The Second Line Blog

How’s a Black Kid to Feel?

 


For myself, growing up in New Orleans, I didn’t know what overt racism was.  For the record, I have had white teachers.  Homegrown, but white nonetheless, and they served as my only frame of reference of white people.  It wasn’t until I traveled 45 minutes North to Hammond, LA for college at Southeastern University that I experienced first hand what racism truly looked like.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was an enlightening experience, but things settled and I moved forward.  Then, fast forward to eight years later to July 13, 2013 – it was the beginning of me becoming overwhelmed.

One month before the birth of my son, my black son, I sat, fixated on my television.  Troubled.  Anxiously anticipating the verdict of the Trayvon Martin’s accused murderer. I’d assumed things were different, so there was no reason his accuser wouldn’t be held responsible for murdering an innocent young boy right?  “NOT GUILTY.”

The heartbreak, fear, anger, and confusion I felt in that very moment remains impossible to capture in words. I remember holding my pregnant belly and feeling pain and feeling empathy for his parents and all parents who would now be a little more afraid their black sons may not make it home to them each night.  Unfortunately, stories of black lives cut short and/or being reduced to worthlessness are becoming all too common now.

I grow weary watching the news.  I grow angry watching the injustices and anticipating the next breaking news alert, the next mother wrapped in grief during a press conference, the next high profile bigot brought onto a national network to debate controversial views for ratings, and worst of all, the mindless and insensitive rants and raves of #45 (whom I refuse to acknowledge as president) blasting across my television and my social media accounts.

I grow concerned for what our children perceive and understand to be normal.  

  • Do they even understand what is taking place in the world they exist in?  (Most of my high school students are more concerned with which girls like them and Lil Uzi Vert.)
  • Should we continue to shield them (keep them ignorant) to protect them?
  • Should we enlighten and expose them to protect them?

Interestingly, I know my white educator colleagues feel pressure during these times to do no harm, but the irony is I feel it even more.  How do I keep up the act of reminding my students they are beautiful, intelligent and worthwhile, when I am feeling worn down?  I don’t have the answers, but for now and more than ever, I’m motivated to strengthen my faith so when tasked with having to provide an explanation, I can continue to spread love and help them believe that despite the current and unfortunate events taking place, they do matter.

Under Control

The Orleans Parish School Board will welcome nine schools back from the Recovery School District.  FirstLine charter school network is also sending schools back to the control of the Orleans Parish School Board.
“If they’re [charter management organizations] going to be accountable, they need to have control over the key levers that will lead to good outcomes for students.”
Read more here

Freedom From White Supremacy Comes With A Reexamination of Our Education System

 

We were educated in the disease of white supremacy. It is time we realize this education is not good enough for our children. In order to expose the lies, embrace the truth and to give our children a more progressive education, there has to be a deliberate and collective effort for change.

                                           -L.J. Douglas

If you think it is cool to drop your feelings about Charlottesville and then jump onto the next trending topic on social media, you are part of the problem. If you think giving condolences to Heather Heyer, her family, and to the many individuals who were injured in the horrific domestic terrorist attack is enough, you are part of the problem. If you believe letting this domestic terrorist attack be the focal point of the media for a few days before we resume business as normal when this was one of the most crucial terrorist attacks on American soil, you are part of the problem and you should stop wasting your time.

I truly believe parents, educators, and administrators around the nation should use these most recent events on our soil as a way to open up the door to change education for our younger generation.  They should be taught the information shared by these hate groups is misleading and derogatory, to say the least.

White supremacy wasn’t just the physical capture, owning, and selling of other human beings, but it was the systematic and deliberate installation of information and untruths that contributed to brainwashing, confusion, and the intentional rewriting of history. It is woven into the DNA of this nation and that DNA is worn as a quilt of comfort even by those who claim to despise white supremacy and to be on our side.

We have arrived here, at this point in history, because we have accommodated white supremacy. Where were we during the rise of these Neo Fascist, Neo Nazi, and so called White Nationalists? Are we going to sit idly by on the sidelines and be cool just as long as it doesn’t come to our doorstep?

