Adopting an Anti-Racist Curriculum: A Letter to K-12 Schools

[ Original letter written by Cailyn Carr of SEE: Solidarity | Equity | Education ]

Dear (Name of Educator[s]),

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well. My name is (your name) and I am a resident of (your town). OPTIONAL: I am an alumni of (your elementary/middle/high school). I am writing to you today to urge you to take the following measures in an effort to adopt an anti-racist curriculum across the (your town) school system.

• Teach historical and modern events centered around racial injustice: The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges that I am sure you can relate to. From distance learning to virtual graduations to the unknown future of the state's reopening, there has been a lot of newness thrown at us. But one thing that is not new, unfortunately, is racial injustice. Throughout American and world history, people of color have been discriminated against and have been the victims of violence and murder at the hands of white people and systems. The slavery and genocide of generations' past has been replaced with more subtle, well-disguised forms of violence and racism. Despite the lengthy historical context of racial injustice, there is little to no attention paid to the following events throughout K-12 education.

For example:

1. 1. 1. Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Massacre: "In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, was one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the United States. But on May 31, 1921, the Tulsa Tribune reported that a black man, Dick Rowland, attempted to rape a white woman, Sarah Page. Whites in the area refused to wait for the investigative process to play out, sparking two days of unprecedented racial violence. Thirty-five city blocks went up in flames, 300 people died, and 800 were injured. Defense of white female virtue was the expressed motivation for the collective racial violence."

      2. Seneca Village: "It was once home to Seneca Village, a vibrant community of free African-Americans that took shape in the 1820s, decades before the city created Central Park. 'Historians really speculate that people were coming up here to escape the crowded conditions and the racist climate of Lower Manhattan,' said Marie Warsh, a historian for the Central Park Conservancy… But in the 1850s, after just thirty years, it all came to an end. The city took over the land through eminent domain to create a park for its growing population."

      3. Human Zoos: "In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Western world was desperate to see the 'savage,' 'primitive' peoples described by explorers and adventurers scouting out new lands for colonial exploitation. To feed the frenzy, thousands of indigenous individuals from Africa, Asia, and the Americas were brought to the United States and Europe, often under dubious circumstances, to be put on display in a quasi-captive life in 'human zoos'... to perform their 'backwards,' 'primitive' culture for eager American masses who could leave feeling a renewed sense of racial superiority."

      4. Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: "The study recruited 600 black men, of which 399 were diagnosed with syphilis and 201 were a control group without the disease. The researchers never obtained informed consent from the men and never told the men with syphilis that they were not being treated but were simply being watched until they died and their bodies examined for ravages of the disease."

      5. The reality of the Civil Rights Movement: "It's not enough to spotlight one leader's clarion call for moral action at one moment in history — however magical — because the nature of the movement today, and the nature of the problems confronting the black community (and therefore America) today, are so much more complex than they were even then."

      6. ** The true and lasting legacy of slavery, including: the plantation economy, Juneteenth, the Great Migration, Jim Crow, busing and the trauma it caused for Black students, the loophole in the 13th amendment that resulted in the mass incarceration of Black people who were then forced into slave labor (refer to the film, 13th by Ava DuVernay, free on YouTube), redlining, the school-to-prison pipeline, the Exonerated 5, police brutality, Black Lives Matter, etc.

These examples are simply a starting point for teaching students about the centuries-old history of horrific acts committed by American citizens and the U.S. government against people of color, particularly Black people, many of which are still happening in some capacity today. It may seem "dark" to focus on these atrocities in the classroom but it is precisely because of their gravity that they need to be taught. A white-washed, rose-colored version of American history does no good in dismantling the systemic racism that is still very much present in our country today.

• Lengthen the amount of time spent teaching Black history and non-Western history: This country was built, quite literally, on the backs of Black people. Therefore, Black history is American history. Yet, history centered around Black struggles/figures/movements is often parceled up into bite-sized, weeks-long lesson plans that are treated as if they begin and end neatly within the timeline we are taught about. Black History needs to be woven into history and social studies classes from K-12 in order to paint a truly accurate picture of the United States.

In addition to teaching the hardships of and violence towards Black people, it is equally important for students to know about Black historical figures and events that are not directly related to slavery and Civil Rights. Black authors, inventors, artists, musicians, scientists, doctors, etc. are often left out of the curriculum, despite their immense influence on American culture. Black people have more to offer than their pain.

Zooming out from U.S. history, I can remember very few units on non-Western society. We learn about European and American culture throughout our entire education, even offering Advanced Placement courses on it, yet we barely touch Native, African, Asian, and Latinx histories. Focusing narrowly on American history is dangerous in that it creates the impression that America is the only country worth learning about. It detracts from the importance of other cultures and turns a blind eye to the variety of stories from around the world. It is vitally important to make lessons, assignments, and classes about non-Western society.

• Be honest about European colonization: Take Christopher Columbus, for example. We learn in elementary school that he was some great explorer and negotiator and the founder of the United States, only to have that flipped on its head in middle/high school. Why is it that we spend so much time learning the names of the ships that British colonizers took to America rather than learning about the enslavement and genocide of those native to the continent? Children do not need to be sheltered from the horrors of European colonization and made to believe that it was a grand "collaboration of cultures." In fact, doing so just makes them ignorant to the lasting effects of genocide and violence towards Native American people and other groups that the U.S. went on to colonize.

• Incorporate more diverse identities across the board: Anti-racist work does not stop in history and social studies classrooms. Students need to learn from non-white voices in every subject in order to become informed, respectful, and socially-conscious change-makers of the world. A few suggestions are:

  • Assign books and readings written by Black authors and other authors of color. From what I can recall, it it rare to read a book by a woman, let alone a person of color.

