educator, wrestles with “Reading about Patrisse a Terrorist: A Story of Black Lives Matter and the realities he and his students—Black, brown, Khan-Cullors’ experiences— the Power to Change the World (Young Adult undocumented or with undocumented families— and how they inform her Edition) is vulnerable, heart-wrenching and lib- face. In this, his third book, Michie argues that organizing journey—will erating. Written with asha bandele and adapted teachers “cannot separate their classroom selves electrify readers.” by Benee Knauer, Khan-Cullors’ memoir starts at from their citizen selves.” — Anya Malley, Teaching Tolerance the beginning, detailing how she felt like an out- PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Editorial Assistant sider within her family and felt unsure of herself

60 TEACHING TOLERANCE The One You Never Forget

Dim the lights and get ready to learn What We’re Watching with these TT-approved films!

Toni Morrison famously said, “If you are illustrations and captivating questions fea- often-overshadowed history of Indigenous free, you need to free somebody else.” tured throughout, young viewers will feel as slavery, which began over a century before That idea is omnipresent in the documen- if they’ve been transported into these mag- the first enslaved Africans were brought to tary chronicling her life and career, Toni ical stories. (5-12 min.) these shores. Acknowledgements of the Morrison: The Pieces I Am. Through inter- Available on Netflix stolen land on which the United States sits views with Morrison’s editors, colleagues ELEMENTARY SCHOOL highlights this history. Connecting the facts and close friends—and the author her- with deeply personal stories, The Forgotten self—the film offers an intimate look into Slavery of Our Ancestors is both a call to the profound impact Morrison’s work Morgan Jon Fox’s short, The One You Never teach complex history and a welcome had on literature, the United States and Forget, lasts only eight minutes, but each sec- complement to the Teaching Hard History: the globe. In a world where whiteness ond is packed with relatable teenage feelings. American Slavery framework. (12 min.) dominates the literary canon, she never The film follows Carey, a young Black boy Available at tolerance.org/forgottenslavery apologized for centering Black stories. The getting ready for his first formal dance. His MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL, PROFESSIONAL film shows how she amplified other Black parents use she/her pronouns to refer to his DEVELOPMENT voices through her work as a publisher and date. But despite those assumptions, Carey’s colleague. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am is a dad models acceptance when a white boy wonderful glimpse into the life of an author named Hunter shows up. For students, this Black Boys features the voices of Black men who used her freedom to free others and to film opens a door for talking about how lan- and boys of all ages, and those who love and display through her prose the world that we guage can impose societal expectations and support them, as they discuss the ways they share. (120 min.) how small actions can make people feel wel- view the world and the ways the world views Available on Amazon and Hulu come—even at something as stressful and them. Activist athletes, journalists, educa- HIGH SCHOOL, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT awkward as a school dance. (8 min.) tors and musicians provide commentary on Available on Vimeo the journeys Black boys and men take while MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL living their lives. Interspersed with beautifully Enjoyable and educational, the 12 episodes compelling scenes of Black boys addressing of Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices their hopes and dreams are several horrific, introduce a range of #OwnVoices chil- “If you don’t walk away with the whole tragically familiar images of state-sanctioned dren’s books about Black identity. Hosted story, you’re going to walk away with a fairy brutality. The film, a Never Whisper Justice by Marley Dias, each episode features Black tale,” Wampanoag journalist Paula Peters production, posits the power of love as the entertainers, activists or authors read- says. Peters appears alongside award-win- means to celebrate the gifts that Black boys ing powerful stories about understanding ning historians, professors and scholars in and men bring to the world. (95 min.) race, finding joy and love within ourselves, the new short filmThe Forgotten Slavery Available on Peacock fighting injustice and more. With stunning of Our Ancestors. The film introduces the HIGH SCHOOL, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MORGAN JON FOX MORGAN

SPRING 2021 61 The Night Before the Dream

Reunion time! Some drove up, some came down We gathered in front of the grand monument To hear Dr. King speak in D.C., our hometown. To Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President. By bus, car and train, many came a long way Our anticipation had reached a high peak And arrived on the eve of that wonderful day. When Dr. King rose and came forward to speak:

We stayed at the home of my dad’s Grandma Bea, “I am happy to join you at this demonstration The eldest of all in our large family. One hundred years after Emancipation. There was hugging and kissing and My-how-you’ve-growns, But five score years later the Negro’s not free; Which caused squirming and giggling and quite a He’s still chained by injustice and by poverty.” few moans. I looked in the eyes of my Great Grandma Bea; Soon it was my turn to kiss Grandma Bea, They were staring at something that I could not see. She said, “Here’s the young lady who’s named after me.” What was she thinking, this woman so brave, Then I joined all my cousins in laughing and playing; Who, at one hundred two, had been once called a “slave”? But we could still hear what the grown-ups were saying. King said, “Now is the time that we honor our creed Uncle Joe, who had driven in sweltering heat, And the rights its magnificent words guaranteed.” Had passed places where he could not stop, rest or eat. He’d say, “Now is the time!” Then he’d say it again. The older folks somberly shared memories And each time he did, I heard shouts of, “Amen!” Of other such hardships and indignities. His words rolled like thunder; they flowed like a stream. Early next morning we went to the place Then a voice cried out, “Martin! Now tell them Where people of every age, faith and race your dream!” Had all come together to march peacefully That’s when his words seem to sprout wings and fly, For jobs and for justice and equality. Lifting us up as they soared through the sky:

With the Reverend King humbly leading the way, “I have a dream!” he proclaimed to the crowd. We sang as we marched on that bright summer day. His dream made us joyful and thankful and proud. My kinfolk, the night before tired and glum, “I have a dream that this nation will be Were now hopefully singing, We Shall Overcome. An oasis of freedom and prosperity!”