White Supremacy is a learned behavior and I am not going to sit and be silent while a faction of this country wants to see it function again like the days of Jim Crow and Reconstruction. Some people say these monuments and symbols are not hurting anyone. I think they should be mindful and educate themselves on the history and placement of these monuments. An article in The Atlantic gives proof of blatant disrespect to the civil rights movement by the strategic placement of many monuments:

A timeline of the genesis of the Confederate sites shows two notable spikes. One comes around the turn of the 20th century, just after Plessy v. Ferguson, and just as many Southern states were establishing repressive race laws. The second runs from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s—the peak of the civil-rights movement. In other words, the erection of Confederate monuments has been a way to perform cultural resistance to black equality.

White Supremacy is on the rise again. Really, it has never gone anywhere.  This past Friday, we witnessed a Klan march and rally with foul individuals who didn’t even bother to mask up and I suspect that’s because many who claim to be on the side of righteousness are not speaking up.

So what do we do?

Baby boomers to IGen(Gen Z) must decide what side they are on. The side of the just individuals or the side of systemic evil. It is a decision many people were faced with yesteryear and as far as I’m concerned there is only one right choice. We must proceed to educate one another and learn through unconventional methods of today.  Our past generations paved the way with blood, sweat, tears, and some with their lives.

We must bring our children to council meetings, PTA meetings, city planning meetings, and involve them in the civic duties that come to every citizen once they become of age.  Civic engagement must become a frequented occurrence for our children in order to teach them vividly in living color the ends and outs of prejudice, racism, bigotry, and supremacy. Parents must instill positive information and not shield and protect our children from the horrors of the world. I have heard so many times since Friday’s horrific march, “How do I explain this to my children?” My answer is slowly, thoughtfully, and completely with the utmost of compassion. Schools must reinforce the information from home while simultaneously weeding out and exposing the falsehoods and lies taught to us in the past. White supremacy can only be educated away. Education is constant, but somewhere along the way, we thought we made it and got over. Consistency is a crucial component.  Give thanks for the awakening and EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE!

Eclipsing the School Day

Several Catholic Schools in the New Orleans area are closing on the day of the eclipse, while others are requiring permission slips and special glasses for students to view the eclipse.  School officials are concerned about damage to the students’ eyes if they look directly at the sun during the event.
“Catholic school eclipse guidelines instruct students to never look at the sun or take a picture of the sun during the eclipse, which ‘can cause serious damage to their eyes or even blindness.'”

Read more here

An Open Letter to the Educators of Charlottesville

By 

To my fellow educators in Charlottesville, VA, my heart is with you. We do not know why your city was chosen for this tragedy, but let’s not harp on the negative.  Let’s instead say your city was chosen to be a beacon of hope. The same way that Watts, Ferguson, and Detroit was chosen before you. The events in those cities, tragic as they were, opened our eyes. Now, it is your city’s turn. It is your city that has shone a light on the bigotry and the hatred we are trying to eliminate from our country.

All weekend, we watched the horror of the events that claimed the life of a woman and two officers. Our hearts ache for their families, who will not have their loved ones anymore. My heart also aches for you, my fellow educators, and how you must now move forward in your schools and classrooms.

I cannot imagine what it must feel like to experience such a tragedy in my city. I cannot imagine having individuals whose hearts are filled with hate use my city as a rally for their racist agenda. I cannot imagine having individuals chanting racist words marching with tiki torches on a college campus we as educators hope our students will attend one day. I cannot imagine what you are dealing with in your classrooms today in response to the horrific events of this past weekend, but I hope you are dealing with these events in your classrooms. I am sure your students are going to want to discuss what happened. You owe it to them to have the open dialogue.

To my educators of Charlottesville, it is imperative you address these conversations head on. I say this because it was some school or some educator that failed to educate these white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Now, they have fallen off the path towards peace and hope and are sprinting down a cliff of hatred and violence. I’m not asking you to do something I’m not willing to do; I plan to address this with my students as well.

