Students around the country are taught about America’s glorious victory in Brown v. Board of Education, the seminal moment that undid Plessy v. Ferguson’s separate but equal racial segregation. Desegregation is touted as a...
Tag - racism
Earlier this month marked 162 years since the racist U.S. Supreme Court, once again, loudly and proudly declared white supremacy as the law of the land in their ruling on the Dred Scott case, stating, Black people “had no...
Teaching in Philly is hard. Five billion dollars are necessary to complete all outstanding repairs in our buildings. Teachers reach into their own pockets for classroom supplies, playing the roles of librarian, counselor, and...
If you’re not already aware, right before the new year a Black man was arrested at a Huntington Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, for cashing his check. Let that sink in. For cashing a check he earned, he was arrested. Over the course...
In recent months, notable people within school reform circles have locked horns over a trifling question: Does the inclusion of social justice activists, people derided as “warriors,” in education reform threaten the...
As a child, I remember studying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. only from one perspective — the man who had a dream. Without a deep understanding of Dr. King, I lacked the ability to apply some of his profound principles to my...
J. Martin Rochester, a professor of political science at the University of St. Louis-Missouri, once wrote an article raising concerns about teaching social justice in schools. Rochester’s problem with teaching social justice...
A New Jersey high school student was forced to choose between cutting his hair and forfeiting a wrestling match. The video of someone standing behind him with scissors chopping his hair off and her (the adult’s) dignity away...
One teacher reflects on what he and other white educators need to understand as they work to build anti-racist practices and identities. Last year, I realized that I didn’t have my first black teacher until I went to college...
While The Hate U Give is a best-selling book and top-rated film, I’m getting some real pushback from my administration about having my students read the book and see the film in my English Language Arts class, despite its...