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Despite the importance of understanding how race intersects with police use of force, little research has used police administrative data to investigate whether or not disparities exist. Because the dominant narrative around race and law enforcement is that crime rates drive police behavior, we used data from the National Justice Database - Center for Policing Equity's project to provide national-level data and analyses on police behavior-to investigate racial disparities in use of force benchmarking against demographics of local arrest rates.

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Center for Policing Equity - The Science of Justice: Race, Arrests, and Police Use of Force

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Despite the importance of understanding how race intersects with police use of force, little research has used police administrative data to investigate whether or not disparities exist. Because the dominant narrative around race and law enforcement is that crime rates drive police behavior, we used...

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How should parents talk with their children about all they're seeing and experiencing right now? We get some good advice.

Melissa Giraud, social justice educator, researcher and advocate. Co-founder of EmbraceRace, an organization that provides resources for parents to teach their children about race. (@RaceEmbrace)

Andrew Grant-Thomas, social justice researcher and advocate. Co-founder of EmbraceRace. Former director of programs at the Proteus Fund, a national foundation committed to advancing justice through democracy, human rights, and peace. Deputy director at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. (@RaceEmbrace)

Christian Cooper, avid bird watcher, comic book writer and biomedical editor for Health Science Communications. New York Audubon Society board member.
Christian Cooper on how he felt during the confrontation and whether he was scared
Christian Cooper: "Any sort of confrontation, of conflict, can be scary. So, yeah, I was scared. I wasn't overwhelmed by being scared. But, yeah, I was certainly scared. But I think one thing I always try to keep in my head, whenever I'm engaged in any sort of conflict, because there's always conflict in our society. You don't want to seek it out, but at the same time, I'm not afraid of it either. You know, there are times when you're going to have to be in conflict with somebody for various reasons. But the thing I always try to keep in my head is, 'The person who remains calm wins.' And that's what I tried to do in that situation. I just tried to remain calm and just keep doing what I was doing."
For white parents, expose kids to diversity
Melissa Giraud: "You start young for one, and you start by exposing your child both, hopefully, in your neighborhood, in your community. ... You know, if you're in a segregated neighborhood, which many of us are, by going out to other communities. To expose them, whether it's after school or at school, to people who are different from them racially and otherwise. And to make sure that your kids understand that you value difference. And you learn from it. And it's important to you that they have diverse friends. So maybe you also can model that if it's possible, again, in your neighborhood, in your part of the country."
On starting the conversation early
Melissa Giraud: "It's multi-factorial. So people often want a recipe and there isn't a recipe. Like if we knew how to solve structural racism, systemic racism, we would have done it, you know? But we do know that the reason it's so hard to solve is it's systemic. And so there are a lot of things to do. So your kid is learning, you know, this cultural soup. They're learning this stuff from very early. And if we could raise kids in a way that would preempt some of these biases by exposing them to a lot, so they're not afraid. Also teaching them about injustice. And about their own privilege."
Here's part of that conversation:
Ishmail Abdus-Saboor: " I look scared as I was telling him these things. And I could equally see the fear on his face as I was sharing with him. And then, you know, out of nowhere, he asks me, 'Does that mean we're going back to being slaves?' I mean, it wasn't like slavery was on his mind. It's not like we just had a conversation about slavery. So the fact that his mind went there and he made that connection, it was startling, jarring and it pierced a sword through my heart."
On how black parents can talk to their kids about race
Melissa Giraud: "If your child is in a targeted group, this is something we think about a lot. ... And it would depend on the conversations that you've had before as well. It's more likely that black families in particular have spoken about racism and have also done sort of the countercultural work of cultural empowerment, of talking about freedom fighters like Christian. Of people who have resisted, have taken risks, really. Because they don't know what the outcome will be, but have been able to stand up and to go on birding. You know, Chris has continued with this thing that he loves to do. ... I would also say that showing the Floyd video, like we haven't shown those to our kids. ... You really want to not traumatize or re-traumatize kids who are already aware that they're in some targeted group."

Andrew Grant-Thomas: "It's important, I think, for kids to know that there are a lot of people who have done the work to get us, you know, to effect the kind of progress that we've made. Clearly, there's a tremendous more amount of work to do. And we have allies in this work and we ourselves can do that work. Whether it's about educating ourselves, about giving money to the organizations that are doing the work, it's about giving our time. It's about how we raise our children. Advocating, you know, being influencers in our own circles, there are a lot of things that we can do."
On the importance of asking questions
Melissa Giraud: "Ask questions. ... You can start with what they know, or what they think, or what's their response to the video that Chris made of Amy Cooper. And talk it through."

Andrew Grant-Thomas: "I think we often don't know, we're not even aware that children are thinking about these things, making sense. That their sensibilities around race are emerging even very, very young, because we don't create the space for them to show us. So this point about asking questions to me is largely about giving them the space to tell you, to share with you what they're thinking again, what sense they're making, what meaning they're making. And for you to have an opportunity to share sort of your experiences, your ideas, your questions, and to provide some context, which, you know, as a four-year-old or a five-year-old, they probably don't have."
On teaching white children to be allies
Christian Cooper: "I think the best thing you could do is teach young white kids to be good allies. To stand up for other people in difficult situations, and that might get us to a better place."

New York Times: " Chris Cooper Is My Brother. Here's Why I Posted His Video." - "I grew up in a family of activists and my parents were teachers. They raised me and my brother, Chris, to never shy from fighting injustice. From police brutality, to the war in Iraq, to climate change, we've lifted our voices in protest."

EmbraceRace: "'How do I make sure I'm not raising the next Amy Cooper?'" - "In our social media age, the figure of the 'entitled White woman' who calls the police on people of color, especially Black people, simply for living their lives has become so common that she has become a meme."

The Atlantic: " Becoming a Parent in the Age of Black Lives Matter" - "In a park about half a mile from my home is a wide-open field of grass, whose thin, uneven blades rise up past my ankles. The playground near the park is, like other playgrounds across the country, no longer open, surrounded by the orange-plastic fencing that has become unsettlingly familiar."

Houston Chronicle: " How to talk with your kids about police, race, protests" - "This week, the world witnessed video of former Houston resident George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, pleading for air as a white police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis. Floyd's subsequent death sparked protests nationwide. Watching the tragic events unfold on TV or social media can take an emotional toll on most adults, but what about children?"

Chalkbeat Colorado: " 'Moments like now are why we teach': Educators tackle tough conversations about race and violence - this time virtually" - "Reading about Brown v. Board of Education over Google Meet. Holding one-on-one Zooms with students struggling with their emotions. Planning lessons on criminal justice reform for the fall - both in-person and remote, in case school buildings don't reopen."

USA Today: " George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children?" - "Should we tell the children? How? Those are among the many questions parents are asking after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Many white parents wonder whether to talk with their kids at all, while parents of color swallow their grief and fear to have 'the talk' once again."

CNN: " How to talk to your children about protests and racism" - "As cities and social media explode with anger over the killing of yet another black man at the hands of police, worried parents struggle with how to protect their children from seeing the worst of the violence while simultaneously explaining the ravages of racism."

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How To Talk To Your Kids About Race, Racism And Police Violence

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How should parents talk with their children about all they're seeing and experiencing right now? We get some good advice. Melissa Giraud , social justice educator, researcher and advocate. Co-founder of EmbraceRace, an organization that provides resources for parents to teach their children about race. (@RaceEmbrace) Andrew Grant-Thomas , social justice researcher and advocate.

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Signs of implicit bias lurk within our inboxes, social networks and the patterns of our daily lives. Looking at our own data can help us change our ways.

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Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of Our Schools

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White People Talking to White People About Racism

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They view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching.

Editor's Note: In 1988, a teacher most commonly had 15 years of experience. In recent years, that number is closer to just three years leading a classroom. The "On Teaching" series focuses on the wisdom of veteran teachers.
Ask black students who their favorite teacher is, and they will joyfully tell you. Ask them what it is about their favorite teacher, and most will say some version of this: They know how to work with me. So much is in that statement. It means that these students want to work, that they see their teachers as partners in the learning process, and that they know the teacher-student relationship is one in which they both have power. In other words, black students know that they bring intellect to the classroom, and they know when they are seen-and not seen.

As the principal of San Francisco's Mission High School and an anti-racist educator for more than 30 years, I have witnessed countless black students thrive in classrooms where teachers see them accurately and show that they are happy to have them there. In these classes, students choose to sit in the front of the class, take careful notes, shoot their hands up in discussions, and ask unexpected questions that cause the teacher and other classmates to stop and think. Given the chance, they email, text, and call the teachers who believe in them. In short, these students are everything their families and community members have raised and supported them to be.

I have seen some of these very same students walk into another teacher's classroom, go to the last row of desks, and put their head down. I have seen them sit frozen in their seat, staring at an assignment-when earlier I had heard them make jokes, talk excitedly about the content of their history class, celebrate solving a vexing algebra equation, or shake a test tube with authority, waiting for a result. Their report cards often reveal this disparity in classroom experiences: A's and B's in classes where they feel valued and C's, D's, or even F's in classes where they don't.

When black students' academic strengths are overlooked, black students are marginalized. They are kept out of advanced courses, given bad grades, and sent to the dean's office. Over the years, the power that they initially bring to school is siphoned off by educators at every level of the educational system who do not respect, and in some cases do not wish to respect, the intellectual contributions of black students.

Anti-racist teachers take black students seriously. They create a curriculum with black students in mind, and they carefully read students' work to understand what they are expressing. This might sound fairly standard, but making black students feel valued goes beyond general "good teaching." It requires educators to view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching. This is a paradigm shift: Instead of only asking black students who are not doing well in class to start identifying with school, we also ask teachers whose black students are not doing well in their classes to start identifying with those students.

I spent the majority of my career in the classroom, and I loved it because-to do it well-it required that I call on all aspects of my humanity. Standing in front of my black students, I knew that it was my responsibility to invite them into the classroom and then to see, push, and protect them once they were there. Over the years, collaborating with other anti-racist educators, I co-developed an approach that was successful-and it showed in the students' attendance, grades, and quality of work.

We read articles and books, and we attend workshops centered around black pedagogy. That helps us examine cultural differences in discourse styles, so we can better understand black students' analytical approaches in essays. We learn how to integrate oral language into our curriculum, such as adding a debate unit or a poetry-recitation assignment, and to provide ample opportunities for students to work together. And we learn that nothing goes without saying and that praise and direction should be plentiful. In essence, we do what works for black students, which also works for all students.

Educators who are committed to black students use evidence in their own classrooms to find ways to improve. They analyze the assignments handed in, identifying ways in which their teaching reached-and didn't reach-all of their students. They recognize the brilliance of a black student's contribution to a class discussion and seize on it. They disaggregate data such as grades and attendance by ethnicity, look for patterns, and problematize their own practice-rather than assume that their students weren't motivated or sufficiently prepared to engage with challenging material. They ask themselves: Why did Taylor get a C on the final when he earned an A or a B on all of his other assignments, many of them equally demanding? Why is Vince silent in his group? What inspired Hile to write multiple drafts of her essay, each time asking for more detailed feedback? They seek support from colleagues who are effective teachers for all of their students, including black students, because they know that the changes they make to their teaching practice will have an impact on their students' achievement. All of this makes them better educators.

Teachers who do not value black students will shift the discussion away from their own practice when they see that black students are not succeeding in their classes. They will create bonds that eventually turn into factions with fellow educators who are also unwilling to change their approach.

To fight against systemic racism means to buck norms. Educators at every level must be willing to be uncomfortable in their struggle for black students, recognizing students' power and feeding it by honoring their many contributions to our schools. Teachers need to insist on using their own power to consistently reveal and examine their practice, and seek input from black stakeholders; they must invite black parents to the table, listen to their concerns and ideas, and act on them. Principals must clearly and consistently communicate the anti-racist vision for their school, create professional-development opportunities for staff, recognize teachers who successfully teach all of their students, and intervene when they see problems. District-level administrators must more firmly root their anti-racist messaging in black students' school experiences, making expectations for educators clear. And school-board members need to listen to educators who have shown efficacy in educating black students. They must enact policies that hold us all accountable to our black families. We must make demands of ourselves and work together in our communities.

The only measure of our anti-racist teaching will be the academic success of all of our students, including our black students.
This article is part of our project "On Teaching," which is supported by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Panta Rhea Foundation.

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What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently

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They view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching.

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Opinion

Superintendents and principals must use pointed language

Leaders of K-12 schools, colleges, and universities sometimes release formal statements when acts of racial violence and injustice occur locally and elsewhere in our country. Many are writing now to their communities about the death last week of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis. While these statements are meant to represent solidarity and support, they can miss the mark if not courageously constructed. Dozens of leaders have sought our counsel on what to say in this moment. This essay includes some advice we have offered them on ways to make statements more substantive, trustworthy, and actionable.

We acknowledge that police officers have killed unarmed people across all racial and ethnic groups. But if a statement at this particular time is specifically about the recent deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, then it should specifically address Black people's long-standing, catastrophic interactions with law enforcement officers and the persistent anti-Black racism that has plagued our nation and its educational institutions. We also insist that leaders cite Black people explicitly, as opposed to referring broadly to "people of color" or "historically disadvantaged communities."

While we strongly prefer action over written words, we understand that students, educators, parents, and others in local communities often expect (and sometimes pressure) leaders to swiftly release statements. Here are six things we suggest leaders who seriously aim to make a difference do in statements:

1. Acknowledge that citizens across the country are protesting not only the death of George Floyd, but also police killings of many other unarmed Black people over time.

2. Say how you personally feel about police officers killing unarmed Black people. Also say why you feel the way you do.

3. Use words that explicitly name racial violence. Do not soften the intensity of systemic racism with broad language about diversity, equity, and inclusion. If the statement does not include words such as "racism," "racist," "white supremacy," or "anti-Blackness," it is insufficient and therefore should be revised.

4. Call for readers of the statement to ask Black students, Black teachers, Black staff members, and Black families how they are affected by this; what support they need from their schools; and what they would like to have happen in this moment and beyond.

5. Urge readers of the statement to help students and colleagues across all racial and ethnic groups more deeply understand the realities of Black people's interactions with law-enforcement officers locally and elsewhere. Also encourage readers to form interracial coalitions that peacefully oppose anti-Blackness and pursue racial equity for Black Americans. Be sure to stress that Black people should be involved in these coalitions, and we all must stand alongside them.

6. Articulate actions you plan to take to confirm that Black lives do indeed matter. For example, specify how you will work to eliminate racist discipline policies and practices in your school or district; address the misdiagnosis of Black children for special education; provide Black students equitable access to gifted programs, Advanced Placement courses, and other academically rigorous experiences; integrate anti-racist and Black studies curricula across your academic programs; hire, support, and advance the careers of more Black employees; and provide multidimensional, sustained professional learning experiences for teachers, counselors, staff members, and administrators across all racial and ethnic groups.

Statements that include these elements indicate a clear stance on care for and affirmation of Black students and families. They have the potential to motivate and inspire readers and perhaps bolster their confidence in superintendents, principals, school board members, and other administrators. However, it is what leaders do in the days, weeks, and years ahead that will ultimately make a difference in the dismantling of white supremacy and anti-Black racism that occurs within and beyond schools.

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Dorinda J. Carter Andrews & Shaun R. Harper

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6 Considerations for School Leaders Making a Statement About George Floyd

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Opinion Leaders of K-12 schools, colleges, and universities sometimes release formal statements when acts of racial violence and injustice occur locally and elsewhere in our country. Many are writing now to their communities about the death last week of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis.

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Many of the recent shootings-including in El Paso, Texas; Pittsburgh; potentially Gilroy, Calif.-are linked to white supremacist hatred. And hate crimes have been on the rise nationwide for three consecutive years, according to FBI data released last year.

This growing hatred seeps into our classrooms. Like many teachers, I read these stories and statistics and wonder: What can I do to help my students feel safe and ensure that the next generation no longer operates from a place of hatred and fear?

These mass shooters were once students sitting in our classrooms. It's an unsettling thought, and I don't raise it to scare teachers about the students they have. Rather, it serves as a reminder that we as teachers have a role to play in combatting hate. More than just making our students aware of racism, we can do anti-racist work.

Even the best SEL programs on the market don't address the deeper roots of hatred we're seeing in our nation. Until we provide focused education about the history and current iterations of racist beliefs at the root of this hatred, we cannot claim we are actively working to solve the problem in our classrooms.

As educators, we don't just teach content; we teach life lessons. Here are changes we can make to ensure we are breaking down racist beliefs and systems of white supremacy in our own classrooms:

1. Educate ourselves about anti-racism work.

We can't do this work well with students if we don't understand it ourselves. We must acknowledge that we have all been shaped by a system built on inequality and racism-one that consistently bombards us with stereotypical images of certain cultures and excludes voices from different backgrounds.

Rethinking Schools provides multiple resources and readings about using schools to break down racial biases in our country. Christopher Emdin's , bell hooks' , and Cornelius Minor's are a few books that address how to create more equitable education in our classrooms, as well as the internal work teachers must begin to do to get there.

It's also essential to understand racism outside our classrooms. Reading books like Robin DiAngelo's (with an excellent educator guide), by Ibram X. Kendi, and Beverly Tatum's seminal text is another way to take ownership of our own journeys toward becoming aware and active against racism.

2. Reflect on the voices we're sharing.

We can build empathy by listening to and studying other people's stories. Unfortunately, there is very little diversity and inclusion in the stories many of us share in our classrooms. We need to reflect on whose voices we give power to and how we create a more inclusive space with the texts we use.

Online organizations like #DisruptTexts and We Need Diverse Books provide resources and materials about the importance of diversifying the texts in our classrooms. Reflecting on whose viewpoints are given power-in all subjects, including math and science -is an essential way to start breaking down biases and harmful perceptions.

