Politics of Compliance v. Politics of Resistance: “We don’t
We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher leave the kids alone“Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,” Pink Floyd
The December 2018 incident involving high school wrestler Andrew Johnson being forced to cut his hair in order to compete continues to draw attention. Erik Ortiz reports:
But following outcry from the community and the opening of a state civil rights investigation, an attorney for wrestler Andrew Johnson claims officials and referees are still giving him grief over his hair and have an “unrelenting fixation” with him….Then, on Monday, an official with the state association that regulates athletics and conducts tournaments sent an email to state wrestling officials detailing which hairstyles require the hair to be covered. One image, according to NJ Advance Media, which reviewed the email, was of an unidentified black person with short, braided or dreadlocked hair and closely shaved sides.
More recently, Josh Magness details:
Police say the 11-year-old student at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland said he wouldn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because the flag is “racist,” according to WTSP.Ana Alvarez, a substitute teacher in the classroom, said she was offended by this comment and asked the student, who is black, why he didn’t leave the country, as reported by The Washington Post.
A teacher from Los Angeles, Larry Strauss, has subsequently weighed in onhow the 11-year-old was treated:
When children in a class — of any age — assert their political views, they are giving you an opportunity to teach. Not to teach them to shut up and obey you, but to teach them that they live in a free country where everyone has a say in how we govern and where criticism is welcome, or supposed to be.
Both of these instances represent a truism about formal schooling that CONTINUE READING: Politics of Compliance v. Politics of Resistance: “We don’t need no education” | radical eyes for equity
