Addressing Our Weak Points: We Have to Talk About Race in Our Education System
Today’s kids are today’s leaders and they’re more capable than you think
Imagine a world in which young people enter higher education with the confidence they’ll need to handle problems that life throws their way. It’s assumed that our country’s current K-12 education system is designed to prepare kids for life after school in the real-world, unfortunately, the system doesn’t infuse real-world problems into the curriculum or build lesson plans around current events. Many teachers don’t have the bandwidth to reinvent the syllabus, so they end up teaching the same content year after year. Curvd Learning is dedicated to making free, research-backed teaching approaches available to parents and teachers to infuse into the classroom or virtual learning experience. Our shared goal is to set kids up for success after school, so they can tackle messy, real-world problems and trailblaze their own paths in life.
In order to tackle messy problems we need to be able to have difficult conversations. Arguably one of the messiest and most relevant conversations today is facing the realities of racism embedded in our country’s systems. As we dive into the subject and educate ourselves, we begin to find solutions to the problem. We should be bringing our kids in on the conversation to normalize the formerly taboo subject, so they can make better informed choices in their lives. Today’s kids are today’s leaders. They are perceptive and more capable of working through difficult scenarios than you think.
“Research has shown that kids even as young as six months old notice physical differences [between races]. Studies have shown that kids by the age of five can show signs of racial bias – treating one group differently than another,” said Beth Vallarino, Tahoe Expedition Academy English and language arts teacher. “Ignoring or avoiding conversations about race can leave kids exposed to bias. Kids who encounter racism can be left to feel confused, minimized or dismissed. When people stay silent, kids can get the idea that [the topic] doesn’t matter or that it’s someone else’s problem.”
It is our responsibility as educators, parents and teachers to stop avoiding messy topics like race and instead create space to build the language and skills we weren’t taught. Of course, it will be hard and scary; it isn’t something that we as a country and society are necessarily good at, however, these risks are transformational.
“As long as there are outcomes [such as the] incredibly stark disparities in race, we should be talking about it. It’s not enough to be able to point at the exceptions of the rule,” said Joe Truss, Culturally Responsive Leadership founder and racial equity coach. “If we go into big society - whether that is economics or political power, representation of power, land ownership, representation in the criminal justice system - as long as those areas of society remain disproportionate with respect to race, something’s going on with race. Something is yielding those outcomes. Anyone studying critical race theory would say racism is embedded in all our systems, not just the people.”
Since racism is embedded in our country’s systems, the systems need to change. So, we need to get comfortable with having change-making conversations about race.
“If you accept that the systems are racist and we accept that we’re operators of the system, then we have to do some work. We have to figure out something, so that we are not moving the machine in a racist direction with the small part that we do operate,” Truss said.
Where Do We Even Begin?
There’s no better way to put it than bluntly.
“The answer is in pursuing the question, it’s not a tied-up-in-a-bow process. Read a f*ckin’ book. Or 100. Folks have to accept that there are 100 things to do. Just because you don’t know all 100, you hear about three and then stop there. There’s probably 100, which is why people write full-on books and multiple books on this topic,” Truss said.
Educate Yourself
The most important part of making a difference in white supremacy and racism is doing so consciously. Educators, parents and teachers shouldn’t just dive in on discussing racism if they aren’t clear on what they’re talking about. On top of researching to learn more on the topic, it’s helpful to have a thought partner to practice scenarios with and develop a structure, protocol and a plan to create an antiracist classroom environment.
“Know that the response regarding conversations about race and antiracism will not always be positive. Expect pushback. Many people have never talked about race or differences at home. Be patient and take action. Reflecting on people’s racial identity can be a path for charting greater understanding. By considering our own biases, experiences and privileges we can better understand the world around us,” Vallarino said.
Engage in Self-Reflection
To begin addressing racism we first need to look at ourselves and the small part of this larger machine that we operate. Truss recommends white educators create a support system with other white people to discuss whiteness and privilege before and parallel with trying to do anything about it. For parents, he recommends sharing more stories and counter-narratives about BIPOC with kids, so they at least have a broader understanding of what’s possible and what’s out there.
“The idea of me telling you a story of black folks is that [white people] will automatically see images and representations of black people depicted inferiorly. You have to train your mind not to be conditioned by these things, to think in a different way…Like how before Africans were enslaved they were kings of their civilizations,” Truss said.