Our students must understand there is absolutely no place in our country for this type of hatred. Unfortunately, the individual in the White House would not acknowledge these individuals by name, but you must inform your students the cause of this pain and inform them the voices behind this hatred are white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists. Label these individuals and do not allow your students to be confused. This was nothing more than a terror attack on our country. This was not violence by many sides, but violence from one side. Also, let them know the city they call home does not condemn this type of rhetoric or violence.

We have these conversations with our students to ensure their minds do not become corrupted with this type of hatred. Schools can help eliminate this bigotry and hatred in the minds of many people. This can only happen when we have conversations about it.

Remember, you can’t be who you don’t see. Our students do not see enough heroes. We need to show them more heroes. Show them the countless individuals who fight and fought for equal rights. Make sure your students do not forget the names of Heather D. Heyer, Lt. H Jay Cullen, and Berke M.M. Bates. Their names should be immortalized like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. These heroes lost their life due to the horrific events of the weekend.

To my educators in Charlottesville, we all stand with you. We will do our part to educate our scholars that this is not America. I know your job is already hard and it just became a little harder. Luckily being a teacher makes you a superhero and teaching is your superpower. Use that superpower, like you do everyday, to educate your students and spread the message of peace and love.

Sincerely a fellow educator,

David

Open Letter to James Alex Fields Jr.

Dear James,

I resisted my own idea of writing to you, but you are the key to the questions that are circulating in my mind:

  • How could this have happened?
  • How did we find ourselves in such an ugly place in 2017?  
  • How did you find yourself at this place, as the perpetrator of this horrific event this weekend in Charlottesville?

As a person of color, I know the answer to these questions. I have never doubted the answer.  I know the historic patterns of racism and hatred in this country have not fully played out.  I know they will likely continue for years to come because of the path of destruction that began with its founding.  This is as simple as science—the law of cause and effect (which I call karma) and the law of motion that an object in motion tends to stay in motion.  As a nation, we have been on this trajectory for a long time and we can still see the effects of slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, and other forms of institutional racism, and oppression.  It was embedded into the very fabrics and ethos of our nation.  On November 3, 2016, I wasn’t completely surprised. I was disappointed, afraid, disgusted, sad, but not shocked.  I knew what this country has been and what it is, even though I had hoped we could be better. These same feelings have arisen many times throughout my life. They have always been there, sometimes as a gentle ebb; other times, they are like a roaring tidal wave. They have come again and again in the past few years each time I read about another Black man or Black woman shot by police. They visited again this weekend when I read about the events in Charlottesville.

These first two questions are on my mind not because I do not have the answers, but because I think you do not James.  I don’t believe you have any understanding of the horrors that white people have committed against Native Americans and African-Americans.  Assuming you are capable of empathy, I imagine if you truly understood, you would see how the effects of slavery and genocide have continued on throughout the years and how they have left their imprints on the lives and psyche of your fellow brothers and sisters even today.  I fault our culture and our education system for this.  America is too immature in the way we want to move on, grow quickly, and not look back or think too far ahead. We are a teenager of a country, unwilling to look deeply at our actions and their consequences.  

In Germany, there are thousands of cobblestone-sized memorials on the sidewalks throughout the city. They mark where Jews and other Holocaust victims were murdered or taken away, never to be seen again.  There are also numerous larger monuments that express guilt, grief, and sorrow over the Holocaust.  At the former concentration camp Dahau, there is a monument with the words, “Never Again.” These monuments are not just symbolic of an acknowledgment of the wrongs, but of a determination to never repeat them. This is public education.  I can only imagine what they teach in their schools to have each and every student fully understand the horrors of what happened.  Of course, there are still consequences of the past and still hate and Nazism in different forms in Germany, but there are also more opportunities to overcome this hatred as a collective.