3. Don't be afraid to discuss current events-and ask for help, too.

The work we do in our classrooms may feel like a small drop in the ocean, but we know that what we teach our students can help turn the societal tide. Teaching anti-racism may not directly stop a mass shooting, but it can support a cultural shift that helps dismantle racist beliefs in ourselves and each other. If we teach our students to work against white supremacy and racism, we can help create a world that no longer nurtures hatred, but actively challenges the hateful beliefs that lead to targeted violence.

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The Urgent Need for Anti-Racist Education (Opinion)

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Many of the recent shootings-including in El Paso, Texas; Pittsburgh; potentially Gilroy, Calif.-are linked to white supremacist hatred. And hate crimes have been on the rise nationwide for three consecutive years, according to FBI data released last year.

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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Talking about race, although hard, is necessary. We are here to provide tools and guidance to empower your journey and inspire conversation.

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Students in U.S. schools were less likely to be suspended in 2016 than they were in 2012. But the progress is incremental, and large gaps - by race and by special education status - remain.

This data comes from an analysis of federal data for NPR in partnership with the nonprofit organization Child Trends. And it comes as the Trump administration is preparing the final report from a school safety commission that is expected to back away from or rescind Obama-era guidance intended to reduce racial disparities in school discipline.

The commission, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, is expected to release its final report in the coming days.

The Child Trends analysis highlights findings that when a student disrupts class, a school can disrupt that student's education - and his or her entire life. Research suggests suspension and expulsion, arrests and referrals to law enforcement, is associated with dropping out of school and going to jail. All of these consequences happen more frequently to black students, even in preschool. Sometimes they are punished more harshly for the same behavior as white students; often for nonviolent offenses. Students with disabilities are also punished more often and more harshly.

In 2014, with this body of evidence growing, the U.S. Department of Education issued detailed guidance on "how to identify, avoid, and remedy" what they called "discriminatory discipline." They promoted alternatives to suspension and expulsion, and opened investigations into school districts that had severely racially skewed numbers.

In the wake of that guidance, more than 50 of America's largest school districts instituted discipline reform. More than half the states revised their laws to try and reduce suspensions and expulsions. And, our indicators are, they succeeded.

At NPR's request, the nonprofit Child Trends analyzed the federal Civil Rights Data Collection, which includes reports from every public school in the nation, over three years - the 2011-2012, 2013-2014, and 2015-2016 school year. They caution that this analysis, which is based on numbers self-reported by schools, can't cover every possibility - for example, if schools are calling parents to pick students up instead of putting an official suspension on the books. Or if they are suspending fewer students, but suspending them for longer periods of time.

Still, they documented some heartening changes between 2012 and 2016.

The proportion of all students suspended from school at least once during the year fell from 5.6 percent to 4.7 percent.

Among high school students, the percentage suspended fell even more, from 9.6 to 7.6 percent.

Suspension rates fell around the country, in each of the biggest-population states. Only one state, Mississippi, saw a persistent increase year by year.

Hispanic students experienced the largest decrease --a 30 percent drop in suspensions.

Suspension rates fell faster for those most often suspended - Black students and students with a disability.

But, on the flip side:

Black high school students are still twice as likely (12.8 percent) to be suspended as white (6.1 percent) or Hispanic (6.3 percent) high school students.

And students with a disability are also twice as likely (12.8 percent) to be suspended as those without a disability (6.9 percent).

"This progress is incremental and large gaps by race and disability still remain," says Kristen Harper, who directs policy development for Child Trends. She says there's "a long way to go" and a continuing need for federal leadership. "Any efforts that could suggest that these issues are not important could undermine the work of states and districts."

We should note that NPR previously collaborated with Child Trends on a look at the Civil Rights Data Collection's school shooting indicator. That analysis found serious problems with the data reported. But Harper says that the out of school suspensions indicator is far more robust and reliable, partly because the data has been collected for longer, and also because suspensions are more common than shootings, so a few data entry errors are less likely to skew the overall trend.

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Suspensions Are Down In U.S. Schools But Large Racial Gaps Remain

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Students in U.S. schools were less likely to be suspended in 2016 than they were in 2012. But the progress is incremental, and large gaps - by race and by special education status - remain. This data comes from an analysis of federal data for NPR in partnership with the nonprofit organization Child Trends.

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With multiple books about race appearing on several of our lists, we checked in with two best-selling authors to hear their thoughts on the work they've done and the road ahead.

Layla F. Saad, author of " Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor" (No. 6 on the hardcover nonfiction list):

How have the past few weeks been for you? They've been a roller coaster of emotion and energy and both anger and frustration. Also, grief and cautious hope and awe of this new era that we're entering into.

What is the first step for people trying to dismantle biases and understand their privilege? To accept that this work isn't going to be a smooth, clean, safe, sanitized experience where you get to examine racism in the world and racism within yourself without feeling emotion. People have reported indigestion, sleeplessness, nervousness - that's your awakening to even just a portion of what black and brown people are walking around with every day.

What's your greatest hope for change? I hope black people will no longer have to be the only ones whose anger is used to ignite and sustain the movement. ... I want black people to feel ease, joy, peace and safety. It's ironic to me when white people say to black people, "Why are you so angry? Your anger isn't helpful." My question is, "Why aren't you angry?" Because when you all collectively start being angry, that's when change can actually happen.

Ibram X. Kendi, author of " How to Be an Antiracist" (No. 1 on the hardcover nonfiction list) and " Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" (written with Jason Reynolds, at No. 2 on the young adult hardcover list):

Are the protests happening now different from past protests? If so, how? It's going to be up to the people. I can't recall a time in recent history that so many Americans in so many towns and cities have called publicly and privately for a more antiracist society. But the key is whether we're going to transform the resistance on the street into power and policy change.

If you could write an addendum to "How to Be an Antiracist," what would it say? I would chronicle and provide imagery of this moment. Because this is a signature, significant distinct moment of people striving to be antiracist and I'd want to capture that in words for the reader. That this is possible for us and this is the beginning of hopefully building a more just and equitable society.

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These Authors Are Glad You're Buying Their Books. Now Do the Work.

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With multiple books about race appearing on several of our lists, we checked in with two best-selling authors to hear their thoughts on the work they've done and the road ahead. Layla F. Saad, author of " Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor" (No.

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During my school years, I learned about white scholars, white inventors, white ideas, and white theories. I did not read a book about a writer of color until I was in high school, and even then, it was not a part of the official curriculum. I was expected to find myself in narratives of enslaved Africans, of the three civil rights leaders I learned about each year, and of Black struggle. I did not see myself reflected in the clear faces with blonde hair and blue eyes that I read about or saw in magazines and on television. I became convinced that ingenuity could only live within whiteness.

I searched for stories about Black biracial children with immigrant mothers and absent fathers, about Black children who lived in cities and invented games because going outside was sometimes too dangerous. I searched for stories that represented me, that portrayed Black love, Black excellence, and Black joy. I searched for these stories until I could not search anymore.

Even as I was looking for myself in stories and lessons at school, I was watching news clips of Rodney King's assault by police officers on the side of the road. I was listening with horror as newscasters told the slanted narrative of Amadou Diallo, who died with 41 New York-Police Department bullets in his body. And still today, violence against Black bodies continues, most recently with the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Each unnecessary death fills me with worry and fear about whether I can ever be free of the trauma of witnessing the dismissiveness with which our country treats Black life.

When Black students experience a world that devalues their humanity-including through curricular content that perpetuates narratives of inferiority and excludes their lives and full histories-and when they witness people who look like them being beaten or slain in the media, they are subject to the trauma of being made to feel worthless and unseen, of being made inhuman. Just imagine the damage done to our Black students' psyches when, at school, they are made invisible in academic content and yet blaringly visible through oversurveillance and policing. And what do white children learn from these very same triggering images of Black death and the white-centered curricula that dominate many of our nation's classrooms? They learn how to un-see and devalue Black lives. They learn how to feel nothing about Black suffering.

Educators Can't Be Passive

Therefore, our trauma work must include not only addressing the toxic stress of racism, which contributes to adverse mental and physical health effects in people of color (Comas-Diaz & Hall, 2019; Williams, 1999), but also confronting the dangers of white privilege. Racial trauma work is just as necessary for white children because the hate and rage that feeds racism, which originates from the acceptance of white supremacy, inflict harm too. Without a deeper understanding of their racial biases and assumptions, white youth run the risk of putting Black lives at risk over their privileged safety (like the Central Park dog walker Amy Cooper) or becoming inured to basic civic injustices (like the politicians who allowed the water problems in Flint, Michigan, to happen and persist).

To ensure that all children, especially Black youth, have the privilege to live full lives, educators must confront racism and the resulting trauma from it. If not, we are not really doing equity work, and we are not really trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive. We are just saying we are. We are just maintaining the status quo. We are just making ourselves feel good. If we truly care about the future of our young people and our nation, we can no longer be passive about racial justice. We can no longer walk away, bask in our comfort, and ignore the way racism is killing us and destroying our nation.

Engaging in anti-racist work challenges the very institutions and systems that benefit from it, which means it comes with a host of risks. For me, it has resulted in a loss of material comfort and relationships, but I am willing to accept those risks for the promise of an anti-racist future. Anti-racist work has to be the hill you are willing to die on. That may sound drastic and morbid, but it is not a choice for Black folks-this dying for defending our humanity. I want to live in a world where Black people do not have to experience being punished for the color of our skin or being forced to conform to the ways of the white powerful. I've learned from experience that mitigating racial trauma requires naming racism, whiteness, and white supremacy and their impacts on people's lives. We have to identify the problem we are trying to solve to begin working towards solutions. For too long, our nation has chosen not to confront our ugly past or the continuing dehumanization of Black people-a negation of reality that is carried out in our schools. Our wounds will never heal if we do not identify and tend to them.

Teaching to prevent and mitigate racial trauma requires, first and foremost, that educators commit to racial justice, to being anti-racists . I have grown impatient with the many teachers I support who tell me how scared they are to talk about race, how they do not know where to begin, how they are paralyzed by discomfort and wanting to get it right. Racial justice is urgent, and though I understand this fear and desire, we have to stop prioritizing white tears over Black lives. We cannot let our emotions paralyze us from engaging in anti-racist teaching. We have to start somewhere. In a society that is founded on whiteness, the chances are high that we will make mistakes on our anti-racist journeys. We may say the wrong thing. We may offend someone. What matters most, however, is that we learn from our missteps and bounce back instead of wallowing in our self-pity. When we educate for racial justice, we must engage in self-work and understand our power and privilege so that we do not harm our students through an inadvertent abuse of power. If we do nothing, Black people will continue to experience the injustices we have always faced.

As we engage in racially just pedagogy, it is important that we do not retraumatize students by showing pictures or videos of police- or vigilante-related violence against Black people. Instead, focus on teaching students how to identify and analyze racial bias in media and provide ways for them to reach out to media outlets with their findings to advocate for fuller stories. Empower students to disrupt single narratives of Blackness. Most important, center students' realities in the content you teach. This means affirming and valuing students and their communities in our teaching and putting social justice, equity, liberty, healing, and humanity at the core of our instruction, curriculum, and school policies.

In this regard, I encourage educators to interrogate, with an antiracist lens, the curriculum, learning experiences, and school policies to which our Black students are subject. Ask whose realities are reflected in what they are learning. Whose are not? Who will have the privilege of feeling valued and belonging? Who will not? It is our responsibility to mitigate the trauma of erasure that so many Black students have experienced just as I did. Go above and beyond what textbooks tell us is our history, introduce diverse voices and experiences through literature and mentors, and expose students to better media resources so that all students see and believe in Black heroism, Black ingenuity, and Black success.

Lastly, we must create opportunities for students to share their feelings freely in courageous and safe spaces centered on healing. It is crucial to provide young people with resources and activities for healing and engaging in self-care and to share accessible therapeutic and counseling supports.

Antiracist pedagogy involves deep, courageous work. It is important to understand that we cannot trauma-inform away racism. We cannot tweet away racism. We cannot read away racism. We cannot intervention away racism. We cannot breathe away racism. Educators, and especially white teachers, have to roll up their sleeves, look within themselves, sit with discomfort, reflect on what they can do better, and then live and teach with racial justice as their guiding principle. This work starts with us, but it cannot end with us. It must include dismantling old oppressive systems and structures and building anew.

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If We Aren't Addressing Racism, We Aren't Addressing Trauma

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During my school years, I learned about white scholars, white inventors, white ideas, and white theories. I did not read a book about a writer of color until I was in high school, and even then, it wa

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James Baldwin (Aug. 2, 1924 - Dec. 1, 1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. Born in Harlem, Baldwin was a "witness to the truth" about racism and homophobia through his novels, plays, essays, and poetry including Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), Notes of a Native Son (1955), Giovanni's Room (1956), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), Another Country (1962), The Fire Next Time (1963), If Beale Street Could Talk (1974), and The Evidence of Things Not Seen (1985).

We share here two of Baldwin's essays that make for rich discussion about K-12 education today.

A Talk to Teachers

"Since I am talking to schoolteachers and I am not a teacher myself, and in some ways am fairly easily intimidated, I beg you to let me leave that and go back to what I think to be the entire purpose of education in the first place. It would seem to me that when a child is born, if I'm the child's parent, it is my obligation and my high duty to civilize that child. Man is a social animal. He cannot exist without a society. A society, in turn, depends on certain things which everyone within that society takes for granted. Now the crucial paradox which confronts us here is that the whole process of education occurs within a social framework and is designed to perpetuate the aims of society. Thus, for example, the boys and girls who were born during the era of the Third Reich, when educated to the purposes of the Third Reich, became barbarians.

" The paradox of education is precisely this-that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity. But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society. If a society succeeds in this, that society is about to perish. The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it-at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change." Continue reading.

(Delivered on October 16, 1963, as "The Negro Child - His Self-Image"; published in The Saturday Review, December 21, 1963, reprinted in The Price of the Ticket, Collected Non-Fiction 1948-1985, Saint Martins 1985.)

A Letter to My Nephew

". . . I know what the world has done to my brother and how narrowly he has survived it and I know, which is much worse, and this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it. One can be-indeed, one must strive to become-tough and philosophical concerning destruction and death, for this is what most of mankind has been best at since we have heard of war; remember, I said most of mankind, but it is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime." Continue reading in The Progressive, December, 1962.

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James Baldwin (Aug. 2, 1924 - Dec. 1, 1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.

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December 1997/January 1998 | Volume 55 | Number 4
Reaching for Equity Pages 12-17

John O'Neil
Why do we have such problems discussing racial issues? Is it because we don't really understand one another's experiences?
I think that's part of it. It's interesting to watch people's reactions when they are really forced to experience being in the minority. One of the exercises that I ask white students and educators to engage in is to create a situation in which they will be in the minority, for a short period of time. A common choice, for example, is to attend a black church on a Sunday morning. Another is to go to a place where you know there's going to be a large Spanish-speaking population.

Usually, whites are very nervous and anxious about doing this. Some are even unwilling to do it alone, so they find a partner to go with, which is fine. But it's just interesting to me how fearful people are about this kind of experience. When they come back, they often report how welcomed they felt, what a positive experience it was. But I do point out to them how worried they were about their own discomfort. And I hope that they develop a greater sense of understanding of how a person of color might feel in an environment that is predominantly white.
Some people suggest that race relations among kids are much improved, compared to our generation or our parents'. What do you see?
Young children do interact across racial lines fairly comfortably at the elementary school grade level. If you visit racially mixed schools at the elementary level, you will see kids interacting in the lunch room and on the playground. To the extent that neighborhoods are segregated, their interracial friendships might be limited. But you see much more cross-racial interaction at the elementary level than you do at the junior high or high school level.
Why?
I think the answer has to do with the child's transition into adolescence. Adolescents are searching for identity; they're asking questions like: Who am I in the world? How does the world see me? How do I see others? What will I be in the future? and Who will love me? All those questions of identity are percolating during that time period. And particularly for adolescents of color, these questions cannot be answered without also asking: Who am I ethnically? Who am I racially? and What meaning does this have for how people view me and interact with me?
Can you give an example of how these issues might emerge in students of color?
Sure. Imagine a 7-year-old black boy who everybody thinks is cute. So he's used to the world responding to him in a certain way: Look at that cute kid!

Now imagine that same kid at 15. He's six feet tall, and people don't think he's cute anymore. They think he's dangerous or a potential criminal; maybe people are now crossing the street to avoid him. So the way he sees himself perceived by others is very different at 15 than at seven. And that 15-year-old has to start figuring out what this means. Why are people crossing the street when I walk down it? Why am I being followed around by the security guards at the mall? And as that young person is trying to make sense of his experience, in all likelihood he is going to seek out and try to connect with other people who are having similar experiences.

As a result, even the young person who has grown up in a multiracial community and had a racially mixed group of friends tends to start to pull away from his non-black friends, his white friends in particular. This happens, in part, because their white friends are not having the same experiences; they're not having the same encounters with racism. And, unfortunately, many white youth don't have an understanding of how racism operates in our society, so they're not able to respond in ways that would be helpful.

The example I used was of a black boy, but a similar process unfolds among black girls or children of another race or ethnic heritage.
What about white students? What are they experiencing during this time of self-identification?
They can be confused and hurt by some of the changes. For example, it's not uncommon for a white student in my college class on the psychology of racism to say: "You know, I had a really close black or Latino friend in elementary school, and when we went to junior high she didn't want to hang around with me anymore." The student reporting the story usually is quite confused about that; it's often a very hurtful experience.

