EDUCATION
Why The Fight Against Racism Should Start in the Classroom
Well-informed citizens can effectively challenge the status quo
The best antidote for racism is education, yet like the vaccine, which saved millions of lives during a global pandemic, a misinformation campaign stands in the way of many people getting the dosage they need. Only a group of well-informed citizens can effectively challenge the status quo, which is why many conservatives are holding information about race and racism under lock and key. For instance, Florida Governor Ron Desantis recently signed a bill designed to defund diversity, equity, and inclusion programs “at Florida’s public colleges.” This racially discriminatory measure clipped the wings of educators trying to ensure students have equitable access to education and develop cultural competency. DeSantis suggested students who want to acquire “niche majors” can attend schools like Berkeley, but Florida schools intend to focus on “the basics.” However, framing “racism” as a niche topic is ahistorical. You cannot hope to grasp American history without learning about the role of racism.
Let us not forget that America was founded by enslavers who did not consider Black people to be entirely human. In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, state delegates determined that “every enslaved American would be counted as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation purposes,” a compromise that allowed Southern states to benefit from their enslaved population politically while withholding any power or agency from Black people. Anti-Black racism was foundational to the American project, allowing White people to systematically profit off the forced labor and migration of Black people, and set the table for the circumstances that followed. But if DeSantis and other conservatives have their way, students will never learn that basic fact.
While constitutional amendments like the 13th and 14th Amendments granted Black Americans legal status, “this protection was poorly enforced,” and as a result, members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white-run organizations “terrorized Black citizens for exercising their right to vote, running for public office, and serving on juries.” As I wrote in Cultured Magazine, “students will never understand why Black Americans needed to fight for rights in the 1960s without understanding the social climate of the 1860s and 70s.” The fact that Black Americans had to fight for a century after the Civil War to acquire basic civil rights and continue to live in a system inundated with racist laws, policies, and beliefs should be taught, not whitewashed away like a dirty stain.
Those who do not understand racism will not likely fight against it
The motivation of people trying to block conversations about racism is clear — they want to maintain the current racial hierarchy by denying it exists and persecuting those who want to tell the truth. As Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote in The 1619 Project, “White Americans desire to be free of a past they do not want to remember, while Black Americans remain bound to a past they can never forget.” Denying the bits of American history that make White people feel uncomfortable doesn’t change reality, but it does change how students view social issues like racism. When the topic of “racism” becomes taboo, it silences those trying to develop solutions, like diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Whether America has any hope of rising above its racist origin story depends on its citizenry, what they know, and how they feel about the current state of affairs, which is why the battle against racism should start in the classroom.
Specifically, students should learn about the history of enslavement, racial terror, political disenfranchisement, housing segregation, separate and unequal education, environmental racism, the racial wealth gap, and the pathologization of the Black family, and how these factors continue to impact Black Americans. Sadly, many White people have become dedicated gatekeepers, refusing to allow students the opportunity to learn about racism. “Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis.” Since the majority of states have passed laws that prohibit topics like racism from entering the classroom, it seems educators who believe students should learn about racism are on the losing end of the battle. From an educator’s perspective, this is a discouraging state of affairs, but the stakes are too high to throw in the towel.
When the topic of “racism” becomes taboo, it silences those trying to develop solutions.
We must remember that fighting against racism is more than a matter of will; it’s a matter of education. After World War II, German educators enshrined lessons about the racism and anti-semitism that inspired the Holocaust into their country’s educational framework to ensure that a tragedy like this should never unfold again. However, Americans have taken another approach, hosting lavish weddings at former plantations where enslaved people suffered instead of the museums Germans constructed at former concentration center sites, constructing monuments to slave owners and their “lost cause” and whitewashing the intentions of the war — for states to maintain their right to enslave Black people, as oppose to reckoning with the truth, as German did in the aftermath of the Nazi regime. Today, Germany does not run from its painful past as America does, but it has separated itself from the bigoted ideals that stained its democracy. Why can’t America do the same?
Anti-Black racism is a unique beast, highlighted by Governor DeSantis’s decision to sign a law that requires students to learn about Asian American Pacific Islander history while simultaneously banning discussions about Black history and experiences from the classroom. While Black people who descend from the chattel slavery system have made numerous contributions to American society, fighting to make this nation more democratic, White men like DeSantis want to hide their history while highlighting others, and the only possible motivation for this is anti-Black racism. And if students never learn about the experiences, challenges, and triumphs of Black Americans, they will not be able to develop a cultural appreciation for their inclusion in our society.
Students who do not understand the role racism plays in American life can never hope to grasp the basics. Where Black people can live, work, and what they can achieve is limited by the racist laws, policies, and beliefs in American society and those who do not understand how racism functions will not likely become champions of racial equality — they’re more likely to leave the system intact, which condemns Black Americans to second-class citizenry. Far too many White people want to portray a white-washed version of events. However, as Hannah-Jones wrote, “if we are truly a great nation, the truth cannot destroy us.” In fact, it is only through denying the truth that Americans’ differences can be exploited. If we want to foster a society where racial inequality is a thing of the past, we must first reckon with the racism that currently exists. Refusing to confront the racism Black people endure is a surefire way of maintaining the status quo, which is why the fight against racism should undoubtedly begin in the classroom.
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