BLACK TEACHERS AS REPARATIONS: MY REMARKS AT THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS
The Center for American Progress in collaboration with Education Reform Now invited me and a host of other citizens with opinions on education to speak about education and racial equity. I’m honored and thankful they asked me to represent current classroom teachers as so few of us – if any – get opportunities to inform policy and practice on a regular basis. Below are notes that turned into my opening remarks for the panel. The conference’s theme this year centered on the 400th anniversary of the first person enslaved arriving in the colony of Jamestown, VA.
Good morning, class. My name is Jose Luis Vilson, math teacher in Washington Heights, New York City, and this is my fifteenth year teaching students math at IS 52. In addition to writing extensively on these issues extensively, including the book This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, executive director and co-founder of EduColor, I’m also a father to a second grader who also attends public schools.
For me, this is a conversation about truth, reconciliation, and reparations. Black teachers are more likely to see students as talented and gifted, push students towards visions of college, and inspire students towards effort and resilience. Informally, I’ll also say they are more likely to build better relationships first, shift narratives from the dominant culture to an inclusive story, and pave the way for every other marginalized group to see their work realized, too.
This also comes with important caveats because none of this is perfect. Those of us who are Black educators need an orientation towards justice. We don’t “leave;” we’re more often forced out through any number of policies. Some like to use the “death by 1000 cuts,” but in this case, I like to call it death by 1000 mandates.
Really, Black teachers are a key part to re-envisioning the collective aspirations of what we call CONTINUE READING: Black Teachers as Reparations: My Remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus | The Jose Vilson