The observation I make is that, again, many white students are oblivious to the power of racism and the way that it's operating in society. And so when their friends are starting to have encounters with racism, they don't necessarily know how to respond. An example from my book is when a teacher makes a racist remark to a young black female. Afterward, her white friend comes up to her and says, "You seem upset, what's the problem?" So she explains what upset her to her friend, and the friend says, quite innocently, "Gee, Mr. Smith is such a nice guy, I can't imagine he would intentionally hurt you. He's not a racist, you know."
So white students might discount it because they can't identify with it?
Exactly. They can't identify, and also in many situations people who try to comfort often end up invalidating the person's feelings, by saying things like, "Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad." What happens is that you withdraw from the conversation. The feeling is "Well, you don't get it, so I'll find somebody who does." It would have been a very different response, however, if this young white student understood stereotypes and the reality of racism in society and told her friend, "You know, that was a really offensive thing he said."
Should teachers or principals be concerned when students self-segregate? Should they actively seek to integrate the groups?
During "downtime" like lunch or recess, students should be able to relax with their friends, regardless of whether or not those friendship groups are of the same race or ethnic groups. However, it is important to create opportunities for young people to have positive interactions across group lines in school. So structuring racially mixed work groups-for example, by using cooperative learning strategies in the classroom-can be a very positive thing to do.

Similarly, intentionally working to recruit diverse members of the student body to participate in extracurricular events is worthwhile. We need to take advantage of every opportunity we have to bring young people together where they can work cooperatively as equals toward a common goal. Sports teams are a good example of the kind of mutually cooperative environment where young people often develop strong connections across racial lines, and we should look to create more such opportunities in schools. Unfortunately, school policies like tracking (which tends to sort kids along racial lines) impede rather than facilitate such opportunities.
You've talked with students of color who attend integrated schools but find themselves isolated in honors or advanced classes. What are those students experiencing in terms of their identity?
Even in racially mixed schools, it is very common for young people of color, particularly black and Latino students, to find that the upper-level courses have very few students of color in them. And, of course, honors chemistry is only offered during a certain time period in the day, which means you might also be taking English and other courses with the same kids. And so those students in honors chemistry or advanced algebra may find that their black or Latino peers accuse them of "trying to be white" because they're hanging around with all white kids. So to the extent that you're frequently in the company of white students, and your black classmates who are in the lower tracks see you as somehow separating yourself from them-it's a hard place to be.
What can educators do to support the healthy development of kids as they work through these issues?
I think students of color really need to see themselves reflected in positive ways in the curriculum. And that probably sounds very obvious, but the fact is that too often they don't see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

When and how they see themselves reflected in the curriculum is so important, though. To use African Americans as an example: Most schools teach about slavery, and for many black students that's a point of real discomfort. Their experience of that is that the teacher's talking about slavery and all the white kids in the class are looking at us, to see what our reaction is. I'm certainly not suggesting we shouldn't teach about slavery, but I think it's important to teach it in an empowering way. Teachers need to focus on resistance to victimization. Students of color need to see themselves represented not just as victims but as agents of their own empowerment. And there are lots of ways to do that. You can talk about Sojourner Truth, you can talk about Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and so on.

At the same time, I think white children need to be helped to understand how racism operates. Inevitably, when you talk about racism in a predominantly white society, you generate feelings of discomfort and often guilt among white people because they might feel that you're saying that white people are bad. What do we do? In these discussions, we need to include examples of white people as agents of change. Teach students about the abolitionists. Teach students about Virginia Foster Durr, who was so active during the Civil Rights movement. All children need to learn about those white folks who worked against oppression. Unfortunately, many white students don't have that information.
Some people have suggested that the school curriculum be heavily focused on cultural heritage; that black students need an Afrocentric curriculum, and so on. What's your perspective?
It's important to have as diverse a curriculum as possible because all students need to be able to view things through multiple perspectives.

A high school teacher told me recently that the young white men in her English classes were reluctant to read about somebody's experience other than their own. For example, she had the class read House on Mango Street (Cisneros 1994), a book about a young Chicana adolescent coming of age in Chicago. These young men were complaining: "What does this have to do with me? I can't identify with this experience." But, at the same time, they never wonder why the Latino students in the class have to read Ernest Hemingway. We need to help them develop that understanding. All of us need to develop a sense of multiple perspectives, regardless of the composition of our classrooms.
The teaching ranks are predominantly white, even though the student population is becoming increasingly diverse. What does this mean for efforts to increase racial understanding?
It makes it harder, but it's not impossible. We should be working very hard to increase the diversity of the teaching pool, and many teacher education programs are trying to do that. Still, we need to recognize that it's going to be a long time before the teaching population reflects the classroom population. So it's really important for white teachers to recognize that it is possible for them to become culturally sensitive and to be proactive in an antiracist way. Many white educators have grown up in predominantly white communities, attended mostly white schools, and may have had limited experiences with people of color, and that is a potential barrier. But what that means is that people need to expand their experiences.

Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Children, by Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) is a great resource. I often encourage educators I work with to read that because she profiles several teachers, some of them white. Those are teachers who probably didn't grow up in neighborhoods or communities where they had a lot of interaction with people of color, but, one way or another, they have really been able to establish great teaching relationships with kids of color. So it certainly can be done.
You train teachers to work on issues involving race in their schools. What kinds of things do they learn?
For a number of years, I've taught a professional development course called Effective Anti-Racist Classroom Practices for All Students. It's basically designed to help teachers recognize what racism is, how it operates in schools, and what the impact of that is personally and professionally. So the focus is not just the impact of racism on the racial identity development of the students but also on the teachers. I've found that teachers who have not reflected on their own racial identity development find it very difficult to understand why young people are reflecting on theirs. So it's important to engage in self-reflection even as we're trying to better understand our students.

The course also looks at stereotypes, omissions, distortions, how those have been communicated in our culture and in our classroom, and then, what that means in terms of how we think about ourselves either as people of color or as whites. And, finally, what we can do about it. I talk in my book about racism as a sort of "smog." People who aren't aware of it can unwittingly perpetuate a cycle of oppression. If you breathe that smog too long, you internalize these messages. We can't really interrupt that process until it becomes visible to us. That's the first step-making the process visible. And once it is visible, we can start to strategize about how we're going to interrupt it.
Many teachers have been caught short by a racist incident or comment in their classroom. It often happens suddenly, and the teacher may be at a loss for how to respond. How have you handled it?
Well, I've been teaching a course on the psychology of racism since 1980, so I feel like I've probably heard it all.

It is a difficult situation, because you want the classroom to be a safe place, where students can say anything, knowing that only by opening up will they get feedback about their comments and learn another perspective. At the same time, you want the classroom to be a safe place for someone who may be victimized by a comment.

One time, a white student in my class made a very offensive remark about Puerto Ricans being responsible for crimes. Well, one of the things I've learned is that it really helps to validate somebody's comment initially, even if it is outrageous. So I said something like: "You know, I'm sure there are many people who feel that way, and if you've been victimized by a crime, that's a very difficult experience. At the same time, I think it's important to say that not all Puerto Ricans are car thieves." From there, you can move into how making such statements can reinforce stereotypes.
It must be hard to make it a teachable moment for everyone in the class.
Absolutely. One time I was observing somebody else's teaching when there was a similar kind of incident-a student made comments that the teacher thought were inappropriate, but she didn't know how to respond. So she didn't respond to them. After the class, we talked, and she said she felt terrible-she knew she should have done something, but she didn't know what to do. And we talked about what the choices might have been.

Even though she felt badly about how she handled it, those moments can be revisited. So in this particular case, the teacher opened her next class by saying: "You know, in our last class something happened that really bothered me, and I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure what to say, but in my silence I colluded with what was being said. So I would really like to talk about it now." And she brought the class back to the incident, and it was not an easy conversation. But I think it really deepened the students' understanding-both of the teacher herself and of how racism operates, because it showed how even well-intentioned people may unwittingly contribute to perpetuating the problem.
Although integrated schools have been a goal for decades, current statistics show a growth in schools that are nearly all-black or all-Hispanic. What do you see as the likely impact of the trend toward even more racially identifiable schools?
It's a very difficult issue from a number of perspectives. The continuing pattern of white flight is one of the main reasons that schools resegregate. A lot of money is put into a busing plan, and then white families leave the school. So now many people are asking questions about whether it's a good idea to spend all that money transporting kids instead of just using it to improve the neighborhood school, regardless of who attends it.

Many parents of color experience this as a double-edged sword. They're offended by the notion that children of color can only learn when they are in classes with white kids. They know there is nothing magical about sitting next to a white kid in class. On the other hand, the reality of school funding is that schools with more white students receive more financial support.

And so the question that I hear people asking now is: Can separate ever be equal? That's one I don't have the answer to!
President Clinton has called for a national conversation about race. Do you think we're ready for one, and will that move us forward?
Well, conversation is a really positive thing, and the fact that the president himself has called for one should not be underestimated. At the same time, these conversations are hard to have, and many people are not ready for them.

Real progress is being made in starting conversations at the local community level. Many grass-roots organizations are encouraging this kind of dialogue. For example, an organization in Connecticut has a program of Study Circles. They actually have a guidebook for facilitating conversations about race. Using the guides, people come together and begin to discuss the questions together to improve their understanding. Also, many houses of worship encourage cross-group dialogue, whether it means interfaith dialogue or cross-racial dialogue.

It's sometimes frustrating for people who have been doing this work for years, because it may seem like there's talk, talk, talk and it doesn't go anywhere. However, I do think that when you engage in open and honest dialogue, you start to recognize the other person's point of view, and that helps you see where your action might be needed most. So if people engage in dialogue with the understanding that dialogue is supposed to lead somewhere, it can be a very useful thing to do.

We can't afford to forget the institutional nature of racism. And so it's not just about personal prejudices, though obviously we want to examine those. We can't just aspire to be prejudice-free. We need to examine how racism persists in our institutions so we don't perpetuate it.

References

Cisneros, S. (1994). House on Mango Street. New York: Random House.

Ladson Billings, G. (1994). Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Children. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.

Endnote

For more information, contact Study Circles Resource Center, P.O. Box 203, 697 Pomfret St., Pomfret, CT 06258; tel: 203-928-2616, fax: 203-928-3713.

Beverly Daniel Tatum is Professor in the Department of Psychology and Education, Mount Holyoke College, S. Hadley, MA 01075. John O'Neil is Contributing Editor of Educational Leadership.

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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together? A Conversation with Beverly Daniel Tatum

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December 1997/January 1998 | Volume 55 | Number 4 Reaching for Equity Pages 12-17 John O'Neil Why do we have such problems discussing racial issues? Is it because we don't really understand one another's experiences? I think that's part of it. It's interesting to watch people's reactions when they are really forced to experience being in the minority.

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Should we tell the children? How?

Those are among the many questions parents are asking after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Many white parents wonder whether to talk with their kids at all, while parents of color swallow their grief and fear to have "the talk" once again.

These deaths are part of a more complex story, one some parents have been telling for generations, and others have long felt they've had the luxury to ignore. Experts in child psychology and race-based stress say these conversations are essential for all parents to have, and they underscore that there are developmentally appropriate ways to talk to children of all ages about racism and police brutality.

"Silence will not protect you or them," said Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist and author of "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race." " Avoiding the topic is not a solution."

Racism persists, experts say, because many parents avoid difficult conversations.

"One of the most important things to remember is that you may not have all the answers, and that is OK," said Erlanger Turner, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Pepperdine University who studies mental health among racial communities.

USA TODAY spoke with Tatum andTurner about how to talk with children about racial violence:

Why is it important to talk with children about what happened to George Floyd and other incidents of police brutality or racism in the news?

Beverly Daniel Tatum: Even young children may see or hear about highly publicized incidents like the George Floyd case - perhaps overhearing the TV or the radio - and may ask questions. Or if parents are upset by the news, the child may perceive the parent's distress and ask why Mom or Dad is upset. In either case, an age-appropriate explanation is better than silence. Older children with Internet access may see online images on their own. Initiating an age-appropriate conversation can give children a helpful frame for understanding difficult realities. If parents are silent, children will draw their own often faulty conclusions about what is happening and why.

Erlanger Turner: Many adults are hurt and angered by these events, and their children may notice changes in their mood. It is helpful to have a healthy conversation around what happened and also talk about ways to cope when you witness social injustice.

Does COVID-19 warrant avoiding these conversations, given many children are already struggling with fear, anxiety and uncertainty?

BDT: No. Not talking about upsetting events only fuels fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Being able to talk about something with a supportive adult can reduce fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Parents may avoid the conversation because they don't know what to say, but it is a mistake to think that their silence is helpful.

ET: I don't think that anxiety and fear about COVID-19 should stop a parent from talking about police brutality. This issue has been increasing in concern over the last few years as the number of black and brown people killed by police continue to rise. I think if you do talk with your child don't leave them in a high state of worry. Make sure to end the conversation by engaging in a pleasant activity after the difficult discussion so they won't stay worried or afraid.

How do parents start these conversations and how does that change depending on the age of their children?

ET: I think the first place to start a conversation around racism and police brutality is with honesty. Take ownership of your feelings and be comfortable sharing those feelings with your child. Then you can begin to allow them to share what they may already know about racial differences. I think that it is always good to allow children to share their opinion and understanding before you offer information.

For younger children conversations about racism should be limited to basic facts about how people are treated differently due to the color of their skin but also acknowledge that not everyone treats people differently based on race. For older teens, parents can consider exposure to news or social media posts as discussion points about this issue.

BDT: Regardless of the age of the child, it is important to balance acknowledging the reality of racism, or unfairness, with messages about the possibility of change, and the community of allies who are working together to make things better.

If a child of color asks if a police officer is going to kill them, what do you say?

BDT: The answer will depend on the age of the child. If it is a young child, a parent can be reassuring. "No, honey, you don't have to worry about that. Police officers don't want to hurt you."

In response to an older child, it can be reassuring to say something like: "I know that it is scary to think that something like that might happen, and I really don't want you to worry about anything like that. I know that most police officers want to help people, and most police officers never fire their guns. But sometimes they do get nervous and make mistakes. So it is important for you to know what to do if a police officer ever stops you..."

Black parents often refer to this as "the talk" they have to have with their adolescent sons to increase the odds they will survive an encounter with a police officer if and when they are stopped.

ET: That is a tough question. Depending on the age of the child, they may have some awareness of youth that have been killed by police. Obviously you don't want to respond in a way that is going to make children be more fearful for their safety. In my opinion, I think that you should let children know that most police officers work to protect them and their community.

If a child says they are afraid or angry, what do you say?

BDT: Acknowledge the child's feelings. The parent may have similar feelings. "I know it's upsetting to hear about and see these things happening. It upsets me too when bad things like this happen. Racism is very unfair. But it makes me feel better to know there are lots of people who want to change things." Being able to offer specific examples of community change agents would be useful. Being able to talk about what family members are doing to speak up against unfairness is especially useful. Actions always speak louder than words.

ET: If a child tells you that they are angry, that is appropriate. Don't force them to hide their emotional expression. However, be sure to help them identify ways to express their anger in a healthy manner which may include journaling or exercising to release the energy from their body.

If a child is afraid for one of their friends, what do you say?

BDT: "I can see that you are worried about your friend. What do you think we could do that might help him or her?" Depending on the situation, this could be an opportunity to talk about what it means to be an ally, and how to stand in solidarity with another person.

ET: If a child is afraid for one of their friends, talk with them about those emotions. Allow the child to express why they may be afraid and help them identify how they can check on their friend's safety to ease their anxiety or fear. Part of what increases anxiety is the fear of the unknown. If you have a plan of action it will reduce some of those fears.

How can parents talk about law enforcement in a way that is honest but also doesn't discourage children from seeking help from law enforcement when appropriate?

BDT: Most police officers become police officers because they want to help people. And there are times when we would really want a police officer to help us - give some examples - if there's been a car accident, or if someone took something that belonged to us, etc. But sometimes a police officer does something bad, like today. When that happens, we might start to think that all police officers are like that. But it's important to remember that that is not true.

ET: I think that it is very important to talk with the children about law enforcement. For example, you can talk with them about how they protect rules in society such as making sure that people don't drive too fast so they won't harm themselves or others. Providing clear examples about the ways that law enforcement helps society will allow the child to better understand. You can also be honest about situations such as police brutality and let children know that some police officers break laws. If you have a trusted officer in your community it may be good to also allow the child to talk with them in person to reduce their fear.

Should these conversations be different depending on the race of the child?

BDT: Children of color are likely to experience racist encounters as they get older. They need to be helped to understand their own worth and feel affirmed in their identity as young people of color despite the negative messages they may get from others. Parents of color want to raise self-confident and empowered children who are not demoralized by other people's racism. This requires lots of conversation about racism and how to resist it in an ongoing way throughout their children's lives.

White children are often racially isolated as a consequence of segregated schools and neighborhoods, and consequently limited in their understanding of people different from themselves. White parents who want to interrupt the cycle of racism must learn to talk to their children about it and model their own anti-racist activity.

ET: According to research, white parents often don't talk with their children about race or may emphasize "not seeing color." The concept of colorblindness or "not seeing color" is more harmful than helpful and does not honor an individual's identity. ... For white families, research suggests ... conversations should focus on raising anti-racist children and encouraging more friendships with children from others races.

Many of these deaths garner attention because footage of it goes viral. What should we say if our child asks to see it?

BDT: There are many adults who don't want to see such footage. I would not show it to a child at all. Once an image is in your head, it is very difficult to get it out. That said, it is reasonable to describe what happened and talk about why it was wrong. It is also likely that children with Internet access can view the footage without an adult's permission or assistance. Talking about it after the fact will help children process their feelings.

ET: You should not show your children these videos as it may increase the likelihood of them experiencing symptoms of trauma or having nightmares. What we know from research on witnessing disasters is that individuals may be at a higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder even through indirect exposure to these events.

What do we say if, in the course of this conversation, a child says something racist?

