I don't talk too much about my students or my job as a teacher. I sometimes feel like it would be unethical to write too much about them on a public forum, and it could possibly be dangerous for my career. So I try to shy away from this. But I have to post about this.
I am a college graduate, and I took lots of psychology and sociology classes. I am well aware that racism is still very much a part of our lives, whether we choose to see it or not. But I tend to forget this. Its an ugly construct and I like to believe that its not as common as it is. I think we all have some subconcious and long-held prejudices that we tend to forget about. I know what mine are, and I try to work against them when they surface. But overt racism is something that I feel like I dont see often (thank goodness). So I guess I forgot that it still happens everyday within our society.
One thing that scares me about being a parent is how much children are a product of their environment. After working with kids for as long as I have, it is clear to me that children are sponges. And they will pick up every.single.thing that their parents model for them. They absorb that and it becomes part of who they are. This can be an unsettling realization at times.
So here is my story, let me preface by saying that I have been working at a title one school which boasts a high number of minority students. Primarily Hispanic, but also African American. I had one class come to me a few weeks ago who was having an "off" day. This class can either be very, very good or very, very challenging. That was a challenging day. I ended up sending one student (an African-American student) to the office for being disrespectful and rude. The teacher asked the rest of the class to write apology letters to me for their behavior. As I was reading through the letters I get to one that stood out immediately. Here is my rendition:
Dear Mrs Sunshine,
I am sorry that my class was being "talky-talky" today. You know I wasn't talking very much, I know how to control my voice. I am so sorry that you had to send student X to the office today too, he was being really rude. But you know, that's just how black people are........
HOLD UP, what? It was one of those moments where one minute I am chuckling at the letter and the next minute I felt my jaw drop, literally. This is a good student. This is a polite student, who I have never had any trouble with. This is the last thing I would expect from this student. And yet here I am reading something so blatantly racist that it disturbs me. I took the letter to the teacher and it was decided we would let the school counselor speak with him.
Fast forward a couple of weeks....
In honor of presidents day I am having my older grades write letters to the president. I will be choosing five letters from each grade, and putting them together in a book to send to Washington. So I had this same class again yesterday. Yesterday was a good day. They all worked on their letters and turned them in to me. So I am reading through them, because I have been giving the ones that need work to the classroom teachers for the students to work on during free time. So I get to the previously discussed students letter and oh boy...
Dear Mr President,
I think you are doing a great job, I hope you don't get killed......
Another one of those pesky jaw-drops ensues. Whoa. What has this child been hearing at home? What would make a child write this, or even think it? This child is between 8 and 9 years old!
Unfortunately I think it goes to show you that racism is not an antiquated concept. This is something that certain people are teaching their children (through their actions, and words) to believe. And it truly disturbs me. Just when I think we have come so far, I realize that we have only made baby steps. There is still so much change needed in our country, society, and world, before we can hope to see an end to something as pointless as racism.
I am a college graduate, and I took lots of psychology and sociology classes. I am well aware that racism is still very much a part of our lives, whether we choose to see it or not. But I tend to forget this. Its an ugly construct and I like to believe that its not as common as it is. I think we all have some subconcious and long-held prejudices that we tend to forget about. I know what mine are, and I try to work against them when they surface. But overt racism is something that I feel like I dont see often (thank goodness). So I guess I forgot that it still happens everyday within our society.
One thing that scares me about being a parent is how much children are a product of their environment. After working with kids for as long as I have, it is clear to me that children are sponges. And they will pick up every.single.thing that their parents model for them. They absorb that and it becomes part of who they are. This can be an unsettling realization at times.
So here is my story, let me preface by saying that I have been working at a title one school which boasts a high number of minority students. Primarily Hispanic, but also African American. I had one class come to me a few weeks ago who was having an "off" day. This class can either be very, very good or very, very challenging. That was a challenging day. I ended up sending one student (an African-American student) to the office for being disrespectful and rude. The teacher asked the rest of the class to write apology letters to me for their behavior. As I was reading through the letters I get to one that stood out immediately. Here is my rendition:
Dear Mrs Sunshine,
I am sorry that my class was being "talky-talky" today. You know I wasn't talking very much, I know how to control my voice. I am so sorry that you had to send student X to the office today too, he was being really rude. But you know, that's just how black people are........
HOLD UP, what? It was one of those moments where one minute I am chuckling at the letter and the next minute I felt my jaw drop, literally. This is a good student. This is a polite student, who I have never had any trouble with. This is the last thing I would expect from this student. And yet here I am reading something so blatantly racist that it disturbs me. I took the letter to the teacher and it was decided we would let the school counselor speak with him.
Fast forward a couple of weeks....
In honor of presidents day I am having my older grades write letters to the president. I will be choosing five letters from each grade, and putting them together in a book to send to Washington. So I had this same class again yesterday. Yesterday was a good day. They all worked on their letters and turned them in to me. So I am reading through them, because I have been giving the ones that need work to the classroom teachers for the students to work on during free time. So I get to the previously discussed students letter and oh boy...
Dear Mr President,
I think you are doing a great job, I hope you don't get killed......
Another one of those pesky jaw-drops ensues. Whoa. What has this child been hearing at home? What would make a child write this, or even think it? This child is between 8 and 9 years old!
Unfortunately I think it goes to show you that racism is not an antiquated concept. This is something that certain people are teaching their children (through their actions, and words) to believe. And it truly disturbs me. Just when I think we have come so far, I realize that we have only made baby steps. There is still so much change needed in our country, society, and world, before we can hope to see an end to something as pointless as racism.
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