11.16.22

There was no blog post last week. I simply didn’t have time to write it. Then when I did have time to write it I started it and I didn’t like it. 

I started reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson a few days ago. I had heard nothing but good things about it from several of my friends. I wasn’t feeling well last Sunday, so I found myself in urgent care. I swear I think I live in the doctor’s office. Since there was about an hour and a half wait I decided to finally crack open the book. After all, it had been sitting on my coffee table since August.

The book is searing to say the least. I am only fifty pages in and I am hooked. Be warned, it is a dense read. It provides insight into racism on a phenomenal level.

Like many other people of color, I work in a predominantly white environment. I am a public high school history teacher. I live in Cape Cod, MA. Many people have the misconception that the Cape is still predominantly white. Meanwhile our population has exploded in the past twenty years. We have a large Brazilian and Jamaican population in addition to other BIPOC students. We also have many students that are living below the poverty line, and some families are transient. At times, some kids drop out because they need to work to support their families. We educators struggle to serve all students and are working diligently to ensure equitable outcomes for our kids. 

And yet at times the community continues to not come to terms with the fact that the population living in this area has changed. There are many that are in denial. A few years ago I created and wrote the curriculum for a Black Studies course I teach. While many deeply recognize the need and wholeheartedly support it, there are some that do not believe it has value. They only believe that a Eurocentric history curriculum should be taught.

They say history is written by the winners. When you have had privilege your entire life it is difficult to look beyond your doorstep. However we have a responsibility to all our students to make sure that we are teaching inclusive stories that reflect the bodies that sit in our chairs in our classrooms. 

At our Superintendent’s request, I am currently a part of a team in our district exploring a teacher diversification initiative. Our team includes the Superintendent and several administrators as well as the head of human resources. It is part of a larger initiative by the state of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to increase teacher diversity in our state. Our team is seeking to attract, hire, and retain educators of color. Some of the questions we are looking for answers to are: How do we go about that? What are the obstacles? How do we evaluate our district? We are combing through our data and creating (hopefully) reachable goals.  Did you know that nationwide, only 20% of teachers are of color? In Massachusetts only 10% of the educators are of color. Now think about all of the black and brown kids enrolled in school in the U.S. -quite a startling fact isn’t it?

I don’t have time for racists. Overt racism isn’t okay. Microaggressions aren’t okay. Triggering behavior isn’t okay. Daily I try to be a safe space for many marginalized students, particularly Black students. They speak to me about how they feel about being Black in America. They are young and are struggling with their emotions. I am teaching them about boundaries and what it means to create safe spaces for themselves. We talk extensively about racial fatigue. They never knew they had it until I explained it to them. I taught them about post-traumatic slave syndrome. They never knew they had it until I told them. I tell them to take a break from social media and not to expose themselves to people/situations in which they may react emotionally. They need downtime from the constant exposure to racism.

Racism creates detrimental effects on BIPOC. Personally, I have trust issues. Often when I meet a person who is not of color, I question their motives. It takes me a long time to develop friendships. When I am in a new situation, a meeting, etc. I will look for a person of color or a woman first. If I see one or more then I am a little more at ease. I find that I always have this invisible armor that I wear, trying to shield and defend myself against racial attacks.

To be Black in America.

Till next week, stay dreadful my friends.