Affirmative Action: Remedy or Racist? Recent actions by the Trump Administration and the pending resignation of Anthony Kennedy from the Supreme Court have brought into question the status of affirmative action, the set of federal policies instituted by John F. Kennedy to counteract centuries of discrimination against specific minorities in American society. Affirmative action was […]
white privilege
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Representation Matters in the Classroom
By Stacey O’Connor When I was 24, with two years of public school teaching under my belt, I started working at one of the largest urban public schools in Connecticut. This district serves over 21,000 students. 100% of these students qualify for free or reduced lunch. In terms of racial makeup, 11% identify as white, […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Teaching Black Consciousness and White Privilege
One matter we have gotten over very quickly as a country is the notion, beginning in 2008 and carried throughout the Obama presidency, that we now live in a “post-racial” society. Â The fact that an African American was twice-elected to the nation’s highest office gave rise to the idea that racial discord can now be […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, From the Front Lines
Reverberations of Injustice: Learning from Trayvon Martin's Death
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] Late one night, a young black teenager walked home from the corner store. He was dressed in the clothes popular to teenagers at the time, and though he missed his mom […]