BDT: Inquire about it with curiosity, not judgment. "I'm wondering why you said that ..." After hearing more about what the child is thinking, you can offer correction by providing new information. "You know, a lot of people might think that is true, but I don't because...."

ET: I think the first thing to do is to not get defensive. You want to foster open communication with your child. However, I think you should explore why they have that opinion, where did they learn it from, and tell them why what they said was wrong. It might be helpful for you as a parent to think about ways that you may have unconsciously expressed racist attitudes.

How can parents explain the uprisings in a way that doesn't condone violence but also doesn't minimize the sense of injustice fueling them?

BDT: Children understand the concept of unfairness as well as the experience of frustration. Years and years of unfairness - racism - results in intense anger and frustration. The conversation can then be about what we must do to fix the continuing unfairness.

ET: I think it is important for parents to be honest. Share your hurt, anger, or disappointment with your child. You should also talk about different ways to protest social injustice such as calling your local politicians office or even visit their office to talk with them about policy change to reduce injustice.

Resources for parents
You may also be interested in: Alia E. Dastagir is a recipient of a Rosalynn Carter fellowship for mental health journalism. Follow her on Twitter: @alia_e

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George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children?

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Should we tell the children? How? Those are among the many questions parents are asking after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Many white parents wonder whether to talk with their kids at all, while parents of color swallow their grief and fear to have "the talk" once again.

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"I [STILL] Can't Breathe!": Supporting Kids of Color Amid Racialized Violence

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As educators we (sometimes unknowingly) step into roles of advocate, caretaker, guide, and even mother or father to students. Students pay attention to everything we say and do. They particularly pay attention to our silence.

We may be uncomfortable talking about race, but we can no longer afford to be silent. We have chosen a profession, which-like parenting-requires that our comforts come second to those of children.

Many black and brown students are educated in school systems and classrooms where they, despite making up the racial majority, are taught how to understand a world by a staff comprised of a powerful minority. When their teachers choose to remain silent about moments of racial tension or violence-violence that may well touch students' own communities or families-these children are overtly reminded of their inferior place in society.

Even as a black teacher, I have to set a tone for my students that signals that it's safe to talk about race. Even with me, students of color are afraid to say the word white or to name the blatant racism of slavery and Jim Crow. If that's the case, imagine how much more difficult it is for them to engage in dialogue about mass incarceration rates; the militarism of police; the killing of innocent black men and women; cycles of poverty; the destruction of our bodies, minds and souls; the lack of access to healthy food and quality schools; and gentrification. These are all symptoms of a type of racism that remains deadly to this day because, despite bodies lying in the street, we refuse to talk about it.

White teachers must also broach these topics with white children attending white schools. These students need to learn about the destructive power of racism and brutality that have plagued our country for centuries. They should also understand that Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Trayvon Martin were preceded in death by Emmett Till, Jimmie Lee Jackson and countless others whose stories and deaths we must also teach. Our lack of instruction becomes deadly when we allow fear and discomfort to indirectly allow white students to labor under false, privileged assumptions.

Moreover, the silence on the part of white teachers who teach black and brown children is insulting. Imagine seeing white people, the perceived dominant race, loving and appreciating black culture when it is pretty-enjoying the music, food, culture and beauty of our people-but remaining silent about our oppression and refusing to see how the beauty of our culture was largely born out of necessity. It hurts students when their teachers only acknowledge what black people have done for this country and not what this country has done to them.

But how encouraging is it to know that we stand in a powerful and political position where we can directly influence and break this silence?

Begin by confronting your own biases-about yourself, your students, your fellow educators, the world. This process is essential; if educators don't do this, think about how much damage we could do to the open, vulnerable minds of our students. In particular, examine your feelings about the police. And, regardless of your personal feelings about law enforcement, it is critical to understand that many black and brown students have incredibly negative perceptions about the police. This difficult understanding on the part of teachers can hopefully lead to dialogue and healing in schools.

Once you've done the inner work of evaluating your own comfort levels and examining your biases, start the conversation. You might begin by admitting to students that-like them-you are scared, frustrated, angry, confused, hurt or uncomfortable. Students at any age understand these feelings and will appreciate your humility, compassion and vulnerability, especially black and brown students. This is how you lay the foundation.

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As educators we (sometimes unknowingly) step into roles of advocate, caretaker, guide, and even mother or father to students. Students pay attention to everything we say and do. They particularly pay attention to our silence. We may be uncomfortable talking about race, but we can no longer afford to be silent.

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Not quite two weeks after the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a now-former Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, it's already clear that what happened to him-and the protests that followed-will be in history books someday. The moment is not only a striking turning point in an ongoing Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality, but also set apart by a global pandemic that is disproportionately affecting African Americans.

But how exactly these events will be framed is still to be determined, by factors such as how long demonstrations continue globally and whether any major legislation is passed as a result. In the meantime, many are looking to history for clues about how to understand the evolving moment.

Comparisons to the 1960s, and that era's fight for racial equality, have been plentiful-but that period was just one chapter in a civil rights movement that's almost as old as America is. TIME asked ten experts on the history of race in the United States to weigh in on which moments from the American past can help us understand today.
Simon Balto, author of Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power and Assistant Professor of History at the University of Iowa:

I think people need to understand that the destruction of property as a form of political dissent is a practice older than this country. The Boston Tea Party-that was a group of political dissidents destroying property in political protest. Americans have been destroying property in pursuit of various political goals ever since, sometimes in the airing of legitimate grief and grievances such as violent and racist policing systems, sometimes over more nefarious motives. (White people in Chicago rioted and destroyed Black people's property practically once a year in the late 1940s and 1950s in order to drive out Black families who wanted to move into white neighborhoods.) So when people say that what's happening right now is "un-American," they're categorically wrong. It's in the nation's DNA.

Kellie Carter Jackson, author of Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence and Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College:

There was a group of black-some might say radical-abolitionists who believed that because slavery was started in violence and slavery is sustained by violence, slavery will only be overthrown by violence. So they [use] a direct, aggressive and, in some cases, forceful and violent, protest to accelerate emancipation. I see a lot of parallels in terms of tactics used, how people have used pretty much every tool in front of them-maybe not cell-phone footage, but the press, the pen, their speeches, their rhetoric, their physical bodies. This contributed to the abolition of slavery, and I see those same tactics playing out today in [hopes of] abolishing police brutality, abolishing mass incarceration, abolishing the gross inequities between white communities and black communities.

Duchess Harris, author of Racially Writing the Republic: Racists, Race Rebels, and Transformations of American Identity and Professor of American Studies at Macalester College:

The parallel I make is to Red Summer. You get the Spanish flu in 1918​, then​ in the summer of 1919 you get en masse race rebellions in the ​N​orth​, ​and it's for several reasons. There is economic competition-black men have fought in World War I and have migrated from the South to the North partly for job opportunities. They're not allowed to get jobs, even though they fought for their country. Then the Spanish Flu comes about. Then it's summer. It's hot. There are black people in cities who have never been there before, and then there's white resistance. Part of what's going on now is a pushback to the eight years of Obama in the White House​. ​With the Red Summer, part of the pushback is​,​ "We're ​​glad these men fought for us ...but don't come back wearing the military uniform and behaving like you're American like we are​,​ because you aren't."

Tyran K. Steward, Assistant Professor of History at Williams College, who is writing a book tentatively entitled The Benching of Willis Ward: The Making of a Black Conservatism in the Jim Crow North: Greg Carr, Chair of Howard University's Department of Afro-American Studies and author of You Don't Call the Kittens Biscuits: Disciplinary Africana Studies and The Study of Malcolm X: Matthew F. Delmont, Professor of History at Dartmouth College and author of the upcoming book Half American: African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad: Ashley Howard, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Iowa, who is writing a book on 1960s urban rebellions in the Midwest: Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter Jamila Michener, author of Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics and Assistant Professor of Government at Cornell University: Thomas J. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North and Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History and Director of the Cities Collaborative at New York University: Philip A. Klinkner, co-author of The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America, and Professor of Government at Hamilton College:

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10 Experts on Where the George Floyd Protests Fit Into American History

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Experts on the history of race in America weigh in on the moments you should know about if you want to understand the George Floyd protests.

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This book was released in March as a collaboration between Stamped author, Ibram X. Kendi and award-winning children’s book author, Jason Reynolds.

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http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/oct19/vol61/num10/How-to-Be-an-Antiracist-Educator.aspx

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Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff: How we can make racism a solvable problem -- and improve policing

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When we define racism as behaviors instead of feelings, we can measure it -- and transform it from an impossible problem into a solvable one, says justice scientist Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff. In an actionable talk, he shares his work at the Center for Policing Equity, an organization that helps police departments diagnose and track racial gaps in policing in order to eliminate them.

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Despite the importance of understanding how race intersects with police use of force, little research has used police administrative data to investigate whether or not disparities exist. Because the dominant narrative around race and law enforcement is that crime rates drive police behavior, we used data from the National Justice Database - Center for Policing Equity's project to provide national-level data and analyses on police behavior-to investigate racial disparities in use of force benchmarking against demographics of local arrest rates.

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Center for Policing Equity - The Science of Justice: Race, Arrests, and Police Use of Force

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Despite the importance of understanding how race intersects with police use of force, little research has used police administrative data to investigate whether or not disparities exist. Because the dominant narrative around race and law enforcement is that crime rates drive police behavior, we used...

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This is an excellent  deep dive into the  data and research of bias in all human interaction,  with specific attention to racial bias in policing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD5a3-v9KZs

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This is an interactive workbook for learning and unlearning. This allows you to reflect on your own practices and beliefs and experience the discomfort within yourself.

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When Layla F. Saad ran a free month-long Instagram challenge during the summer of 2018, she had no idea it would become an international cultural movement.

Thousands of people from around the world were galvanized by the #meandwhitesupremacy challenge, examining and owning responsibility for the ways in which they uphold white supremacy.

Over 80,000 people downloaded her guide to the movement, Me and White Supremacy Workbook in the space of just six months. And now, that guide is a NYT, USA Today, WSJ and Amazon bestseller.

Me and White Supremacy: A 28-Day Challenge to Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor leads readers through a journey of understanding their white privilege and participation in white supremacy, so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on black, indigenous and people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too. The book goes beyond the original workbook by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and includes expanded definitions, examples, and further resources.

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Over 80,000 people downloaded her guide to the movement, Me and White Supremacy Workbook in the space of just six months. And now, that guide is a NYT, USA Today, WSJ and Amazon bestseller.

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Kelisa Wing is the author of "Weeds & Seeds: How To Stay Positive in the Midst of Life's Storms" and "Promises and Possibilities: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline" (both available on Amazon). She also is a 2017 State Teacher of the year, speaker, teacher and activist for discipline reform.
Full profile →

This week began with a hike in the woods for my family and me in the Shenandoah Valley State Park. Pre COVID-19, our outings consisted of laser tag, movies every weekend, and going out to eat, but now, we are just happy being outside. As we parked our car, the first thing I noticed was the huge Confederate flag hanging from the window of the adjacent house. It was not lost on me that I was only 30 minutes away from Charlottesville, and it was not bears that I feared in those woods that day.

At the same time, Amy Cooper was in a park too, breaking the law and not adhering to the park rules. Rather than acknowledge her wrongdoing and moving on, she decided to call 911 and say an African American man was threatening her life.

And just when we believed the week could not have gotten any worse, George Floyd was murdered in the street by a Minneapolis police officer, begging for his life-"I can't breathe," his final words. In the last few days, we have watched riots and protests in the streets of Minneapolis. The images are reminiscent of the LA Riots and, while we are happy with the firing of the police officers responsible, we demand their arrest.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said,

I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. [...] in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. [...] (America) it has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. [...] Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.

As I reflect on King's words- social justice and progress-I am more convinced about the fact that the reason why we are at this place in our society is that racism is ingrained in the very fabric of our country. This country was built on the backs of slaves, and until we are ready to reconcile, remedy and discuss that, we will always deal with the Amy Coopers of the world. We will continue to see Black people murdered as if they are indispensable and we will continue to deal with racism in America.

I am tired, but although we may be worn out, we must NEVER give out! I believe that now, more than ever, educators have a responsibility to hold themselves individually, and hold others mutually accountable to the repair of our country and race relations. I stumbled upon this tweet thread about the type of teacher that would be likened to Amy Cooper calling the police on Christian Cooper in Central Park. The thread, while entertaining, was sad because we all know "that teacher" or "those teachers" within our buildings, but we do not have to continue down this path. We must commit to teaching in a way that totally disrupts and dismantles the system of oppression we have been operating within for over 400 years.

We will change the narrative by:

Holding ourselves individually and mutually accountable: When you see something, say something. It does not matter if it is at your dinner table, the hallways of your school or on an outing with friends. We must combat racism by facing everyday bias head-on. Teaching Tolerance provides great resources to do just this. We can no longer be silent about the things that matter!

Ensuring representation is at the forefront: Look around your committee, your table, your office, your curriculum-who is there? Who is not there? Why? Challenge yourselves to ensure that the people not currently at the table are represented on your committee, in your images, and in your curriculum because representation matters!

Caring about more than ourselves: It does not matter if this is not personally impacting you. It should matter that Black people are still underpaid, mistreated, underrepresented. It should matter that Black men are so feared by police officers that a routine traffic stop can quickly turn into a death sentence. It should not matter if you have students of color or not, you still should care.

We may be worn out, but we must never give out! We need to ensure that we talk about the true reason we are here. Amy Cooper, the murder of George Floyd, and the subsequent protests are symptoms of a disease just as lethal as Coronavirus, and that disease is racism. Martin Luther King gave us the cure, social justice and progress. We must teach like our lives depend on it, because for some of us, it does!

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Teachers Must Hold Themselves Accountable for Dismantling Racial Oppression

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Kelisa Wing is the author of "Weeds & Seeds: How To Stay Positive in the Midst of Life's Storms" and "Promises and Possibilities: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline" (both available on Amazon). She also is a 2017 State Teacher of the year, speaker, teacher and activist for discipline reform.

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Around the nation, people are hurting. Award-winning authors Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson and Jason Reynolds have organized a Kidlit Rally for Black Lives. We're honored to host it on our FaceBook Live on Thursday, June 4. This is a time to come together and stand up. Our kids need us . Please join us and spread the word. Together, we can make a difference.

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Kidlit Rally for Black Lives - The Brown Bookshelf

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Around the nation, people are hurting. Award-winning authors Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson and Jason Reynolds have organized a Kidlit Rally for Black Lives. We're honored to host it on our FaceBook Live on Thursday, June 4. This is a time to come together and stand up. Our kids need us.

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Our campaign supports teachers with free lessons and resources for teaching about racism and anti-racist struggles.

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Thinking Critically about Racism, Whiteness, & Class

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Thinking Critically about Racism, Whiteness, & Class

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Self-education resource from Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) that explains how these issues are currently defined & understood. (This is below the section on Political Education)

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We need political education because we are swimming in a sea of misdirection and misinformation provided to us on a regular basis by the broader culture. We are, for example, consistently taught that racism is a thing of the past, that we live in a post-racial world, and that any racism that does exist is simply a reflection of a few misguided individuals. We are taught not to see the ways in which institutional and cultural racism impact all of us every day, including the policies, practices, and cultural beliefs that systematically target People of Color while benefiting white people and groups (at great cost to individual and collective humanity). If we want a more just world for all of us, and we do, then we need to develop the habits and skills that make it possible for us to see what's really going on and to vision a different way.

SURJ has a goal of mobilizing 7 million white people to show up for racial justice. We do political education with each other in service of this goal, to support better understanding of why we're in the mess we're in as well as how we're going to move steadily and surely forward with a focus on racial justice and its intersection with all forms of liberation and justice.

There are all kinds of ways to politically educate ourselves.

A political education session is more than a discussion about differing views.

A political education session is grounded in shared wisdom (research, experience, knowledge) about an issue, led by facilitators holding experience and knowledge, whose role is to help the group achieve the goals of a shared language, shared framework, and shared understanding of history.

While differences in viewpoints can and do occur, these differences are based in both lived experience and research and are expressed in order to advance learning or raise questions (not to compete about who is "right").

Done well, political education builds relationships among the participants while sharpening our ability to understand what is happening in the world.

The goal is to use new information to deepen our understanding so that we can make informed and thoughtful decisions about how to build our movement for social justice in accountable ways.

A template for a political education session might include some introductory story-telling about the topic at hand, information sharing from a resource (which might be a person, an article, a book, a video), time for discussion, questions, answers, and rumination, ending with consideration of how the discussion and new learning informs our collective action.

Political education is always in service of moving people into action.

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We need political education because we are swimming in a sea of misdirection and misinformation provided to us on a regular basis by the broader culture. We are, for example, consistently taught that racism is a thing of the past, that we live in a post-racial world, and that any racism that does exist is simply a reflection of a few misguided individuals.

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Host of lessons, lesson plans, kits, strategies, etc., addressing social justice & social emotional learning.

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From film kits and lesson plans to the building blocks of a customized Learning Plan—texts, student tasks and teaching strategies—our resources will help you bring relevance, rigor and social emotional learning into your classroom—all for FREE.

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Resources across the web listed on the National Education Association Ed Justice page

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Talking About Race

Check out resources to help facilitate conversations about race, including classroom appropriate lesson plans, guides on how to have tough conversations with peers and students, and more.

Teaching for Black Lives, Edited By Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, Wayne Au. Rethinking Schools.

Black Lives Matter at School, website of the national coalition organizing for racial justice in education.

2020 Curriculum Resource Guide, BlackLivesMatteratSchool.com

Creating the Space to Talk about Race in Your School (PDF), National Education Association

Lessons by grade-level and educator resources, Washington DC Black Lives Matter

Classroom Activities, Circle Scripts, and Promoting Positive School Climate, Rochester City School District

Share your BLM at School events, actions or resolutions here: neaedjustice@nea.org
Standing Together

See how cities like Milwaukee, Rochester, and Seattle have passed community and union resolutions - and then mobilized to support Black Lives Matter at School.