62 TEACHING TOLERANCE BY GLENDA ARMAND ILLUSTRATION BY DANIA WRIGHT King’s dream, for Great Grandma, was long overdue, As it got close to midnight, some nodded with sleep. But he told of his dream for us younger folks, too: Were they dreaming of promises we’d vowed to keep? That’s when this great man simply spoke as a dad I yawned as I watched my dear Great Grandma Bea And mentioned the four little children he had. Gaze at the now-peaceful scene lovingly.

He dreamed that one day they would live in a land She smiled and said softly, “Let’s end the same way Where all of God’s children could walk hand-in-hand. That young Martin himself ended his speech today.” They’d be judged by their character, not by their skin; And I’ll always remember, as sleep came on fast, That was a land that I longed to live in. Hearing her sing, Free at last! Free at last!

“We must all work together,” King said, “white and Black, We cannot walk alone and we will not turn back.” Questions for Readers We all would go home, as King asked us to do, RIGHT THERE (IN THE TEXT) To work for the day when the dream would come true. Why had Bea’s family all gathered in Washington, D.C.?

THINK AND SEARCH (IN THE TEXT) Later that night it was my generation Why couldn’t Uncle Joe stop at some places on his drive in? Who spoke of the future with new inspiration. We were filled with the bliss of our planning and dreaming. AUTHOR AND ME (IN MY HEAD) How can ordinary people come together to push back As our parents looked on, all their faces were beaming. against injustice?

We sang songs we had sung on the mall that great day, ON MY OWN (IN MY HEAD) With My Country, ‘Tis of Thee leading the way. Bea learned a lot about the fight for justice from her great-grand- Great Grandma Bea, her voice trembling but strong, mother. Who is a person you know or have learned about who has taught you about the importance of fighting for what is right? Joined five generations of family in song.

SPRING 2021 63 ONE WORLD tolerance.org GETTY IMAGES/ STEVE LISS STEVE GETTY IMAGES/

DERRICK A. BELL JR. (1930-2011) was a renowned civil rights lawyer who wrote and theorized about race and racism. The first tenured Black law professor at Harvard University, Bell lived out his beliefs when he page to hang on a classroom wall. It is created with just that purpose in mind. Enjoy! with just that is created It wall. hang on a classroom page to

resigned from his position to protest the lack of Black women on faculty. World clip the One to educators encourage artists and participating Tolerance Teaching ! TEACHING

ILLUSTRATION BY OLGA MUZICIAN TOLERANCE BLACK LIVES MATTER AT SCHOOL Black Lives Matter at School is a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education.

In this era of mass incarceration, there is End “zero tolerance” a school-to-prison-pipeline system that discipline and implement is more invested in locking up youth than restorative justice. unlocking their minds. That system uses harsh discipline policies that push Black Hire more Black teachers. students out of schools at disproportionate rates, denies students the right to learn about their own cultures, and whitewashes Mandate Black history and ethnic the curriculum to exclude many of the studies in K-12 curriculum. struggles and contributions of Black people and other people of color. That system is also pushing out Black Fund counselors, not cops. teachers from schools in cities around the country. Educators in the Black Lives Matter at School movement developed LEARN MORE AT these demands for the movement: BLACKLIVESMATTERATSCHOOL.COM

ILLUSTRATION BY CIERRA BRINSON TEACHING TOLERANCE Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage A PROJECT OF THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER PAID 400 Washington Avenue • Montgomery, AL 36104 Southern Poverty Law Center

PODCASTS CREATED WITH EDUCATORS IN MIND Deepen your knowledge and improve your practice with podcasts exploring critical topics in teaching and learning for justice. Learn about digital literacy with The Mind Online, the history of American slavery and the civil rights movement with Teaching Hard History and LGBTQ history with Queer America.

TEACHING HARD HISTORY What we don’t know about American history hurts us all. Teaching Hard History covers the long and brutal legacies of Indigenous enslavement and chattel slavery and reaches through the victories of and violent responses to the civil rights movement to the present day. This podcast brings us the lessons we should have learned in school through the voices of leading scholars and educators. QUEER AMERICA Without LGBTQ history, there is no American history. From Teaching Tolerance and hosts Leila Rupp and John D’Emilio, Queer America takes listeners on a journey that spans from Harlem to the Frontier West, revealing stories of LGBTQ life that belong in our consciousness and in our classrooms. THE MIND ONLINE Through conversations with teachers, librarians, scholars and reporters, The Mind Online explores the critical aspects of digital literacy that shape how we create and consume content online. Discover what educators and students alike need to know—and how we can all become safer, better informed digital citizens.

DOWNLOAD, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE VIA APPLE ITUNES, GOOGLE MUSIC, SPOTIFY OR WHEREVER YOU LISTEN.