What White Children Need to Know about Race/Independent School Magazine

What White Children Need to Know about Race

"...Silence is a racial message and a “tool of whiteness.” In order to support the goals of their diversity mission statements and work toward a “racially just America,” schools need to take a more proactive approach to teaching white students about race and racial identity..."

Kwame Alexander on Children’s Books and the Color of Characters

"...The mind of an adult begins in the imagination of a child.

If we don’t give children books that are literary mirrors as well as windows to the whole world of possibility, if these books don’t give them the opportunity to see outside themselves, then how can we expect them to grow into adults who connect in meaningful ways to a global community, to people who might look or live differently than they. You cannot.

Am I saying that poetry and literature are the answer to Baton Rouge and Dallas and Orlando and Charleston? No. But their capacity to entertain, enlighten and empower — all at the same time — is an answer, and without them, we most certainly obstruct our children’s vision..."

Kwame Alexander on Children’s Books and the Color of Characters

What is Discriminology?

Discriminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, consequences, and prevention of modern day racism and discriminatory behavior, both on the individual and Institutional levels. Discriminology is an interdisciplinary field drawing especially upon the research of sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social anthropologists, as well as scholars of law.

Discriminology Home Page

Discriminolgy was founded in 2015 to document and publicize the mass racial inequalities that still exist in our education system. Through the use of descriptive statistics, public data portals & innovative social media work, we are empowering communities of color by making school data more transparent.

Educational Equity and the Responsive Classroom

Reaching Educational Equity: It Is Possible! Responsive Classroom Plays a Role

"...During the last twenty years, educators have made considerable strides in improving the quality of education for our nation’s students. Overall student achievement and graduation rates have risen. Yet the unfortunate reality is that certain populations of students, particularly those living in poverty, students of color, and English language learners, continue to lag behind. Educators are increasingly aware and in agreement that this 'achievement gap' is really an equity gap.These students are lagging in achievement because they are lagging in access to educational opportunities..."

Meet Cecilia “Cissy” Marshall

Read this article in the August 20, 2016, Washington Post:

Cissy Marshall recalls day of Brown v. Board of Education decision

Sixty-two years later, Cissy Marshall, now 88, remembers certain details of the day the 9-to-0 decision in Brown v. Board of Education was handed down, as if it happened yesterday.

She was in New York, working at the NAACP’s offices on 43rd Street.

Thurgood Marshall and the legal team that included James M. Nabrit and George Hayes had traveled to Washington on a tip the justices would reveal the ruling. “They were expecting the decision,” she said. “They were getting hints the opinion was coming down. You are not supposed to know anything of these things. But a grapevine gets going.”

Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling: “We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Minneapolis Public Schools Educational Equity Framework

Minneapolis Public School Educational Equity Framework

Theory of Action 

This MPS Educational Equity Framework has been developed through the effort, ideas and expertise of more than 50 people representing diverse roles, experiences, expertise, and perspectives within the district and greater community. 

In order to meet the needs of underrepresented students and their families, we must: 

- recognize personal and collective responsibility 

- aim for true transformational change

- leverage a pedagogy of equity

- utilize equity and diversity impact assessments 

- engage families as partners in education

- ensure equitable practices in operations

- maintain alignment with both the district mission and the strategic plan

Together, we can overcome persistent and predictable system barriers to racial equity and create an equitable educational system.

This is a 35 page document.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Theory of Action 
Medicine Wheel Metaphorical Meaning 
What and Why  
Purpose 
Student Emphasis 
Areas of Focus: Big Levers 
Alignment with Acceleration 2020 
The Big Picture and Ultimate Goal  
Systemic Change Barriers 
How We Will Use this Framework 
Contact for Information  

Pedagogy of Equity 
   Vision, Definition and Beliefs 
   Implementation Goals and Action Plan  
Equity and Diversity Impact Assessment 
   Vision, Definition and Beliefs 
   Implementation Goals and Action Plan 
   EDIA (Equity and Diversity Impact Assessment)Tools and Process 
Families as Education Partners 
   Vision Definition and Beliefs 
   Implementation Goals and Action Plan 
Equity in Operations 
   Vision, Definition and Beliefs 
   Implementation Goals and Action Plan  

Appendix A: Implementation Resources Needed 
Appendix B: Contributors 
Appendix C: Research and Resources 

MPS Educational Equity Framework Executive Summary

White People Need to Stop Snickering at Black Names by Steven M. Singer

"...Make no mistake. This is racist behavior. We are emphasizing the otherness of an entire group of people to put ourselves over and above them.

It’s bigoted, discriminatory, prejudicial and just plain dumb.

What’s wrong with black names anyway? What about them is so unacceptable?

We act as if only European and Anglicized names are reasonable. But I don’t have to go far down my rosters to find white kids with names like Braelyn, Declyn, Jaydon, Jaxon, Gunner or Hunter. I’ve never heard white folks yucking it up over those names..."

Read the entire essay here:

White People Need to Stop Snickering at Black Names

Absent Narratives Resources

The Minnesota Humanities Center is committed to helping people tell their stories. These stories, histories, and contributions are the Absent Narratives that are often left out of the mainstream story of Minnesota and many of its K-12 classrooms. These resources and many more can be found on the Absent Narratives Resource Collection, a free, searchable database of over 900 ready-to-use videos, teacher guides, and readings. Items included in the resource collection have been created or developed by the Humanities Center and its partners. 

Absent Narratives Resource Overview from Minnesota Humanities Center

Resource Assessment Tool from Minnesota Humanities Center

Minnesota Humanities Center

The Danger of a Single Story: Writing Essays about Our Lives

This article is from Rethinking Schools.

The Danger of a Single Story Writing essays about our lives by Linda Christensen

Linda Christensen (lmc@lclark.edu) is director of the Oregon Writing Project at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She is author of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up and Teaching for Joy and Justice; co-editor of Rethinking Elementary Education and The New Teacher Book; and an editor of Rethinking Schools.

TED Talk by Author Grace Lin

The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf

Grace Lin Books

The Real Reason White People Say "All Lives Matter" by John Halstead

The Real Reason White People Say "All Lives Matter"

Want To Address Teachers' Biases? First, Talk About Race

"We are going to experience discomfort — well, we may or may not experience it — but if we have it that's OK," says Coles, a third-grade teacher at Eagle Creek Elementary School in Indianapolis.

Coles is black, one of just four teachers of color among Eagle Creek Elementary's 37 staff. Throughout last year she gathered co-workers in her classroom for after-school discussions about race.

Her goal? Create a common understanding of race and power, with hopes that teachers acknowledge, then address, how that plays out in the school.

Read the rest of the article from Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations here:

Want to Address Teachers' Biases? First, Talk about Race