Art and Activism

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Black Lives Matter at School - Resources - NEA EdJustice

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Talking About Race Check out resources to help facilitate conversations about race, including classroom appropriate lesson plans, guides on how to have tough conversations with peers and students, and more. Teaching for Black Lives, Edited By Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, Wayne Au. Rethinking Schools. Black Lives Matter at School, website of the national coalition organizing ...

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Videos showed officers using batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters and bystanders.

Police officers in riot gear at a protest in Minneapolis on Saturday. Credit... Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Demonstrations continued across the United States on Sunday as the nation braced for another grueling night of unrest over police shootings and the death of George Floyd, amid growing concern that aggressive law enforcement tactics intended to impose order were instead inflaming tensions.

Videos showed police officers in recent nights using batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters, bystanders and journalists, often without warning or seemingly unprovoked. The footage, which has been shared widely online, highlighted the very complaints over police behavior that have drawn protests in at least 75 cities across the United States.

In Salt Lake City, officers in riot gear shoved a man with a cane to the ground.

In Brooklyn, two police S.U.V.s plowed into a crowd of protesters.

In Atlanta, police officers enforcing a curfew stopped two college students in a car, fired Tasers on them and dragged them out of the vehicle.

And in Minneapolis, where there have been six consecutive nights of protests and clashes, a video appeared to show officers yelling at people on their porches to get inside and then firing paint canisters at them. "Light them up," one officer said.

As crowds began gathering again in cities on Sunday, President Trump resisted calls to address the tensions roiling the country. Instead he used Twitter to criticize local Democratic leaders for not doing more to control the protests.

Mayors and police chiefs spent the day explaining, defending and promising full investigations into the actions of officers seen on the disturbing videos.

"I didn't like what I saw one bit. I did not want to ever see something like that," said Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who also complimented the city's police officers for generally showing a "tremendous amount of restraint."

Military vehicles in recent nights have moved down city streets as phalanxes of officers in full riot gear fired clouds of noxious gas. Yet the show of force showed little sign that it would bring calm.

Instead, some people said, it was escalating tensions and serving as a reminder of the regular use of military equipment and tactics by local police forces.

Mass demonstrations are among the most difficult situations that the police have to manage. They must balance constitutional liberties with the safety of officers and the public. Crowds are unpredictable and, in recent days, sometimes hostile. Too much force can escalate the situation - but so can too little.

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An Austin police officer using pepper spray on a protester on Saturday. Credit... Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman, via Associated Press

Not all protests have erupted in violence, with some police forces showing a more positive relationship with their communities. In Petersburg, Va., Chief Kenneth Miller and a handful of police officers appeared alongside protesters to show solidarity. In Newark, a city where half the population is black, protests were angry but nonviolent.

And in Oklahoma City on Sunday, as a crowd of marchers seemed to grow tense, officers with the sheriff's department's tactical team took a knee in a pose popularized by the former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The protesters cheered.

In other places, there was open hostility, with chaotic scenes and constant videotaping among protesters increasing the scrutiny on the tactics used by the police.

In Seattle, a video taken on Friday showed officers detaining someone on the ground and repeatedly punching the person.

Dae Shik Kim Jr., who was in the area and shared the video on behalf of a friend who wanted to remain anonymous, said it was just one in a series of tactics that troubled him during the protests.

"The tone that we felt from the police is: This is their rally," Mr. Kim said. "They are going to control it from the beginning. They are going to dictate what happens. It's a very offensive type of approach."

In one arrest, captured on video after a group of people had gone into a damaged retail store, one officer put a knee on the back of the arrestee's neck. Mr. Floyd, the man whose death on May 25 inspired protests in Minneapolis that have spread across the country, died after an officer kept his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for close to nine minutes.

As onlookers in Seattle shouted at the officer to remove his knee, his partner reached over and pulled it away.

The Seattle Police Department has said that officers that day took action after being assaulted with rocks, bottles and other projectiles, and that all uses of force would undergo a high level of scrutiny.

Chief Erika Shields of the Atlanta Police Department condemned the actions of the officers who fired upon the college students with a Taser, saying the episode had only underscored the fear and wariness that people of color have of the police. The officers involved were fired.

"I know that we caused further fear to you in a space that's already so fearful for so many African-Americans, and I am genuinely sorry," Chief Shields said in a news conference on Sunday. "This is not who we are. This is not what we're about."

In Minneapolis, businesses have been burned and looted and the National Guard has been called in to help restore order. But a member of the City Council, Jeremiah Ellison, summed up the situation this way: The police started it.

"No one was looting anything in the first night of this protest, no one was lighting anything on fire on the first night of this protest, and yet the response from the police was incredibly brutal," he said. "The original provocation to street violence was from our officers."

On the day after Mr. Floyd died, Mr. Ellison gathered with others at the site where Mr. Floyd was detained and walked with them to a nearby police precinct, he said. The crowd was relatively peaceful, he said, but the officers sprayed tear gas. Once the marchers reached the precinct, tensions grew, but in Mr. Ellison's view the police overreacted.

"One of the city's employees has just murdered someone in the most brutal fashion," he said, "and for you to then pretend like you're the victim and you're under siege, to fire mace and tear gas and rubber bullets in response to water bottles being thrown - you have at that point 100 percent antagonized the situation."

The King County Sheriff's Office patrolled Seattle streets on Saturday. Credit... Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Mr. Ellison said the decision could have been made at that point to allow the precinct to be vandalized - a practice known as "negotiated management," allowing some illegal activity like blocking a highway or damaging property in order to prevent worse events like arson or physical attacks.

Instead, when the police abandoned the precinct two days later, allowing protesters to set it afire, it was too late, Mr. Ellison said: "What could have been a strategic containment of destruction on Day 1 became a victory on the battlefield by Day 3."

Many people complained that police officers across the country treated the crowds protesting racist policing with far less respect than they did the right-wing demonstrations in recent weeks against public health lockdown orders.

Experts agreed, saying research shows that the police are more likely to respond with force when they are the subject of protest, and that they respond more aggressively toward younger crowds and people of color than they do toward white and older people.

"There's deep resentment on the part of the police that so many people are angry at them, and they're lashing out," said Alex Vitale, a sociologist at Brooklyn College who studies the police response to protest and coordinates the Policing and Social Justice Project. "Look at what we saw - people sitting on their own stoops getting hit with pepper balls. Anyone who looks at them funny, they're attacking them."

Paul Schnell, the Minnesota Department of Corrections commissioner, who was assisting in the official response, later apologized for that incident, which actually involved paint canisters. "We do not want there to be collateral harm," he said.

In many places, the police defended their tactics as necessary to deter crime. In Dallas, Chief U. Reneé Hall said pepper spray and tear gas were needed to disperse demonstrators who were vandalizing property. "We will not tolerate tearing up our cities, our communities," she said, according to The Dallas Morning News.

But critics said the protest was "a simple march" and the response was unwarranted.

The militarization of the nation's police departments in recent decades has been on full display. But such equipment and training, including armored personnel carriers and SWAT team training, have been heavily criticized for warping the relationship between the police and the communities they serve.

Jennifer Cobbina, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University, has researched the response to the protests in Ferguson, Mo., after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of the police in 2014, and in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray in 2015.

In Baltimore, she said, the police gave people more space to protest for longer before cracking down on unrest, resulting in a more favorable view of the police and a better understanding of the challenges they face. But Ferguson, where the unrest refused to die down, was heavily militarized.

"It makes a lot of the residents feel like the police are coming in as an occupying force," she said. "This only creates a greater divide. The harder the state comes at them, the harder they'll come back."

Ben Fenwick and Rick Rojas contributed reporting.

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Facing Protests Over Use of Force, Police Respond with More Force

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Videos showed officers using batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters and bystanders. Demonstrations continued across the United States on Sunday as the nation braced for another grueling night of unrest over police shootings and the death of George Floyd, amid growing concern that aggressive law enforcement tactics intended to impose order were instead inflaming tensions.

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Editor's Note, May 29, 2020: In 2017, Smithsonian covered the history of police brutality upon the protests over the verdict in the Philando Castile murder case. With the Twin Cities once again under the national spotlight after the killing of George Floyd, we revisit the subject matter below.

Last month, hours after a jury acquitted former police officer Jeronimo Yanez of manslaughter in the shooting death of 32-year-old Philando Castile, protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota, shutdown Interstate 94. With signs that read: "Black Lives Matter" and "No Justice, No Peace," the chant of "Philando, Philando" rang out as they marched down the highway in the dark of night.

The scene was familiar. A year earlier, massive protests had erupted when Yanez killed Castile, after pulling him over for a broken taillight. Dashcam footage shows Yanez firing through the open window of Castile's car, seconds after Castile disclosed that he owned and was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

A respected school nutritionist, Castile was one of 233 African-Americans shot and killed by police in 2016, a startling number when demographics are considered. African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but account for 24 percent of people fatally shot by police. According to the Washington Post, blacks are "2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers."

Today's stories are anything but a recent phenomenon. A cardboard placard in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and on view in the new exhibition " More Than a Picture," underscores that reality.

The yellowing sign is a reminder of the continuous oppression and violence that has disproportionately shaken black communities for generations-"We Demand an End to Police Brutality Now!" is painted in red and white letters.

"The message after 50 years is still unresolved," remarks Samuel Egerton, a college professor, who donated the poster to the museum. He carried it in protest during the 1963 March on Washington. Five decades later, the poster's message rings alarmingly timely. Were it not for the yellowed edges, the placard could almost be mistaken for a sign from any of the Black Lives Matter marches of the past three years.

"There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, 'When will you be satisfied?" said Martin Luther King, Jr. in his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 march. His words continue to resonate today after a long history of violent confrontations between African-American citizens and the police. "We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality."

"This idea of police brutality was very much on people's minds in 1963, following on the years, decades really, of police abuse of power and then centuries of oppression of African-Americans," says William Pretzer, senior history curator at the museum.

Modern policing did not evolve into an organized institution until the 1830s and '40s when northern cities decided they needed better control over quickly growing populations. The first American police department was established in Boston in 1838. The communities most targeted by harsh tactics were recent European immigrants. But, as African-Americans fled the horrors of the Jim Crow south, they too became the victims of brutal and punitive policing in the northern cities where they sought refuge.

In 1929, the Illinois Association for Criminal Justice published the Illinois Crime Survey. Conducted between 1927 and 1928, the survey sought to analyze causes of high crime rates in Chicago and Cook County, especially among criminals associated with Al Capone. But also the survey provided data on police activity-although African-Americans made up just five percent of the area's population, they constituted 30 percent of the victims of police killings, the survey revealed.

"There was a lot of one-on-one conflict between police and citizens and a lot of it was initiated by the police," says Malcolm D. Holmes, a sociology professor at the University of Wyoming, who has researched and written about the topic of police brutality extensively.

That same year, President Herbert Hoover established the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement to investigate crime related to prohibition in addition to policing tactics. Between 1931 and 1932, the commission published the findings of its investigation in 14 volumes, one of which was titled "Report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement." The realities of police brutality came to light, even though the commission did not address racial disparities outright.

During the Civil Rights Era, though many of the movement's leaders advocated for peaceful protests, the 1960s were fraught with violent and destructive riots.

Aggressive dispersion tactics, such as police dogs and fire hoses, against individuals in peaceful protests and sit-ins were the most widely publicized examples of police brutality in that era. But it was the pervasive violent policing in communities of color that built distrust at a local, everyday level.

One of the deadliest riots occurred in Newark in 1967 after police officers severely beat black cab driver John Smith during a traffic stop. Twenty-six people died and many others were injured during the four days of unrest. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson organized the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders to investigate the causes of these major riots.

The origins of the unrest in Newark weren't unique in a police versus citizen incident. The commission concluded "police actions were 'final' incidents before the outbreak of violence in 12 of the 24 surveyed disorders."

The commission identified segregation and poverty as indicators and published recommendations for reducing social inequalities, recommending an "expansion and reorientation of the urban renewal program to give priority to projects directly assisting low-income households to obtain adequate housing." Johnson, however, rejected the commission's recommendations.

Black newspapers reported incidents of police brutality throughout the early and mid-20th century and the popularization of radio storytelling spread those stories even further. In 1991, following the beating of cab driver Rodney King, video footage vividly told the story of police brutality on television to a much wider audience. The police officers, who were acquitted of the crime, had hit King more than 50 times with their batons.

Today, live streaming, tweets and Facebook posts have blasted the incidents of police brutality, beyond the black community and into the mainstream media. Philando Castile's fiancée, Diamond Reynolds, who was in the car with her daughter when he was shot, streamed the immediate aftermath of the shooting on her phone using Facebook live.

"Modern technology allows, indeed insists, that the white community take notice of these kinds of situations and incidents," says Pretzer.

And as technology has evolved, so has the equipment of law enforcement. Police departments with military-grade equipment have become the norm in American cities. Images of police officers in helmets and body armor riding through neighborhoods in tanks accompany stories of protests whenever one of these incidents occurs.

"What we see is a continuation of an unequal relationship that has been exacerbated, made worse if you will, by the militarization and the increase in fire power of police forces around the country," says Pretzer.

The resolution to the problem, according to Pretzer, lies not only in improving these unbalanced police-community relationships, but, more importantly, in eradicating the social inequalities that perpetuate these relationships that sustain distrust and frustration on both sides.

'There's a tendency to stereotype people as being more or less dangerous. There's a reliance upon force that goes beyond what is necessary to accomplish police duty," says Holmes. "There's a lot of this embedded in the police departments that helps foster this problem."

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The Long, Painful History of Police Brutality in the U.S.

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A 1963 protest placard in the Smithsonian collections could almost be mistaken for any of the Black Lives Matter marches of today

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Black Professionals Are Going Through A Lot | Medium

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I just witnessed the lynching of a black man, but don't worry Ted, I'll have those deliverables to you end of day.

Photo by Nicole Baster on Unsplash

Between Amy Cooper's Oscar worthy Central Park performance, Ahmaud Arbery shooting death in Georgia, Breonna Taylor's assassination inside her Louisville home, and the Minneapolis murder of George Floyd, black people in America are running on fumes.

We're tired, angry, confused and yet, thisspace is familiar to us. This place of torment and trauma has become a home of sorts. The cycle begins in the far corners of Twitter with rumblings of a killing. Then a recording of the victim's last moments pop up and shortly after, we finally learn the person's name.

A new name to add to a growing list no one wants to be part of.

Sparks of outrage, disgust and bewilderment soon follow. Maybe a protest happens, and in the case of Floyd, uprisings. Men and women ballooned with righteous anger take to the streets to make their presence known; to scorch earth and shout from the pits of their belly to the top of their lungs that their lives matter. Whether the powers that be hear or acknowledge their chants is one thing, but it's the community formed by the injustice of another black death that acts as a temporary solve.

And while some of us take to the streets, the rest of us have to hide these shared feelings behind professionalism.

I don't know who decided that being professional was loosely defined as being divorced of total humanity, but whoever did they've aided, unintentionally maybe, in a unique form of suffocation.

If I am to perform my duties for 40 hours a week, it's asinine to assume that the life I live outside of those 40 hours won't rear its head. Whether I'm a sleep deprived single mother of two or a struggling college student who really needs this internship to graduate, the belief that only the part of me that fattens your bottom line is allowed in the workplace, is stifling.

This is magnified for young black professionals who are recruited for their culture, but told, in so many words, that their blackness and the struggles that come with it are to be left at the door.

A black man went for a run only to be ambushed by two white men, shot and then killed. A black female essential worker was asleep inside her home when police serving a "no-knock" warrant shot her eight times. A white woman, enraged that a black man asked her to follow the park rules lied to cops about being threatened. And a black man died face down on the ground because a white cop suffocated him.

But yeah, I can totally have that presentation for you by end of day, Ted. No problem.

Your black employees are exhausted.

Your black employees are scared.

Your black employees are crying in between meetings.

Your black employees have mentally checked out.

Your black employees are putting on a performance.

Forgive us if our work isn't up to par, we just saw a lynching. Pardon us if we're quiet in the Zoom meetings, we're wondering if we'll be the next hashtag. Spare some grace if we're not at the company happy hour, because the hour of joy that most adults look forward to has been stolen from us due to the recent string of black death.

We're biting our tongues, swallowing our rage and fighting back tears to remain professional because expressing that hurt caused by witnessing black death is considered more unprofessional, than black men and women actually being killed.

So if you can, please, be mindful. Your black employees are dealing with a lot.

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Maintaining Professionalism In The Age of Black Death Is....A Lot

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I just witnessed the lynching of a black man, but don't worry Ted, I'll have those deliverables to you end of day. Between Amy Cooper's Oscar worthy Central Park performance, Ahmaud Arbery shooting death in Georgia, Breonna Taylor's assassination inside her Louisville home, and the Minneapolis murder of George Floyd, black people in America are running on fumes.

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George Floyd protests: Police erupt in violence nationwide during the third night of protests.

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The ongoing protests following the killing of George Floyd were caught up in violence again on Saturday, as police all over the country teargassed protestors, drove vehicles through crowds, opened fire with non-lethal rounds on journalists or people on their own property, and in at least one instance, pushed over an elderly man who was walking away with a cane. Here are some of the ways law enforcement officers escalated the national unrest.