Acknowledge Your Privilege
We need to think about our individual privilege and acknowledge the fact that any time we aren’t acting in defense of a racial injustice, that is privilege. Refusing to act is privilege plus power. Silence and inaction are actions, there is no neutrality. The people who are experiencing this oppression don’t have the option to be silent and avoid racism. And the fear that people have for acting against racism and acknowledging white privilege is nothing compared to the experience of those being oppressed.
“White folks sometimes think it’s too controversial to get too explicit. That’s whiteness. It makes people uncomfortable. However, the marginalized have no issue with the discomfort they feel from being marginalized. Women have no problem talking about feeling the power of the man, just like people of color have no problem talking about feeling the power of white people,” Truss said.
Model Talking Openly About Race
As Truss put it, we need to ‘decode the matrix’ with our kids and be unafraid to tackle these messy topics. Kids see the way adults react and refer to certain topics in society and they pick up on those cues even if adults avoid addressing the topic explicitly. For example, if you’re out in public and your toddler says, ‘dad, your skin is pink and his is brown,’ many of us are conditioned to say, ‘shhh’ and deflect the conversation. This teaches kids that conversations about race are taboo. What we should do is treat it as an opportunity for a conversation about people having different skin colors, not the idea of “color blindness,” but that we are all different and that’s one of many fascinating things about us.
“Literally, by definition, ‘color blindness’ happens when people are unable to see colors in a normal way. When related to race, it’s an idea that ignoring racial differences promotes harmony. This is harmful because folks who might enjoy racial privilege are closing their eyes to the lived experience of others. Failure to see and acknowledge differences in race can make it difficult to recognize the unconscious bias people have. The ideology of colorblindness can be particularly harmful for kids of color – especially when teachers might carry false beliefs on expectations, actions or student potential,” Vallarino said.
Get Okay with Feeling Uncomfortable and Keep Digging
The best way to have these tough conversations and teach kids how to tackle messy, real-world problems is to introduce them at a young age and scaffold those themes as they get older. Normalize the conversation instead of shying away from it.
“Rather than minimizing or dismissing something that’s happened, we build empathy when we listen respectfully. We build empathy when we acknowledge someone else’s story – even if their data points don’t fit your own understanding. We build empathy when we allow for space for other people’s experiences – even if we think it clashes with our own story,” Vallarino said.
Ensure Positive Messaging and Representation
Parents and teachers can easily find opportunities to give kids positive messages about BIPOC and create equal representation in the classroom or home regardless of the subject matter. As Truss put it, everybody knows about Pythagoras because he was on the test in school. Why not take that opportunity to introduce someone like Benjamin Banneker, a mathematician and astrologer whose many achievements include building America’s first clock? We control the narrative. It won’t always be perfect, we will mess up but we need to continue to do the work.
“Conversations about race and equity can be hard. Some people can be so scared they will say the wrong thing or that they’ll mess up a conversation that they are paralyzed into inaction. You don’t have to pretend to be super knowledgeable about these topics. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to seek to understand what challenges BIPOC face,” Vallarino said.
Tell Me More
To begin creating an antiracist culture, dive into the subject matter’s vocabulary; gain a clear understanding of what we’re talking about:
Racism: Prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
Racist: A person who is prejudiced against or agnostic toward people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
White Supremacy: A belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups, in particularly black or Jewish people.
Oppression: Prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control.
Oppressed: A person who is subject to harsh and authoritarian treatment.
Continuously check your role in racism and ask yourself questions, like:
Whose voice or perspective are missing from the conversation?
Whose voices are amplified?
What are the biggest barriers to BIPOC success? Why?
There are countless books on the subject. Here is Truss’ recommended reading list: 40+ Books for AntiRacist Teachers – White Fragiles Beware!
For teachers, Pollyanna’s Racial Literacy Curriculum is free of charge and helpful for teaching students about race.
Dive into reputable sources from all sides of the issue, here are a couple well-informed articles from Edutopia to get started:
An Antiracist Roadmap for Discussing Tough Topics in Class
Rethinking Conversations on Race Among Educators
Talk to your students and kids. Download this free learning approach designed to help students learn to research and discuss current events in class and at home. If you are tackling talking about race in the classroom or through digital learning, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at info@curvd.org to share best practices and what your students have been up to.