I also imagine, James, that you have no concept of the way this ideology of hatred, dehumanization, and inhumanity was instilled in our institutions as well as those monuments you sought to protect at the rally in Charlottesville.  I have listened to Richard Spencer, the alt-right leader from whom you likely seek wisdom and guidance.  He has neither of these. Wisdom is in compassion and compassion comes from understanding. He has neither compassion nor understanding of the marginalization and suffering of communities of color in the U.S.  He is locked in fear and anger that comes from his belief that America is trying to annihilate him and his way of life as a white man, and to force him to give up his identity.  He is so caught in his own fear and his own narrative he’s unable to see that his identity, his whiteness, was a fiction that was created and that must be discarded if we are to move forward together as a nation. At its simplest, white is not about race, but access to wealth.

I’m guessing you feel this fear too James. I was genuinely shocked by a poll that showed Trump supporters believe that average, working-class white Americans are getting less than their fair share and that Black Americans have gotten a bit too much.  Yet, as a woman of color, on a very deep level, I understood this feeling of disempowerment. I have often felt my identity is under attack. It feels like the threat of death. In this mode of thinking, one suffers tremendously. There is no space for joy, love, and compassion. I myself wasted a lot of my life, a lot of my time, energy, and thoughts on feeding this fear and anger when I could have been putting that energy into becoming more fully myself.  For you, the consequences of your lack of understanding and compassion were much higher. You have now taken the life of another, injured others, and wasted your own life in the process.

What surprises me about Richard Spencer, white nationalists, and so probably you, is that you do not want us to live together, all the races united. White nationalists want to conquer, to dominate, to rule.  I also see that even those who do not directly express this wish in their speech, do so in their actions.  I find this sad because one must be in a state of fear and greed to believe this is necessary. One must see the world in terms of lack instead of abundance. What we often do not discuss is when this nation’s forefathers bought and sold people, the price these white owners paid was their own humanity. In dehumanizing another, one dehumanizes one’s self. Many of our wise elders, including Martin Luther King Jr., have reminded us that, “hate destroys the hater.”  It is sad to see that your path of self-destruction has led to the taking of a beautiful life, a young woman who wanted us to live together united in love and compassion.

What is also sad to me is that you do not see that you and many others like you are simply pawns.  That these white nationalist groups, Richard Spencer, and even our President are playing upon your fear and anger to achieve their own goals. It’s always about money and power and they do not plan to give you either.  They simply feed your negative emotions and your righteous story for their own benefit.  So while President Trump gives a subtle nod to your side, when he tells the nation, “there is hatred and bigotry ‘on many sides’ you may want to ask yourself, “What are you really achieving by blaming others?  Does it help you get a job? Does it help you pay the hospital bills? Does it help you buy a birthday present for your child?”

In a very ironic way, Trump is right that there is hate on many sides, but certainly not in the way he has in mind or that you have in mind.  He is right that we all have hate and violence in us. If you look very closely at history and present-day facts, you cannot ignore which groups have been systematically and institutionally privileged and oppressed and how that privilege was gained through genocide, slavery, and other forms of oppression.

In the end, this is not just a letter to you, James, although you are the most extreme form of this lack of understanding. This is also a letter to all white people who do not understand that although there is hatred and bigotry “on many sides” we need to focus our attention on where it is manifesting with power and strength and the support of our institutions. Maybe then you will understand why we must continue to shout and hold up signs that, “Black Lives Matter.”  To resist injustice is neither hatred nor violence; it is love.

I urge you, and all us, to really look at the roots of the hatred, the roots of this problem we are in today and how we got where we are – how you got where you are.  I am sure if we look with love and compassion we will find the answers to the questions I have posed.  Unfortunately, there is not much hope for us if you and other white people do not awaken to the history and reality, and to the love and compassion that must overcome wealth and greed. No matter our race, each one of us has a responsibility. Each one of us must also look at these roots within us. Then, and only then, will we begin to move forward, to erect monuments that express regret instead of glorification of the past, and to have forms of public education and an education system that teaches our nation, and our nation’s children to do and be better.  

