Letter to Teachers

Letter to Teachers:  On Issues of Race and Racism

Dear Teachers,

Ethnic and racial diversity is increasing in the United States.  The foreign born population in the United States has not grown this much since the early 1900s.  The percentage of students of color has grown from 22 percent of the school population in 1973 to over 43 percent, and within one or two decades from now students of color may outnumber White students (Banks, 2008, p. ix).

Intolerance, hate, segregation, discrimination, oppression, achievement gaps, and stereotypes are just some of the many problems surrounding the growing ethnic and racial diversity in the U.S.  Frieden (2011) informs us of the FBI’s annual hate crime report:  “…the number of U.S. hate crimes…totaled 6,628 in calendar year 2010. That's slightly above the 6,604 total hate crimes reported during 2009.  The largest category of hate crimes involved race, accounting for nearly half of more than 6,000 incidents” (p. 1).

These problems are present in schools around the country and to make things worse, “textbooks not only have failed to address this issue, but they have actually contributed to the problem by promoting unacceptable stereotypes and prejudices” (Henson, 2010, p. 389).

These issues are real and they will not solve themselves.  Racial and ethnic diversity is increasing yet many schools and educators are not designing curriculum for today’s diverse students nor are they opening up discussion on racial differences with students.

Why These Issues?

            When looking at the United States, it appears from the surface that we are a “post racial” society.  With President Obama in office, the results of the civil war, Dr. Martin Luther King’s movement, etc., America seems it should be “over” racism.  However as shown above, racism and hate crimes have increased as our society becomes more diverse. 

The key to becoming aware of the reality of racism in our nation is to look beyond the “surface” of who is currently president and what wars and movements we have had in the past.  We need to look at what is really going on in our own minds and the minds of our children and students and not be afraid to openly address/discuss issues with our students and communities surrounding racism.  It is especially easy when living in the mainstream demographic to only see the surface of what is going on with racism, so it is not surprising that White mainstream Americans have a majority of the “post racial” mentality (Davis, 2008; Howard, 1993; Kivel, 2011).

            I used to share in these ignorant views.  Growing up, I was primarily surrounded by mainstream White Americans.  I was not fully aware of the realities of racism and different demographics in our society until I began studying multicultural education, began traveling and teaching internationally, and until I moved away from my predominantly White hometown in Idaho to diverse Seattle.

            I needed to be made aware of the realities of racism because they were kept silent.   Davis (2008) discusses this “silence” saying that Whites in particular (even as young children), “…learn the racial-power codes often before they learn to speak.  They become socialized by silence about race and racism” (p. 296).  My experience lines up with what research articles, studies, news reports, and books show—that talking openly about race and racism actually brings needed awareness to society, which leads to harmony and individuals’ sense of value (Cooper 2010; Cooper, 2012; Darden, 2009; Dell ’Antonia, 2012; Fishman & McCarthy, 2005; Howard, 1993; Kivel, 2011; Ladson-Billings, 1996; Scruggs, 2009; Teaching the Levees, n.d.).

            Teachers need to be careful when engaging students in open racial dialogue because it has occasionally been found to reinforce stereotypes (Banks, 2008).  Many opposers of open racial dialogue with students as a means for improved harmony also think that talking about differences will enhance stereotypes.  Research on these reinforced racial stereotypes shows otherwise—Fishman & McCarthy (2005) and Teaching the Levees (n.d.) found that students’ reinforced racial stereotypes are not a result of the open discussion itself but rather of how it is constructed, carried out, and contextualized by a self-reflective teacher.

In order for teachers to be able to engage students in open and constructive racial dialogue, they will need quality teacher training programs that focus on multicultural education.  Teacher-training programs should educate teachers on racial issues, on how to continuously search oneself for any personal biases, on how to interpret and respond to students’ responses (or lack thereof) during racial dialogue, on how to increase administrator, parent, and other teachers’ support of this type of open dialogue, and on how to establish and maintain a student-centered class that values students’ differences and voices.

So what can we do?