Share widely: National guard and MPD sweeping our residential street. Shooting paint canisters at us on our own front porch. Yelling "light em up" #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForGeorge #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bW48imyt55
- Tanya Kerssen (@tkerssen) May 31, 2020

Here is the overhead... pic.twitter.com/US6Qqhkz3O
- Rob Bennett @ 🏡 (@rob_bennett) May 31, 2020

Police just raided the gas station we were sheltering at. After shouting press multiple times and raising my press card in the air, I was thrown to the ground. Then another cop came up and peppered sprayed me in the face while I was being held down. pic.twitter.com/23EkZIMAFC
- Michael Anthony Adams (@MichaelAdams317) May 31, 2020

This is @RyanFaircloth, a reporter with the @StarTribune. He says he was trying to get home when police shot out his window.

He is bleeding but seems ok. pic.twitter.com/LYH0h7c4hf
- Jared Goyette (@JaredGoyette) May 31, 2020

Cops didn't like me filming the burning car so they came at me with batons. Hitting my bike.
Ahhm here's the audio pic.twitter.com/tfaOoVCw5v "
- John Cusack (@johncusack) May 31, 2020

I cannot believe what I just witnessed. They pulled up onto the square with a police siren on and did this. #Louisville pic.twitter.com/65o2lgZCJh
- Natalie Neysa Alund (@nataliealund) May 30, 2020

This boy had his hands up when an NYPD ofcr pulled his mask down and pepper sprayed him. ⁦@NYPDShea⁩? Mayor ⁦@BilldeBlasio⁩? pic.twitter.com/YtXDOoVckA
- Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) May 31, 2020

Minnesota State Patrol just fired tear gas at reporters and photographers at point blank range. pic.twitter.com/r7X6J7LKo8
- Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) May 31, 2020

Here is a 38 photo sequence of what happen this morning with Joyce Beatty, Shannon Hardin, Kevin Boyce, protesters and Columbus Police. pic.twitter.com/ZZEd6MfJCh
- Kyle Robertson (@KRobPhoto) May 30, 2020

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The ongoing protests following the killing of George Floyd were caught up in violence again on Saturday, as police all over the country teargassed protestors, drove vehicles through crowds, opened fire with non-lethal rounds on journalists or people on their own property, and in at least one instance, pushed over an elderly man who was walking away with a cane.

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A Decade Of Watching Black People Die : Code Switch

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The last few weeks have been filled with devastating news — stories about the police killing black people. At this point, these calamities feel familiar — so familiar, in fact, that their details have begun to echo each other.

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To be black and conscious of anti-black racism is to stare into the mirror of your own extinction.

Ibram X. Kendi and Yoni Appelbaum will discuss policing, protests, and this moment in history, live at 2 p.m. ET on June 4. Register for The Big Story EventCast here.
It happened three months before the lynching of Isadora Moreley in Selma, Alabama, and two months before the lynching of Sidney Randolph near Rockville, Maryland.

On May 19, 1896, The New York Times allocated a single sentence on page three to reporting the U.S. Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Constitutionalizing Jim Crow hardly made news in 1896. There was no there there. Americans already knew that equal rights had been lynched; Plessy was just the silently staged funeral.
Adam Serwer: The cruelty is the point
To hear more feature stories, get the Audm iPhone app.

Another racial text-published by the nation's premier social-science organization, the American Economic Association, and classified by the historian Evelynn Hammonds as "one of the most influential documents in social science at the turn of the 20th century"-elicited more shock in 1896.

"Nothing is more clearly shown from this investigation than that the southern black man at the time of emancipation was healthy in body and cheerful in mind," Frederick Hoffman wrote in Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. "What are the conditions thirty years after?" Hoffman concluded from "the plain language of the facts" that black Americans were better off enslaved. They are now "on the downward grade," he wrote, headed toward "gradual extinction."

Hoffman's Race Traits helped legitimize two nascent fields that are now converging on black lives: public health and criminology.

Hoffman knew his work was "a most severe condemnation of moderate attempts of superior races to lift inferior races to their elevated positions." He rejected that sort of assimilationist racism, in favor of his own segregationist racism. The data "speak for themselves," he wrote. White Americans had been naturally selected for health, life, and evolution. Black Americans had been naturally selected for disease, death, and extinction. "Gradual extinction," the book concluded, "is only a question of time."

Let them die, Hoffman seemed to be saying. That thought has echoed through time, down to our deadly moment in time, when police officers in Minneapolis let George Floyd die.

With its pages and pages of statistical charts, Race Traits helped catapult Hoffman into national and international prominence as the " dean" of American statisticians. In his day, Hoffman "achieved greatness," assessed his biographer. "His career illustrates the fulfillment of the 'American dream.'"
Ibram X. Kendi: Who gets to be afraid in America?
Actually, his career illustrates the fulfillment of the American nightmare-a nightmare still being experienced 124 years later from Minneapolis to Louisville, from Central Park to untold numbers of black coronavirus patients parked in hospitals, on unemployment lines, and in graves.

"We don't see any American dream," Malcolm X said in 1964. "We've experienced only the American nightmare."

A nightmare is essentially a horror story of danger, but it is not wholly a horror story. Black people experience joy, love, peace, safety. But as in any horror story, those unforgettable moments of toil, terror, and trauma have made danger essential to the black experience in racist America. What one black American experiences, many black Americans experience. Black Americans are constantly stepping into the toil and terror and trauma of other black Americans. Black Americans are constantly stepping into the souls of the dead. Because they know: They could have been them; they are them. Because they know it is dangerous to be black in America, because racist Americans see blacks as dangerous.

To be black and conscious of anti-black racism is to stare into the mirror of your own extinction. Ask the souls of the 10,000 black victims of COVID-19 who might still be living if they had been white. Ask the souls of those who were told the pandemic was the "great equalizer." Ask the souls of those forced to choose between their low-wage jobs and their treasured life. Ask the souls of those blamed for their own death. Ask the souls of those who disproportionately lost their jobs and then their life as others disproportionately raged about losing their freedom to infect us all. Ask the souls of those ignored by the governors reopening their states.

The American nightmare has everything and nothing to do with the pandemic. Ask the souls of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. Step into their souls.

No-knocking police officers rushed into your Louisville home and shot you to death, but your black boyfriend immediately got charged, and not the officers who killed you. Three white men hunted you, cornered you, and killed you on a Georgia road, but it took a cellphone video and national outrage for them to finally be charged. In Minneapolis, you did not hurt anyone, but when the police arrived, you found yourself pinned to the pavement, knee on your neck, crying out, "I can't breathe."
Read: The history of 'thug'
History ignored you. Hoffman ignored you. Racist America ignored you. The state did not want you to breathe. But your loved ones did not ignore you. They did not ignore your nightmare. They share the same nightmare.

Enraged, they took to the streets and nonviolently rallied. Some violently rebelled, burning and snatching property that the state protected instead of your life. And then they heard over America's loudspeaker, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Your loved ones are protesting your murder, and the president calls for their murder, calls them "THUGS," calls them "OUT OF STATE" agitators. Others call the violence against property senseless-but not the police violence against you that drove them to violence. Others call both senseless, but take no immediate steps to stem police violence against you, only to stem the violence against property and police.

Mayors issue curfews. Governors rattle their sabers. The National Guard arrives to protect property and police. Where was the National Guard when you faced violent police officers, violent white terrorists, the violence of racial health disparities, the violence of COVID-19-all the racist power and policy and ideas that kept the black experience in the American nightmare for 400 years?

Too many Americans have been waiting for black extinction since Hoffman. Let them die.

The National Guard lines up alongside state and local police. But they-your loved ones mourning you and mourning justice-are not going home, since you are not at home. They don't back down, because they will never forget what happened to them, what happened to you!

You! You! You! The murdered black life that matters.

You are them. They are you. You are all the same person-all the murdered, all the living, all the infected, all the resisting-because racist America treats the whole black community and all of its anti-racist allies as dangerous, just as Hoffman did. What a nightmare. But perhaps the worst of the nightmare is knowing that racist Americans will never end it. Anti-racism is on you, and only you. Racist Americans deny your nightmare, deny their racism, claim you have a dream like a King, when even his dream in 1967 " turned into a nightmare."
James Fallows: Is this the worst year in modern American history?
In 1896, Frederick Hoffman deployed data to substantiate racist ideas that are still building caskets for black bodies today. Black people are supposed to be feared by all, murdered by police officers, lynched by citizens, and killed by COVID-19 and other lethal diseases. It has been proved. No there there. Black life is the "hopeless problem," as Hoffman wrote.
Now step back into their souls.
Black life is danger. Black life is death.

Hoffman's Race Traits was "arguably the most influential race and crime study of the first half of the twentieth century," wrote the historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad in The Condemnation of Blackness. It was also arguably the most influential race and public-health study of the period.

In the first nationwide compilation of racial crime data, Hoffman used the higher arrest and incarceration rates of black Americans to argue that they are, by their very nature and behavior, a dangerous and violent people-as racist Americans still say today. Hoffman compiled racial health disparities to argue that black Americans are, by their very nature and behavior, a diseased and dying people. Hoffman cataloged higher black mortality rates and showed that black Americans were more likely to suffer from syphilis, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases than white Americans. The same disparities are visible today, as black Americans die of COVID-19 at a rate nearly two times their share of the national population, according to the COVID Racial Data Tracker.

You are sick and tired of the nightmare. And you are "sick and tired of being sick and tired," as Fannie Lou Hamer once said. But racist America stares at your sickness and tiredness, approaches you, looks past the jagged clothes of your history, looks past the scars of your trauma, and asks: How does it feel to be the American nightmare?

While black Americans view their experience as the American nightmare, racist Americans view black Americans as the American nightmare. Racist Americans, especially those racists who are white, view themselves as the embodiment of the American dream. All that makes America great. All that will make America great again. All that will keep America great.

But only the lies of racist Americans are great. Their American dream-that this is a land of equal opportunity, committed to freedom and equality, where police officers protect and serve-is a lie. Their American dream-that they have more because they are more, that when black people have more, they were given more-is a lie. Their American dream-that they have the civil right to kill black Americans with impunity and that black Americans do not have the human right to live-is a lie.
Ibram X. Kendi: We're still living and dying in the slaveholder's republic
From the beginning, racist Americans have been perfectly content with turning nightmares into dreams, and dreams into nightmares; perfectly content with the law of racial killing, and the order of racial disparities. They can't fathom that racism is America's nightmare. There can be no American dream amid the American nightmare of anti-black racism-or of anti-Native, anti-Latino, anti-Asian racism-a racism that causes even white people to become fragile and die of whiteness.

Take Minneapolis. Black residents are more likely than white residents to be pulled over, arrested, and victimized by its police force. Even as black residents account for 20 percent of the city's population, they make up 64 percent of the people Minneapolis police restrained by the neck since 2018, and more than 60 percent of the victims of Minneapolis police shootings from late 2009 to May 2019. According to Samuel Sinyangwe of Mapping Police Violence, Minneapolis police are 13 times more likely to kill black residents than to kill white residents, one of the largest racial disparities in the nation. And these police officers rarely get prosecuted.

A typical black family in Minneapolis earns less than half as much as a typical white family-a $47,000 annual difference that is one of the largest racial disparities in the nation. Statewide, black residents are 6 percent of the Minnesota population, but 30 percent of the coronavirus cases as of Saturday, one of the largest black case disparities in the nation, according to the COVID Racial Data Tracker.
Ta-Nehisi Coates: The case for reparations
This is the racial pandemic within the viral pandemic-older than 1896, but as new as COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd. But why is there such a pandemic of racial disparities in Minneapolis and beyond? "The pages of this work give but one answer," Hoffman concluded in 1896. "It is not in the conditions of life, but in race and hereditary that we find the explanation of the fact to be observed in all parts of the globe, in all times and among all peoples, namely, the superiority of one race over another, and of the Aryan race over all."

The two explanations available to Hoffman more than a century ago remain the two options for explaining racial disparities today, from COVID-19 to police violence: the anti-racist explanation or the racist explanation. Either there is something superior or inferior about the races, something dangerous and deathly about black people, and black people are the American nightmare; or there is something wrong with society, something dangerous and deathly about racist policy, and black people are experiencing the American nightmare.

Hoffman popularized the racist explanation. Many Americans probably believe both explanations-and live the contradiction of the American dream and nightmare. Many Americans struggle to be anti-racist, to see the racism in racial disparities, to cease blaming black people for disproportionate black disease and death, to instead blame racist power and policy and racist ideas for normalizing all the carnage. They struggle to focus on securing anti-racist policies that will lead to life, health, equity, and justice for all, and to act from anti-racist ideas that value black lives, that equalize all the racial groups in all their aesthetic and cultural differences.

In April, many Americans chose the racist explanation: saying black people were not taking the coronavirus as seriously as white people, until challenged by survey data and majority-white demonstrations demanding that states reopen. Then they argued that black Americans were disproportionately dying from COVID-19 because they have more preexisting conditions, due to their uniquely unhealthy behaviors. But according to the Foundation for AIDS Research, structural factors such as employment, access to health insurance and medical care, and the air and water quality in neighborhoods are drivers of black infections and deaths, and not "intrinsic characteristics of black communities or individual-level factors."

There's also no clear relationship between violent-crime rates and police-violence rates. And there's no direct relationship between violent-crime rates and black people. If there were, higher-income black neighborhoods would have the same levels of violent crime as lower-income black neighborhoods. But that is hardly the case.

Americans should be asking: Why are so many unarmed black people being killed by police while armed white people are simply arrested? Why are officials addressing violent crime in poorer neighborhoods by adding more police instead of more jobs? Why are black (and Latino) people during this pandemic less likely to be working from home; less likely to be insured; more likely to live in trauma-care deserts, lacking access to advanced emergency care; and more likely to live in polluted neighborhoods? The answer is what the Frederick Hoffmans of today refuse to believe: racism.

Instead, they say, like Donald Trump-like all those raging against the destruction of property and not black life-that they are "not racist." Hoffman introduced Race Traits by declaring that he was "free from the taint of prejudice or sentimentality ... free from a personal bias." He was merely offering a "statement of the facts." In fact, the racial disparities he recorded documented America's racist policies.

Hoffman advanced the American nightmare. What will we advance? Hoffman implied we should let them die. Will we fight for black people to live?

History is calling the future from the streets of protest. What choice will we make? What world will we create? What will we be?

There are only two choices: racist or anti-racist.

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untold numbers of black coronavirus patients

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To be black and conscious of anti-black racism is to stare into the mirror of your own extinction.

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Teaching About Race, Racism and Police Violence

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In 2014, the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York City, Tamir Rice in Cleveland and too many others caused waves of nationwide protest and appeals for stronger protections against police brutality. These events—along with the lack of accountability for the police officers wh…

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Educators tackle conversations about race and violence—virtually.

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Reading about Brown v. Board of Education over Google Meet. Holding one-on-one Zooms with students struggling with their emotions. Planning lessons on criminal justice reform for the fall - both in-person and remote, in case school buildings don't reopen.

Educators across the U.S. already adapting to remote teaching due to the coronavirus pandemic now find themselves facing another challenge: supporting, educating, and engaging students during waves of protest and unrest. The outrage stemming from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other recent police killings of black citizens has led to demonstrations, violent clashes with police, and curfews in numerous cities.

Navigating discussions about race relations, police brutality, and systemic racism can be challenging for teachers even during normal times. But grappling with these topics during a pandemic, when school communities can't learn together in person, is even more difficult.

Students who may have been willing to share fears for their safety in person might not open up over a classwide Zoom. Teachers who previously picked up on students' emotions while watching them in hallways now have no window into their frames of mind. Some students may not even have reliable internet access to join live instruction.

Still, many educators know that it's during these challenging moments that they are needed the most.

"For many schools that serve predominantly black and brown low-income communities, moments like now are why we teach," said Leslie-Bernard Joseph, chief executive officer at Coney Island Preparatory charter schools in Brooklyn.

Chalkbeat spoke with educators across the country about how they are trying to meet the needs of their students, faculty, and parents during this challenging time. Their answers reveal struggle and frustration but also ingenuity and compassion. If you'd like to join the conversation, tell us how your school community is handling this moment.

****

As protests continued late into Friday and Saturday nights across the country and the five boroughs, Principal Robert Michelin lesson planned. He and faculty stayed up until midnight both days, planning the next two weeks of school at Gotham Professional Arts Academy: check-ins with students, a town hall, compiling historical texts and video clips about race, and a Day of Action on June 12.

"For some reason, George Floyd's murder is hitting me really, really hard," Michelin said. "And I think part of it is because I've never been in a position where this has happened and I have almost 200 babies. And it's this moment where you have to decide whether or not you want to keep their rose-colored glasses on or you want to share the truth. ... We have to give them something that gives them some power back."

Protests have taken place in all five boroughs of New York City over the past few days, some leading to violent confrontations with police and hundreds of arrests.

Gotham is part of the city's Performance Standards Consortium, a group of more than 30 schools that graduates students based on projects and portfolios. Last week, Michelin held an emergency faculty meeting after a freshman student, during a Zoom class discussion, typed in the chat box, "What if gotham presented a zoom call to protest about racism?"

On June 12, the school will host a "Day of Action" on Zoom and invite other consortium schools to attend. Students will spend the next two weeks designing activism projects to share that day, which could include music playlists, art work, or even Zoom-coordinated performance art. The final product will be up to students.

"The beauty of this and the value of this is that we're still committing to our values as a school, which is, we don't want to tell students how to demonstrate their mastery," he said.

On Monday, teachers will check in on students, some of whom are also processing the trauma of losing relatives to the coronavirus, Michelin said. The school will also host a town hall where staffers will talk about the news and the history of police brutality. Students will break into subgroups to talk about how they're feeling. And if students feel prepared to watch, the school will show the video of Floyd's death.

"They need to understand that sometimes it's better not to look away so they can actually hold on to the feeling, that raw feeling, so they can turn those feelings into actions," Michelin said, adding the school will offer links to news coverage if students don't want to watch the video.

Michelin is hoping that this helps fill in some of the gaps for students who want to participate in protests but can't.

