A Guide To Discussing Race With Your Students
Guest Writer: Ali Andrews
The reluctance to discuss racism in American public schools actively harms students of color.
While structural racism shapes their lives, the topic goes largely unaddressed in schools, often by educators who simultaneously enact discriminatory policies. Opening up discussions of race in the classroom is essential for engaging with students’ realities and enabling them to understand and cope with trauma.
Students of color deal with American racism on a daily basis, living “under a survival mentality” (PDF, 277 KB) that schools fail to acknowledge and support; this is described in the First Book Social Issues Impact Survey (PDF, 277 KB). According to the report, children most often initiate discussion in school on the topics of racism, immigration policies and police enforcement, all of which teachers feel ill-equipped to address.
Additionally, students of color face active discrimination within school, with harsher discipline and disproportionately high suspension rates. According to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (PDF, 2.1 MB), Black students account for 16 percent of the student population; however, they make up 32–42 percent of suspended or expelled students and are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than White students.
Interventions are clearly required at a macro level. Public school teachers—who, according to the United States Department of CONTINUE READING: A Guide To Discussing Race With Your Students - Teacher Habits