This human capacity to converse rather than wage war is a skill we want our children to acquire and that we teachers must embody.  The disposition for dialogue is a feature of what it means to be educated.  Imagine how our post 9/11 world would be different today if those in power in our country had acquired this capacity from their teachers.  (Fehr & Fehr, 2010, p. 193)

What can teachers take away from this research?  We can become active in researching issues such as racism ourselves to better our own understanding and awareness instead of “going with the flow” of mainstream society.  We can actively seek out and place ourselves in racially diverse situations to better understand people of other races. We can form real relationships with racially diverse individuals.  We can overcome our own fears of openly discussing race and speak up about it with friends, family, co-workers, and administrators.  We can correct others’ intentional or unintentional racist comments and remarks.  Teachers need to understand that simply talking about differences with students or simply “adding” cultural content to existing curriculum is not enough—authentic, open, constructive, contextualized, and respectful discussion is needed to teach students to value, not just “tolerate”, differences.

What can parents take away from this research that we teachers can educate them on?  Parents must understand that by not talking about racial differences with their children, they are possibly worsening racist attitudes.  Parents need to model positive racial friendships for their children.  Parents can seek out racially diverse events, etc., to engage their children in.  Parents can carefully monitor what books and television programs they allow their children to watch because many of these actually promote racial stereotypes.  Remember that we should make an effort to educate our students’ families, not just our students.

We mainstream White Americans, which describes most teachers today, need to realize our important roles in overcoming racism in the United States since we are the majority of the population.  We need to take themselves out of our comfort zones and become active in these issues.  Fehr & Fehr (2010) describe qualities of personhood that I believe White teachers and Americans, and of course all races, should work toward in order to help our students’ and nation overcome racism and embrace differences:

The cosmopolitan maintains his/her own cultural identity but is not limited by it.  The cosmopolitan seeks out differences, is energized by the exchange of realities, and is always open to learn more, to see the world through different eyes.  The cosmopolitan expects and even welcomes disagreement yet values community over conflict, and mutuality over dominance. (p. 195)

  It is clear that constructive open racial dialogue with students is an effective way to reduce racism, even in children even at young ages (Teaching Tolerance, 2008).  “Breaking the silence” will bring harmony to our nation, so we should begin doing so even in the early grades.  Freire (2005) states:  “It is my conviction that there are no themes or values of which one cannot speak, no areas in which one must be silent.  We can talk about everything, and we can give testimony about everything” (p.103).  Let’s teach respect, peace and unity.  Stop the silence.

Respectfully,

Megan Holmes

                                                                     References

Banks, J.A. (2008). An introduction to multicultural education (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn &        Bacon.

Cooper, A. (2010, May 17). Anderson Cooper 360. Cable News Network. Retrieved from            www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/05/17/ac360.doll.study.cnn

Cooper, A. (2012, April 2). Anderson Cooper 360. Cable News Network. Retrieved from            ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/02/study-race-relations-through-a-childs-eyes/

Darden, J. (2009). Talking race. Teaching Tolerance, 36. Retrieved from        www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/talking-race

Davis, R. (2008). A review of “what if all the kids are white?: Anti-bias multicultural education   with young children and families (early childhood education series)”. Educational Studies, 44(3), 294-300.

Dell ’Antonia, K.J. (2012, April 4). The danger of not talking to your children about race. The New York Times. Retrieved from parenting.blogs.nytimes.com

Fehr, M.C. & Fehr, D.E. (2010). Teach boldly: Letters to teachers about contemporary issues in    education. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Fishman, S.M., & McCarthy, L. (2005). Talk about race: When student stories and multicultural           curricula are not enough. Race, Ethnicity & Education, 8(4), 347-364.

Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach. Boulder, CO:      Westview Press.

Frieden, T. (2011, November 14). Hate crime numbers steady, nearly half motivated by racial bias, FBI reports. Cable News Network. Retrieved from http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/14/fbi-
racial-bias-motivates-most-hate-crimes/

Henson, K. (2010). Curriculum planning: Integrating multiculturalism, constructivism, and           education reform (4th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

Howard, G.R. (1993). Whites in multicultural education: Rethinking our role. Phi Delta Kappan, 75 (1), 36-41.

Kivel, P. (2011). Uprooting racism: How white people can work for racial justice  (3rd ed.).          Gabriola Island, BC, CA: New Society Publishers.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1996). Silences as weapons: Challenges of a black professor teaching white           students. Theory Into Practice, 35 (2), 79.

Scruggs, A.E. (2009). Colorblindness: The new racism? Teaching Tolerance, 36. Retrieved from         www.tolerance.org

Teaching the Levees. (n.d.) Talking about race and racism in the classroom. Teachers College, Columbia University. Retrieved from teachingthelevees.org

Teaching Tolerance. (2008). Starting small: Teaching tolerance in preschool and the early grades (3rd ed.). Montgomery, AL: Southern Poverty Law Center.