"A 13-Year-Old's Slavery Analogy Raises Some Uncomfortable Truths in School" (penned by Liz Dwyer)

So, this happened.

And I have some thoughts to share.

"Attempting to silence Williams by branding her a troublemaker and driving her off campus isn't the answer. Now she is walking away from this controversy convinced that white teachers don't want to educate black students at all."

With this, I absolutely agree. The response of the school district was wholly unjustified. What should have occurred is a legitimate evaluation as to why this student feels that students must be compelled to "start making these white teachers accountable for instructing you" and challenged teachers to do their jobs." These teachers are often overworked and underpaid, which isn't an excuse for the piss poor experiences of many students (of all backgrounds), but a symptom of a pedogical and methodological failure in the system of schools and a failure of districts, states, and federal governments to TREAT education as 1)a public good, 2) a human right, and 3) the best possible means of social mobility for all students. Instead, it is relegated to one of the first things to be attacked when cutting budgets and results in schools that are literally falling apart. (See Williams vs. State of California, 2007)

I'm not saying that the teachers bear no responsibility or that her experiences and observations aren't valid, but her analogy is as reductionist and flawed as saying we could fix it if we just spent more money. That's incomplete, too. (Of course, she is 13, so her analysis is still worthy of the attention and the dialogue it will create. For her insight, I applaud her.)

The most insightful part of this, I feel, is her recognition that "instead of truly teaching, most teachers simply 'pass out pamphlets and packets' and then expect students to complete them independently...[failing] because 'most of [her] peers cannot read and or comprehend the material that has been provided.'" But, this has very little to do with race. I see myself in her classrooms because these are the same recognitions I had when I was in middle and high school. Most of my classmates could barely read at a 5th grade level by 10th grade.

Having worked in many classrooms with children of all races and backgrounds, from infant stages to high school, I can attest that the more appropriate response to educational differences is individual, rather than asserting that white teachers "have a responsibility to figure out how to be effective with children of color." Teachers have a responsibility to effectively teach all children, regardless of color, and that begins at the beginning. That begins by not passing a student because you just want to get them through the system. That begins by promoting passion and interest. That begins by seeing the school as a community hub that does more than impart facts, but rather serves as a system of support ensuring a child is prepared to learn, share, and contribute. That means providing the basic necessities so that a child is not distracted by hunger, by violence, by fear, by prejudice, by pain. (I'm a crazy socialist, remember.) That means ensuring that a classroom is equipped with textbooks and technologies that reflect our current reality. That means ensuring the safety and well-being at the most base level. Because family does not end where blood is not shared - it is a state of mind and these children are my family, just as you are my family - and we have a responsibility to each other. The suffering of one is the suffering of all.

Do we need to engage in serious reflection on the practices of teachers? Absolutely. It is not, however, going to 'fix' anything by outright condemning an individual stuck in a broken system without addressing that system as well. The students have no support and neither do teachers.