"I think the fear of being out in the streets is really real because they're not trying to contract the virus," Michelin said.

*****

At Lawndale Community Academy on the west side of Chicago, Michael Bryant teaches middle school math and science but slips in a daily current events lesson. His students often say they don't read or watch the news, but he tells them it's important to know what's happening around them and around the world. He wants to get them thinking.

On Monday, Bryant plans to post articles about the looting and destruction that spiraled out of some protests over the weekend and open up the topic for discussion: "Do you think this is right?"

He guides them through how to have respectful debates, how to identify when articles take different viewpoints, and how to evaluate facts without jumping to conclusions. He's proud of them for asking questions, such as why former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin wasn't immediately arrested for Floyd's death, or why the other officers involved haven't faced charges.

Talking about current events also lets Bryant, who is black, open up a bigger dialogue about systemic racism and police brutality with his students, who are all African American. Reading about the coronavirus outbreak, for example, led to conversations about the disproportionate health care issues that African Americans face.

"I feel it is my responsibility to inform the students of what's going on and how this education is going to help them better themselves," Bryant said. "Education changes a lot of things. Look at the community we live in, health care, jobs. A lot of this stuff is going on because people are frustrated."

****

Last week marked the final week of the school year in Denver. At Manual High School, located in the historic heart of black Denver, those final days of remote learning time revolved around giving students time to make up missed work, with no time to introduce new material.

But that didn't mean that school leaders were not already working on how to incorporate frank discussions about policing, race relations, and racism into classes next fall.

William Anderson, who heads the social studies department, described "heavy discussions" among the social studies and humanities teachers he works with - all of them black men.

"Do we teach our students that the police are a terrorizing, occupying force within our communities?" Anderson said. "Do we teach them about what the police should be? Do we teach them about the origins of the police? Do we urge them to be the police?"

That last question provoked a range of thought, he said, from "hell no" to the idea of graduating an entire class from the police academy to reform the institution from within.

"Where we left off was being able to create a space for the conversation," said Anderson, 37.

With so much uncertainty about what school will look like in the fall - Denver, like many school districts, is contemplating a mix of in-person and remote learning - Anderson said he is urging teachers to avoid dwelling on logistical questions.

"This is the time to be dialed into the content we want to teach. Use this time not to worry about whether it's remote or not, in class or not ... Screw all of that. Don't worry about any of that 'til we are in August."

He said he's confident that teachers can teach these tough issues regardless of what school looks like, in part because remote learning will no longer be new or different after the last two-plus months.

"Yes, 100%, these kinds of conversations can take place," he said. "It's just going to be slightly different. If anything, it might allow us a broader and bigger opportunity to have these kinds of conversations."

****

Leaders at Coney Island Preparatory charter schools - where 74% of students are black and Hispanic and where nearly 83% of students are from low-income families - view this as a pivotal teaching moment. The network has an elementary, middle, and high school that together serve about 1,000 students.

"This is what we're preparing our students for and so we have a responsibility to help our kids process this moment," Joseph said.

The Brooklyn school is first focusing on staff. This week, the school will host several optional group discussions for teachers about the recent turmoil. There are specific discussions planned for educators who are black, Asian, white, and specifically, white women. (White teachers make up 44% of the staff, while 31% are black, 6% are Asian, and nearly 6% are Hispanic, according to data Joseph provided.)

"I think there's a desire from leaders of color within our organization to both protect our own mental sanity and our kids," Joseph said. "I think there is a desire from white leaders in our organization to do more, personally reflect on whether they are the 'Amy Coopers' of the world," he added, referring to the white woman who gained infamy for calling 911 on a black birdwatcher who asked her to follow Central Park rules and leash her dog.

Leaders at the school are creating lessons focused on recent events for student advisory periods and sent tips to teachers for weaving recent news into their daily lessons. This includes anti-racist guidance for teachers that suggests books and articles to read, television series to watch, and social media sources to follow. Teachers were also sent information how to teach about racism, race, and police violence from the group Teaching Tolerance.

One of the challenges staff will face, he said, is explaining to students how they can safely advocate for change "when we know there is a danger and that they're at risk just by virtue of being black or brown."

The other challenge is tailoring lessons for students in different grades. Talking about systemic racism looks different with their high school students, who have read Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow, " versus chatting with second graders, he said.

"Our kids know they are entering a world that is deeply unfair, deeply inequitable and the generations before have failed them," he said. "While our kids are excited about the opportunities ahead of them to go to college, they're also deeply skeptical."

******

It didn't take long for Kay Palmer to hear from a worried student. She was logging into Google Meet Thursday morning to teach language arts and math to her fourth grade class in Trenton, N.J., when a student asked, "Did you see the news?"

Palmer asked her class for time to prepare. She came ready during live instruction on Friday, armed with several articles about Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. She hopes her students would read them and see the power of one person speaking up about injustice and enlisting others to create lasting change.

The conversation ran two and a half hours, covering the Black Lives Matter movement and running into their math lesson. But for Palmer, that was OK.

"From a teacher standpoint, the goal is not to teach and say this is how you have to do it, but show this is one way to do something," she said. "If I could teach the kids nothing else from this moment, that's what I want."

As a white educator teaching mostly students of color, Palmer was glad her students asked her to talk through the violence they were seeing, particularly during remote learning. But she said the fact that they've been meeting virtually for several months made the conversations less awkward than they might have been.

I don't know if we could have had that dialogue if we weren't seeing each other's faces, live over Google, every day for the past weeks, she said. "I feel some may be less likely to say something online moving forward than if we were meeting in person, but I want to keep the dialogue open to see what happens."

****

For Sabrina Anfossi Kareem, one-on-one conversations with her students at a Chicago charter school are happening through email, a platform called Remind, and over the phone. But the high school English teacher began that relationship building in person months ago in the classroom.

"Students are being honest with me only because we spent time at the beginning of the year going over that I want honesty, to see the student's humanity, and then develop that relationship over time," she said, adding she worries about building that closeness if schools start remotely next year.

Kareem reached out to her black students in recent days to ask, "How are you holding up? Do you need an ear?" And the answer from some was yes - but they wanted to talk more than they needed a lecture. "I'm not talking a lot during these conversations," she said.

Aside from listening to students, Kareem believes she needs to use what she hears to influence change at her school. This includes ensuring administrators know black students don't always feel their concerns are heard, as well as advocating for high-quality anti-bias and anti-racism training.

"I don't want to attend another peace circle led by an untrained adult who thinks they're being restorative when they're really harming everyone in the room with their lack of self-awareness or ability," she said. "There are plenty of quality organizations doing this work. Schools should not be spending out the nose for instructional or testing products while 'making it up as they go' when it comes to [anti-bias and anti-racism] work."

****

Classes are out at Westerville North High School in Ohio, but history teacher John Sands is still thinking about how he and other white teachers should approach educating students about events like Floyd's death and its aftermath.

Sands and his students grapple with these tragedies in a contemporary world issues class at his suburban Columbus school, which is predominantly white with a growing black student population. He said he is sensitive to the issues that come from a white teacher tackling these topics in classes with black students. "I always tell my kids, I'm the white middle-class guy ... that to many of them represents a lot of what's wrong," he said.

In the class, Sands and students discuss identity, read the works of Malcolm X and James Baldwin, then eventually work up to discussing systemic racism and its role in their lives.

Some students choose to open up about experiences from their lives, making racism tangible and personal and not just an abstract concept for classmates. "It's much more powerful when it comes from their friends and their classmates," he said.

Sands and English teacher Cat Stathulis are launching the schools' first African-American studies program in the fall. He hasn't started considering how he'd have these discussions remotely, but his instinct is that discussion board posts won't be enough. "I think I would want to be live with everybody, in some format, to have the discussion," he said.
Carrie Melago and Eric Gorski contributed to this report.

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'Moments like now are why we teach': Educators tackle tough conversations about race and violence - this time virtually

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Reading about Brown v. Board of Education over Google Meet. Holding one-on-one Zooms with students struggling with their emotions. Planning lessons on criminal justice reform for the fall - both in-person and remote, in case school buildings don't reopen. Educators across the U.S.

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How Educators Can Respond to Racial Violence

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How Educators Can Respond to Racial Violence

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This piece from 2015 is  inexcusably relevant today.

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People line up as they wait for doors to open at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church as it is opened for a Sunday service after a mass shooting at the church killed nine people on June 21, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Photo by: Joe Raedle/Getty

T hree gunshots erupt a few feet from where I am sitting in my friend's Los Feliz apartment. My initial response is to find cover, just as I had learned to do growing up in the Bronx. Eventually, I become curious and peer out of the window. I see two LAPD officers, their guns pointed at a limp body on the ground. I need not observe any further to know what has occurred. Aiyanna Stanley-Jones, Renisha McBride, Rekia Boyd, Michael Brown, Amadou Diallo, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott have died similar deaths. Soon, neighbors, mostly white, congregate to watch the scene unfold, to be passive consumers of another state-sanctioned lynching of a person of color.

Moments before this shooting, I watched a constant stream of news reports of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina. I was already overcome with despair from the gruesome attack of the nine parishioners in prayer.

How should I, or anyone else, make sense of the vicious murders in Charleston or the police brutality in McKinney or the expulsion of Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic? How in the aftermath of recent tragedies in New York City, Ferguson, and Cleveland? This has not been an easy month to be Black in the United States. It is never an easy month to be Black. I can list so many more events of the past and of the present, all connected by a hatred for Blackness, all connected by white supremacy.

As an educator, I think about how these events are being digested by young people. I think ceaselessly about Black youth and young people of color - what are they learning about themselves, about their lives? And, I cannot help but think of white youth and what they are learning about their whiteness and their place in the world.

I agonize over what we educators can do to support our students' healing and development. I want to organize with educators and youth workers so that we raise young people to celebrate differences instead of fearing them.

Our young people are consuming narratives of violence everyday. Our young people of color are living it - through police brutality, microaggressions, poverty, gentrification, and systemic injustice. They are constantly on the verge of becoming Aiyanna Stanley-Jones or Trayvon Martin. White youth, however, are largely shielded from this violence. For the most part, they have the privilege to be ignorant, to walk freely in the world without the persecution of structural violence - making it difficult for them to empathize with the experiences of people of color. And without empathy, they could become the next Dylann Roof.

Left: People hold hands as they join together on the Arthur Ravenel jr. bridge to commemorate the lives lost in the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 21, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Right: Jennice Barr, 10, leaves a message on a board set up in front of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church after a mass shooting at the church killed nine people, on June 22, 2015. Photos by: Joe Raedle/Getty

For these reasons, it is imperative that we work to create opportunities for discourse about power, privilege, race, and injustice in our classrooms. We must transform our youth's educational experiences to include these discussions as part of everyday learning, instead of discussions reserved for moments of catastrophe. Here are nine suggestions of what educators can do right now in our classrooms:

One way to create this space is to organize a silent meeting with students, similar to a Quaker-style meeting, so that students have a noiseless moment of reflection and meditation. The purpose of this is to provide students the time to feel and the space to express their feelings about what is happening.

Ask students to reflect in a journal about the events in Charleston - or any of the recent events of racial injustice. Allow students to share their thoughts, if they are comfortable doing so. It is too easy to disconnect and to tune out the violence in the world. And when we disconnect ourselves in this way, we can become apathetic and fail to envision solutions to racial violence.

Reflect on your power and privilege as an educator. We cannot progress as a nation if our education system perpetuates white supremacy. Consider asking yourself: What power do I have? What privileges do I have? Do my identity and experiences afford me privileges that others cannot access? We all benefit from reflecting on our positions in the world. It allows us to appropriately question power - and use what power we do have wisely, peacefully, and effectively.

Share with students your learnings from your reflection on your power and privilege. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. As a classroom activity, ask students to contemplate what power means to them, in general, and then, to reflect on their own power. If necessary, use the Power Flower to facilitate this discussion. Once students have considered what power they do or do not have, guide them in discussing what privileges their power affords them - and what they can do to combat racial injustice and inequality.

Create opportunities for students to analyze what is happening in the world using critical thinking skills. Ask student to consider how the media chooses to tell a story. Some guiding questions for this discussion with students are: How do the textual and visual features of the news stories differ when describing a white person versus a Black person involved in a crime? How, if at all, does the news story perpetuate racial injustice? Ask students to create a social media campaign in which they educate others about what they learned from their examination of the media. To go deeper with this, consider showing students news stories from the past and ask them similar questions.

Left: Protesters in a 4-minute long die-in protest in Union Square, New York City. Photo by: Pacific Press/Getty. Right: Demonstrators stage a die-in during a protest May 7, 2015 in Venice, California. Photo by: Irfan Khan/Getty

Use historical texts to guide discussions of current events. Ask students to consider similarities and differences between what happened in the past and what is happening today and to reflect on the structures in place that perpetuate racial violence and inequality. For example, some guiding questions for secondary students related to the events in Charleston might include: What is the history of violence against Black churches in our nation? What has motivated these violent acts against Black churches? How did the Black community respond to the violence then and now? How would you have responded in the past? What is your reaction now? What conditions in our country allow for these events to persist? What are your actionable ideas for healing after the events in Charleston? Students could engage in these discussions as small groups, in written form, or as a whole class.

Provide students with the opportunity to transform injustice-fueled anger into activism. Share with your students the current opportunities for them to get involved with movements for equality in their communities. Allow students to brainstorm actionable ways they can advocate for change in their schools and communities, and connect them with community organizations that work with young people who can support their social justice initiatives.

Create opportunities for students to build empathy. During conflicts and moments of misunderstanding, we are less likely to treat the person with whom we are in conflict compassionately because our bodies are hijacked by unpleasant emotions. Guide students to reflect on: 1) the conflict at hand; 2) how they feel about the conflict; 3) how they are expressing their feelings as a result of the conflict; 4) what they can do to manage their unpleasant feelings; and 5) what they can do to avoid future conflicts. Then, ask your students to consider the same questions for the other person or people engaged in the conflict with them. By encouraging our students to see outside of themselves and to consider others' feelings, we begin to build empathy and to allow students to be kind - even when they are triggered into unpleasant emotions.

Tell your students that you love them whenever you can. In fact, create a unit about love, what love means, what love looks like, how love feels, and the many ways that they can and already express love to themselves, to others, to their communities, and to their environment. Poetry, spoken word, hip hop, and other literature on love can help build an impactful unit.

T These are just a few of the many ways that we, educators, can engage students and empower them to be change agents. However, we cannot do this if we shy away from potentially painful and difficult conversations about violence, white supremacy, race, and injustice. In particular, Black students and students of color must learn how to be skillful at maneuvering and surviving a world that fears and despises them; they must learn tactics for creating meaningful actions in order to challenge and change the problematic systems that they inhabit. Likewise, our white students must learn to see the world outside of their privilege; they must learn to empathize with their peers of color and with the on-going plight of Black Americans, who exist under constant threat of domestic terror. They must be able to identify their power and privilege. They must learn to recognize moments when they are being treated differently from their non-white peers, and they must learn to reject these moments.

Our country has healing to do. We cannot afford to walk away, to turn off our screens and carry on with our comfortable lives. Black and brown people are being killed at their places of worship, in their homes, at school, and on the city streets. I can still hear the blast of those three gunshots; I can still see thick blood gushing from the victim's head on Los Feliz Boulevard.

And, while our hearts remains heavy for all of those we lost, we must keep on fighting; we must keep on educating for justice. Our lives, Black lives, depend on it.

Bright is made possible by funding from the New Venture Fund, and is supported by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bright retains editorial independence.

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T hree gunshots erupt a few feet from where I am sitting in my friend's Los Feliz apartment. My initial response is to find cover, just as I had learned to do growing up in the Bronx. Eventually, I become curious and peer out of the window.

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For Black and Brown children in the United States, a major part of their schooling experience is associated with White female teachers who have no understanding of their culture. That was certainly my experience. My K-12 schooling was filled with White teachers who, at their core, were good people but unknowingly were murdering my spirit with their lack of knowledge, care, and love of my culture.

Fast forward 25 years. Now my job is teaching future educators about what it takes to teach beautiful Black children. No matter where I go, when I ask future teachers why they want to teach-especially White women, who make up the vast majority of all teachers-their first or second answer is always: "I love children," followed by, without taking a breath, "I love all children." The word "all" is meant to signal, "I am not racist; I am fit to be in the classroom with children of color." The statement is used to show that White teachers can be kind to every Black and Brown child that walks through their classroom doors. But how can you love or care for someone you know so little about?

A few years ago, a White student of mine wrote in a paper that traveling to South Africa for a missionary trip was the first time she had been around African-American students. I simply wrote on her paper, "See me after class." I informed her that she had not been interacting with African-American people but with South Africans. I told her African-Americans are right here in Georgia. I am one of them. Her face turned red. She was embarrassed and assured me that she knew the difference.

After our brief chat, one thing was clear: Yes, she knew the difference, but her interactions with African-Americans were clearly limited, and so much about our very existence was unknown to her.

As an interesting exercise, I ask my students to guess the percentage of Black people in the U.S. population. I am always blown away that their estimations are so high: guesses range from 20 to 40 percent. In reality, Black folks make up just less than 14 percent of the U.S. population. So, if you have limited interactions with Black folks, how can you think there are so many of us?

Black folks are highly visible and invisible at the same time in America-just look at Sunday and Monday night football. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality and the killings of Black and Brown people by law enforcement. Him taking a knee became highly visible; the Black deaths he took a knee to bring attention to were invisible in his fight to many White Americans. The sad truth is that White people can spend their entire lives dismissing dark people's existence and still be successful in life. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for us.

Let me be clear: I do not think White teachers enter the profession wanting to harm children of color, but they will hurt a child whose culture is viewed as an afterthought.