  • Invite guest speakers of color to discuss topics that white teachers might not be able to address well or that would not be appropriate for them to teach. It is crucial that we not only learn about cultures/events/people outside of white America but also that we hear from folx whose identities match those that we learn about. This would also allow students of color to feel more represented in leadership positions.

  • Require bias training facilitated by outside professionals for all staff. As humans, we carry internal, sometimes unconscious biases against groups that we perceive as different than us. The danger of being biased as an educator is that those biases are likely to be noticed and internalized by students, whether intentionally or not. Educators should have to recognize, acknowledge, and work to unlearn their own biases before being trusted to help form young minds.

  • Actively recruit more educators and staff members of color. Having few teachers of color in the classroom and at faculty meetings negatively impacts not only feelings of belonging for students of color but also how things are taught and how higher-level decisions are made. It is impossible to claim true diversity if the school’s decision-makers are inordinately white.

  • Encourage educators to correct offensive and racist behaviors of students and fellow educators. There are a lot of actions that school-age children engage in that are completely inappropriate. Uses of racial slurs, "jokes," accents and other racially-motivated behaviors are commonplace and teachers often let them fly without comment. I am not suggesting that educators infiltrate every student space with a hyper-vigilance for offensive comments but rather that when they do witness them, they take the opportunity to correct, educate, and hopefully help create anti-racist young people who are armed with knowledge that older generations may not have had access to.

Perhaps you have not yet adopted an anti-racist curriculum for political reasons. Perhaps it is because it is too difficult a process to change entire curriculums. Or perhaps it is because, like so many other Americans, you have had the privilege of ignorance. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others are disturbing but, unfortunately, not unique in and of themselves. What is unique about them, though, is the awakening of people all over the country and world to the injustice and inequity that exists for people of color, particularly Black people. In that same vein, I urge you to look past the politics and red tape that may accompany adopting an anti-racist curriculum.

This is not about politics; it is about human rights and human lives.

To close, I will quote author and race scholar, Ibram X. Kendi:

"What's the problem with being 'not racist?' It is a claim that signifies neutrality: 'I am not a racist, but neither am I aggressively against racism.' But there is no neutrality in the racism struggle. The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'anti-racist.' What's the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an anti-racist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist.'"

― Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist

With Hope for the Future,

(Your Name)

Below you will find the electronic signatures of community members who support the measures listed above.*

Co-Signers *(paper/digital signatures can be gathered or you can create an online petition (e.g. Change.org) for your school / district / community)

1.

2.

3.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Resources

In addition to the linked resources above, I have included the following resources to aid in your education and implementation of an anti-racist curriculum. These have been gathered with input from community members and professionals in the fields of education, public health, and anti-racism work:

| LINKS |

• ** Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth (This is an amazing free curriculum plan broken down into modules with suggested readings, assignments, and reflection questions. It could be a great starting point for figuring out how to incorporate this content into the classroom.)

• Educational Resources Regarding Race

• Becoming Upended: Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families

• ** Books to Teach White Children and Teens How to Undo Racism and White Supremacy (A large collection of texts in varying age ranges, most which focus on modern-day issues of racism and racial justice)

• Don't Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms webinar

• ** Black History Month Resource Guide for Educators and Families (Includes lesson plans compiled by Black educators and nuances of inclusion)

• Anti-Racist Literature Starter Kit

• Being Biracial in a Mostly White Town: this is Just a Glimpse into my Story (Written by Felicia Jordan of S.E.E. CT.)

• ** A Collection of Resources for Anti-Racist Self-Education: Non-Optical Accompliceship Toolkit (A massive collection of readings in different genres, topics, and forms, films, videos, podcasts, plays, etc.)

| BOOKS |

The first 17 books listed are specifically for educating younger / school-aged children

(For a breakdown of age ranges, please see: Vogue's "17 Books About Racial Inequality for Young Readers" )

1. A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara

2. Antiracist Baby by Ibram X Kendi and illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky

3. An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing and illustrated by Paulina Morgan

4. Enough! 20 Protestors Who Changed America by Emily Easton and illustrated by Ziyue Chen

5. The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

6. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o and illustrated by Vashti Harrison

7. Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard and illustrated by Jennifer Zivion

8. Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L Browne with Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood and illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

9. We Rise We Resist We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson

10. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

11. Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

12. A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

13. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

14. Say Her Name by Zetta Elliot

15. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi

16. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

17. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

The following books are for adult learning (not in any specified order, as all are essential reading):

• Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham

• The Skin I’m In: A first look at Racism by Pat Thomas and Lesley Harker

• Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester and Karen Barbour

• The Colors of Us by Karen Katz

• Brick by Brick by Giuliano Ferri

• All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color by Katie Kissinger

• The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler

• Shades of People by Shelley Rotner

• Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

• Who We Are!: All About Being the Same and Being Different (Let’s Talk about You and Me) by Robie Harris

• We Are All Born Free (Mini Edition): The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures by Amnesty International

• Helping Teens Stop Violence, Build Community and Stand for Justice by Allan Creighton

• Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development by Enid Lee

• Making It Right: Building Peace and Settling Conflict by Marilee Peters

• Hip Hop Wars by Tricia Rose

• White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

• How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

• Custer Died for your Sins by Vine Deloria, Jr.

• Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt

• A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

• A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (free digital version: https://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html)

• A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki, adapted by Rebecca Stetoff

• Asian-American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People by Helen Zia

• It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop: The Rise of the Post-Hip-Hop Generation by M.K. Asante, Jr.

• Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang

• Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity by Winona Guo, Priya Vulchi

• They Called Us Enemies by George Takei

[ Original letter written by Cailyn Carr of SEE: Solidarity | Equity | Education ]