ACT Scores Remain Level

The ACT scores for New Orleans are in, and the average score of 18.9 among the schools remains primarily the same as 2016.  This score allows for students to gain college entrance.
“Louisiana’s public high schools are judged in part on ACT scores. Students also get into colleges and receive TOPS scholarships based partly on those scores.” 

Read more here 

We’re Not Here for the Placebo Effect

While attending a panel discussion on educational leadership given by the Alliance for Diversity & Excellence earlier this year, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing thoughts about the charter school movement from Dr. Howard Fuller. He said the charter movement wasn’t designed to be what it is shaping up to be in my city of New Orleans. He spoke of a charter movement that was intended to empower parents who were disenfranchised and not satisfied with the traditional public school system. He also said charter schools were to give teachers the autonomy to use methods they believed would work outside of the bureaucracy of a school board and when those teachers gained knowledge of the efficiency of those new practices and strategies, they could share that information with traditional public schools in an attempt to implement innovative and creative practices that are more beneficial to children’s learning. Imagine two entities that truly want to add to the progress of education working together for a more sufficient future in pedagogical practices.  

I recently sat down and listened to a very healthy dialogue between Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig and Dr. Howard Fuller, the conversation brought about a stance from Dr. Fuller I agreed with.  

“I don’t think that charter schools are a panacea, anymore than I think the traditional school district is. My perspective is how is it that we use these various options, and I happen to be a person who supports traditional school districts, and I do agree that we should be trying to fight to make sure all of our children are fully funded. I think the problem is that we are forced into these false choices that you have to choose between charter schools and traditional schools and private schools. My view is that the three sectors should all be available to all children, particularly children from low income and working class families.”

It is that ideology of working together and not apart that speaks to me – trying something away from the beaten path and then bringing it back to advance a collective of schools and educators to benefit everyone. Those events led me to my thoughts about a recent The 74 article about charter schools making traditional schools better merely by their presence in the same building or their proximity to a traditional public school.

Temple University assistant professor Sarah Cordes researched and developed seven findings listed in 74’s article, “When Charter Schools Open, Neighboring Schools Get Better: A New Study Finds 7 Reasons Why.” However there are several quotes from the research that has me as a father and concerned education advocate asking questions of whether this study is aligned with educators in both charter and traditional schools and reform proponents and parents working toward a better education system in our communities, cities, and ultimately nationwide.

“Just the presence of an alternative does it,” Cordes told The 74 in a far-ranging interview. “It doesn’t really matter how great that alternative is — it’s just the fact that that alternative is there, it’s in the building, and people see it every day.”

Wait, what? I have literally read that quote about fifty times mulling over its meaning, dissecting it, and trying to find a single positive outcome that I could come up with about that quote and I have nothing. The quote is very unsettling to me and nearly offensive. No, your presence alone is not enough to make my child receive a better education. It also borders on the practice of experimentation that gives charters a bad image in the public’s eye. I don’t simply want the presence of something – a charter placebo – to see what effect it will have on teachers and children in low income and high poverty areas. If you are not about doing the groundwork that it is going to take to turns things around, then you should turn around and never come back into any neighborhood.  If quality education is not your goal then you shouldn’t be involving yourself in the business of education.

In our communities, low income and children in poverty can and should only benefit from studies and research that describes how to make a partnership between educators from any and all sectors of education better. Newsflash – Many children don’t care about the charter vs traditional school argument. The only reason for a charter to enter the same neighborhood or building as a traditional school should be to further the educational landscape directly and not by some indirect chance occurrence.

I reached out to some of the other parents in my circle and we had good dialogue and conversation about this article. We believe, as earlier described, a charter system that is intended to advance education, work with children and families as well as educators from traditional schools is the only way to empower parents. We agree having better schools and education is a true benefit, but we disagree with sending institutions into our communities that don’t come to be great from the onset and honestly we have seen many charter schools this article seems to describe. This “Savior Mentality” that is described in that study and research is exactly what education is not about and I nominate that we bury that mentality once and for all.