Black History Month

This is the second post on race and the third recent post on larger social issues. I'm nervous about this one, because it feels strange for a white guy to be talking about how not to do Black History Month. However, here's why I bring it up: because I made some of these mistakes out of my own inherent racism. Most teachers I know will say things like, "I'm not racist," when what they mean is, "I don't hate people who are of a different race." However, that's a myopic view of racism. Racism is more than hate. It's the the normalcy of systems and structures that keep injustice in place. It's something we are born into in this country, something that if we're not constantly working against it, will feel normal, invisible even, to certain segments of the population. Racism isn't just lynchings and white robes. It's the constantly humming white noise of quiet indifference, of privilege disguised as hard work and of nice language used to keep up the status quo. Racism is also tokenism. It's the idea that we can hand out a little thing on the side without ever having to change anything. It's the symbolic gestures that don't change the systemic injustice.  So, when I think of Black History Month, I hope it's not taught with tokenism. I hope it's not taught as "here's your month. You get one out of ten," because that reeks of segregation and ultimately reinforces racism. I hope, instead, that it's taught holistically, with hard conflict and engaging conversations. I hope it's uncomfortable, that it penetrates the white noise of racism. I'm not entirely sure how to do Black History Month well. However, here are some ideas:

• Focusing on the systems and structures that reinforce racism. Kids can handle systemic, connective thinking, even at a young age. 
• Learning about the groups and movements instead of just famous heroes
• Asking students to make sense of things like privilege, apathy and tokenism
• Making sense out of the myth of colorblindness and other feel good forms of fake reconciliation that don't require any work
• Teach it in the present tense. In other words, don't simply teach students that racism is something bad that existed years ago, because they internalize a message that things aren't all that bad anymore. This can be tricky, because it also involves celebrating victories and not simply pushing a fatalistic narrative. 
• Don't oversimplify it, even for younger kids. Confusion is a part of the process. Kids can handle complexity if it's done well. 
• Embracing discomfort in dialogue while also ensuring safety. Adults often feel unsafe in these conversations and so do kids. However, kids also recognize that discomfort and safety go hand in hand. I'd say they recognize this better than many adults. 
• Pay attention to the story, the worldview and methodology of any curriculum you buy. They aren't socially and politically neutral and often, in order to avoid conflict, the pre-packaged curriculum softens racism and reinforces the status quo
• Consciously integrating all perspectives into all units. Hence "Westward Expansion" can also be seen as "Westward Invasion and Conquest." Industrialism and labor movements should also be looked at with their checkered history on race relations.