Teachers who disregard the impact of racism on Black children's schooling experiences, resources, communities, and parent interactions will do harm to children of color. This ignorance is not just a painful sign of a blatant lack of information-a function of racism is to erase the history and contributions of people of color-it is a dangerous situation as these teachers go on to take jobs in schools filled with Black and Brown children. This turns schools into places that mirror society instead of improving it. The hard truth is that racism functions as a "superpredator" of Black and Brown children within our schools.

There is no easy fix to this problem, but there are solutions. Future teachers should be required to take classes such as African studies, African-American studies, Latinx studies, Caribbean studies, Chicana/o studies, Asian and Southeast Asian studies, and Native American studies.

There also needs to be a push to recruit future teachers of color as early as high school, pay for their college education, and mentor them when they enter the classroom. Research consistently shows that teachers of color have higher expectations of students of color, which leads to more students of color referred to gifted programs. Moreover, having a teacher of color helps students confront issues of racism.

Before they ever step into a classroom, teachers need to work in urban school communities to understand the beauty and the difficulty of teaching in that environment and to examine how racism functions to allow schools to be underresourced and students labeled at-risk.

But, at the end of the day, White teachers need to want to address how they contribute to structural racism. They need to join the fight for education justice, racial justice, housing justice, immigration justice, food justice, queer and trans justice, labor justice, and, above all, the fight for humanity.

So, the question is not: Do you love all children? The question is: Will you fight for justice for Black and Brown children? And how will you fight? I argue that you must fight with the creativity, imagination, urgency, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit of abolitionists to advocate for an education system where all Black and Brown children are thriving. I call this abolitionist teaching. To love all children, we must struggle together to create the schools we are taught to believe are impossible: Schools built on justice, love, joy, and anti-racism.

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Dear White Teachers: You Can't Love Your Black Students If You Don't Know Them (Opinion)

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It isn't enough to "love all students," writes the University of Georgia's Bettina L. Love.

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Coping with Community Crisis | Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Resources for parents and educators on talking to kids about trauma.

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For Trinity Thompson, the decision of whether or not to address high-profile killings of black people with her second-graders was a no-brainer. She was teaching in Harlem soon after Eric Garner was killed by a police officer in a nearby New York City borough.

"How do I respond to this?" Thompson recalls asking herself. "And then from there, it was like, How do I respond to this- again?" Each time news reports covered another black person dying at the hands of police, her students-most of whom were black-asked more and more difficult questions. A career-long social justice educator, Thompson was committed to a response that focused not only on the problem, but also on how people were resisting it and seeking solutions.

And that meant teaching second-graders about Black Lives Matter (BLM).

She knew it was risky. When the Black Lives Matter movement comes up in conversation, it is often characterized in one of two ways: as the work of strategic activists drawing attention to and combating issues that harm black people, black communities and humanity at large, or as a movement marked by violent outbursts and driven by an exclusionary, racist, anti-police agenda.

This split gives some educators pause when it comes to teaching about BLM. Others embrace the topic, recognizing it as an opportunity to teach about collective action and to link past racial justice movements to the present. But all educators, by virtue of the fact that their students have either direct or mediated exposure to Black Lives Matter, should know the basic facts about the movement's central beliefs and practices.

Not all of us are like Thompson; the students who sit in front of us daily are not always directly affected by the killing of unarmed black people or any of the other injustices that plague our nation. But as teachers who function as caretakers, truth-seekers and advocates of justice, we can acknowledge how the threat of justice in one community is, to borrow from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a threat to justice in every community. We have a civic responsibility to be educated about Black Lives Matter and, as we learn, we must teach.

The Beginning and the Hashtag

The Black Lives Matter movement began with a commitment to ending police brutality and state-sanctioned violence and injustice against black people. It is also dedicated to affirming black people's "contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression," according to its founders. The movement was started by three black women-Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi-following the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Florida man who had shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, the preceding year. Garza took to social media the night of that acquittal, stating in part, "Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter." A year later, Michael Brown, another unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri; the officer was not indicted. Shortly thereafter, the internet was filled with messages of outcry and support that included #BlackLivesMatter.

Since the Ferguson action in 2014, BLM has taken shape as a multichapter national organization; 37 chapters currently operate in the United States, one in Canada. Many BLM chapters and other organizations that embrace the movement mobilize people to demonstrate in communities where police shootings have occurred and to convene at large gatherings-such as political rallies-to bring awareness to police brutality. The website of the original group, blacklivesmatter.com, also lists other types of local and national events, such as teach-ins, panels and Twitter chats, and encourages organizers to submit their own events.

In an October 2016 interview with TEDWomen, Cullors explained what the movement means to her.

"Black Lives Matter is our call to action. It is a tool to a reimagined world where black people are free to exist, free to live. It is a tool for our allies to show up differently for us," she said. "I grew up in a neighborhood that was heavily policed. I witnessed my brothers and my siblings continuously stopped and frisked by law enforcement. I remember my home being raided. And one of the questions, as a child, I had was why? Why us? Black Lives Matter offers answers to the why."

Myths and Criticisms

People who don't follow Black Lives Matter usually become aware of the movement when news sites report on BLM actions or protests. What many people don't realize is that the leadership also embraces policy change and legislation as necessary elements to end oppression of black people-and that the work and the leadership are not limited to the Black Lives Matter network.

One common misconception about the BLM movement is that it is leaderless. But there isn't one leader; there are many. "BLM is composed of many local leaders and many local organizations including Black Youth Project 100, the Dream Defenders, the Organization for Black Struggle, Hands Up United, Millennial Activists United, and the Black Lives Matter national network," organizers explain on the website. "We demonstrate through this model that the movement is bigger than any one person."

Another misconception is that the movement is solely a mechanism for protest. In fact, the many people and organizations with agendas and goals that overlap and align with BLM have produced detailed policy demands and proposals for institutional reforms. Campaign Zero, for example, outlines a list of policy proposals largely focused on ending police brutality. It is a strategy for addressing one of the most visible, damaging and deadly symptoms of systemic racism. The Movement for Black Lives, a collective of more than 50 organizations, advances a platform covering six areas of domestic-policy reform, including economic justice and investment in equitable education and health care instead of criminalization and incarceration.

Many people, however, view the BLM movement as violent, seeking to "sow a racial divide" and intent on interrupting the work of police officers commissioned to protect and serve the public. For example, Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, said in a television interview that the movement is "inherently racist" and "divides us." He further stated, "They don't mean 'black lives matter'; they mean 'let's agitate against the police matters.'"

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Why Teaching Black Lives Matter Matters | Part I

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For Trinity Thompson, the decision of whether or not to address high-profile killings of black people with her second-graders was a no-brainer. She was teaching in Harlem soon after Eric Garner was killed by a police officer in a nearby New York City borough. "How do I respond to this?"

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Vernā Myers: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them

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Our biases can be dangerous, even deadly - as we've seen in the cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, in Staten Island, New York. Diversity advocate Vernā Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases.

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(Pt 10) Under the Blacklight: The Fire This Time

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I'm talking with professor Ibram Kendi, New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and the Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. We talk about racial disparities, policy, and equality, but we really focus on How to Be an Antiracist, which is a groundbreaking approach to understanding uprooting racism and inequality in our society and in ourselves.

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brené with ibram x. kendi on how to be an antiracist

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‎Unlocking Us with Brené Brown: Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist on Apple Podcasts

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‎I'm talking with professor Ibram Kendi, New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and the Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. We talk about racial disparities, policy, and equality, but we really focus on How to Be an Antiracist, which is...

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The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Make sure you're prepared by brushing up on your rights before heading out into the streets.

I'm organizing a protest

Your rights

Do I need a permit?

You don't need a permit to march in the streets or on sidewalks, as long as marchers don't obstruct car or pedestrian traffic. If you don't have a permit, police officers can ask you to move to the side of a street or sidewalk to let others pass or for safety reasons.

Certain types of events may require permits. These include a march or parade that requires blocking traffic or street closure; a large rally requiring the use of sound amplifying devices; or a rally over a certain size at most parks or plazas.

While certain permit procedures require submitting an application well in advance of the planned event, police can't use those procedures to prevent a protest in response to breaking news events.

Restrictions on the route of a march or sound equipment might violate the First Amendment if they are unnecessary for traffic control or public safety, or if they interfere significantly with effective communication to the intended audience.

A permit cannot be denied because the event is controversial or will express unpopular views.

If the permit regulations that apply to your protest require a fee for a permit, they should allow a waiver for those who cannot afford the charge.

What to do if you believe your rights have been violated

I'm attending a protest

Your rights

Your rights are strongest in what are known as "traditional public forums," such as streets, sidewalks, and parks. You also likely have the right to speak out on other public property, like plazas in front of government buildings, as long as you are not blocking access to the government building or interfering with other purposes the property was designed for.

Private property owners can set rules for speech on their property. The government may not restrict your speech if it is taking place on your own property or with the consent of the property owner.

Counterprotesters also have free speech rights. Police must treat protesters and counterprotesters equally. Police are permitted to keep antagonistic groups separated but should allow them to be within sight and sound of one another.

When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police. On private property, the owner may set rules related to photography or video.

You don't need a permit to march in the streets or on sidewalks, as long as marchers don't obstruct car or pedestrian traffic. If you don't have a permit, police officers can ask you to move to the side of a street or sidewalk to let others pass or for safety reasons.

What to do if you believe your rights have been violated

What happens if the police issues an order to disperse the protest?

Shutting down a protest through a dispersal order must be law enforcement's last resort. Police may not break up a gathering unless there is a clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic, or other immediate threat to public safety.

If officers issue a dispersal order, they must provide a reasonable opportunity to comply, including sufficient time and a clear, unobstructed exit path.

Individuals must receive clear and detailed notice of a dispersal order, including how much time they have to disperse, the consequences of failing to disperse, and what clear exit route they can follow, before they may be arrested or charged with any crime.

I want to take pictures or shoot video at a protest

Your rights

When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police. (On private property, the owner may set rules about photography or video.)

Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your photographs or video without a warrant, nor may they delete data under any circumstances. However, they may order citizens to cease activities that are truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations.

If you are videotaping, be aware that there is an important legal distinction between a visual photographic record (fully protected) and the audio portion of a videotape, which some states have tried to regulate under state wiretapping laws.

What to do if you are stopped or detained for taking photographs

What to do if you believe your rights have been violated

I was stopped by the police while protesting

Your rights

Stay calm. Make sure to keep your hands visible. Don't argue, resist, or obstruct the police, even if you believe they are violating your rights. Point out that you are not disrupting anyone else's activity and that the First Amendment protects your actions.

Ask if you are free to leave. If the officer says yes, calmly walk away.

If you are under arrest, you have a right to ask why. Otherwise, say you wish to remain silent and ask for a lawyer immediately. Don't say anything or sign anything without a lawyer.

You have the right to make a local phone call, and if you're calling your lawyer, police are not allowed to listen.

You never have to consent to a search of yourself or your belongings. If you do explicitly consent, it can affect you later in court.

Police may "pat down" your clothing if they suspect you have a weapon and may search you after an arrest.

Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your photographs or video without a warrant, nor may they delete data under any circumstances. However, they may order citizens to cease activities that are truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations.

What to do if you believe your rights have been violated

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Know Your Rights | Protesters' Rights | ACLU

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The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Make sure you're prepared by brushing up on your rights before heading out into the streets.

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If you decide to purchase any of the books listed here, please support Black-owned bookstores & businesses.

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

What better way to be productive while staying indoors than supporting Black businesses. Books are great to help stimulate your brain and keep your thoughts off the craziness happening in the world. With that said, now is the perfect time to crack open those books collecting dust on your shelves.

While many of us are social distancing, online shopping makes it much easier for us to get everything we want and need. If you need some new additions to your book collections, check out these Black-owned online bookstores below.

While the Philadelphia-based bookstore has temporarily closed its physical store, Uncle Bobbies is offering customers the chance to shop for books and audiobooks through their IndieLite and Libro.fm accounts. The bookstore has also set up a GoFundMe to provide financial relief for their staff as they remain closed.

The Key Bookstore offers a fully interactive bookstore experience for consumers engaging them through connection, interaction, events, and savings. Key Bookstore puts its focus on readers following their motto of "divine liberation one page at a time."

Mahogany Books' online store is still open for business even as their physical location is temporarily closed. The D.C. -based bookstore is an independent business that fully supports social entrepreneurship. Their mission is dedicated to meeting the needs of readers "in search of books written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora."

As Chicago's only Black woman-owned independent bookstore and gallery space, Semicolon Bookstore aims to create a welcoming space for all readers. Although they've temporarily closed their doors in compliance with social distancing, they've asked customers to continue to support them by shopping through their online store with an added ten percent discount.

Hakim's Bookstore is another Philadelphia-based business extending its online services to readers during this time. The bookstore specializes in African-American history stressing the importance of Black people understanding and establishing their cultural identities. They encourage people to support all Black businesses during this time any way they can.

Harriet's Bookshop is an independent bookstore and creative space dedicated to celebrating women writers, artists, and activists. The newly-opened bookstore is adjusting to being a temporary online business, but their store is offering an extensive collection of female authors.

Ashay At The Bay serves as the Bay Area's #1 Black children's bookstore specializing in African American and multi-cultural books. Their online collection features tons of diverse books and stories for children.

The Lit Bar is the only bookstore serving the Bronx community creating a haven for reading, social interaction, and intellectual visibility. The premiere bookstore and wine bar for Bronx residents, while temporarily closed, is still allowing customers to shop for their essential books through their online store.

AfriWare Books has been serving the community for almost 20 years providing a platform to highlight authors, artists, and activists who inspire a sense of cultural pride. Following COVID-19 orders, they've since switched to a new business model to accommodate online book orders for customers.

DTR 360 Books is an online bookstore for both books and other forms of knowledge of every genre appealing to all customers. Their company philosophy is built on information, communication, and education catering to Black readers everywhere.

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10 Black-Owned Online Bookstores to Support While at Home - AfroTech

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What better way to be productive while staying indoors than supporting Black businesses. Books are great to help stimulate your brain and keep your thoughts off the craziness happening in the world. With that said, now is the perfect time to crack open those books collecting dust on your shelves.

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TALKING TO KIDS ABOUT PROTESTING: 5 Things I Want My Kids to Know

As the protests continue in Charlotte, NC we are seeing the familiar and racially biased messages about protesting surface again. Many have critiqued our media reporting and our national conversation on protesting, pointing out the disparities in language and escalation tactics that are used depending upon the race of the protestors. As a parent, I'm particularly mindful of the potency of the words and images that are widely shared at a time like this. They are impossible to escape.

Instead of shielding my children from or ignoring these images and conversations I seek to both:

Point out that the way these protestors are treated and talked about is different because of the color of their skin AND expand our conversation and narrative about the act of protesting.

Here are the things that I want my kids to know:

1. Protesting is a protected right. The Bill of Rights, written in 1789, grants Americans many important rights, which have come to define our nation and anchor some of our shared national values. Protesting is a reflection of two of those important rights: the right to "peaceably assemble" and the right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances."

2. Protesting is an American tradition. It can be traced back to the beginning of our country's history and is responsible for our very formation. A notable early protest example is The Boston Tea Party in 1773. Protesting has been a primary and critical way that Americans have stood up against injustice and unfair treatment since our country's inception.

3. There are examples of protest all over in history AND in the present day. Depending on where you live your children may have the opportunity to witness protests with great frequency and on behalf of a wide variety of issues. Can you imagine how many protests kids living in Washington D.C. observe?! In other locations protestors might be more easily coupled with a particular incident or issue.

In the latter case, children's books and media provide a great opportunity to expand the narrative on protests and the gains that have been achieved as a result of this important tradition. We have included some book suggestions below.

You may choose to incorporate other recent examples of protests into your conversations with your children, including:

* Colin Kaepernick (and those following him) who is protesting by declining to stand during that national anthem.

* The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (and the others that joined) protesting the oil pipeline that would cross tribal land. You can use the #noDAPL tag to find images and conversations about this.

4. Debates about the lawfulness and effectiveness of protesting have always existed. It is also important to acknowledge that opinions on the lawfulness and effectiveness of civil disobedience aren't new. People have long-opposed protest efforts that have brought our country to where we are today, and expanded rights for many Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. was not popular during his time. The same narrative about whether protesting is the "right thing to do" exists now as it did when people organized for voting rights, improved working conditions, civil rights, etc. That is important to acknowledge because it can otherwise be easy to give kids the false impression that protests of the past were justified but those of today are uniquely complicated and fraught.

5. We have benefited from the act of protest. It is also worthwhile to think about how your particular family and ancestors have participated in or benefited from protest movements in the past or in the present.

Our children are watching and listening. Please consider using this as an opportunity for expanding this important conversation.
Recommended Reading:
A Sweet Smell of Roses
Freedom Summer
Ron's Big Mission
Seeds of Freedom Separate is Never Equal
Lillian's Right to Vote
The Youngest Marcher (coming soon) Counting on Community Click Clack Moo Harvesting Hope
Elizabeth Leads the Way * Please note, and share with children, that this book does not make mention that her efforts were on behalf of white women, and that women of color did not receive the right to vote until up to 45 years later.

** I am always looking for books that depict other US protests that are not biased and do not reinforce a problematic and incomplete narrative. If you have other suggestions, please let me know. **

** If you live in St. Lous, MO, these books and more can be found at The Novel Neighbor, St. Louis County Library branches, and The Kirkwood Public Library **

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Talking to Kids About Protesting: 5 Things I Want My Kids to Know - We Stories

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As the protests continue in Charlotte, NC we are seeing the familiar and racially biased messages about protesting surface again. Many have critiqued our media reporting and our national conversation on protesting, pointing out the disparities in language and escalation tactics that are used dependi

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ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.