Addendum, addendum

Now that I have completed my district's two-day introductory racial equity in education training, I have more thoughts. So, here goes part 2 of my reflection on the training. (Here is the link for Part 1.)

I feel that my biggest challenge lies in the chasm between my grasp of the systemic reality as well as interpersonal manifestations of racism and my practice in the classroom. In other words, I have been studying how racism works and impacts people for some time now, but am not necessarily sure how this knowledge translates into practical, effective teaching strategies resulting in equity and success for all my students.

The authors of the book Courageous Conversations identify the elements key to anti-racist leadership in the field of education. They write:

To be equity centered is to internally convert personal racism to anti-racist leadership. In the absence of this conversion, the individual will be left with a persisting dilemma of a transformed conceptual framework with little practical application and tangible results. . . Anti-racist leadership is not just playing a role; it is a deeply transforming personal experience. This work impacts everything an educator is and all she or he does. . .

To not be involved and engaged in equity work is to perpetuate institutionalized racism. There is no non-racist place--you are either anti-racist or perpetuating the racism that already exists. All potential anti-racist leaders must find within themselves how racism is affecting them, personally, on a daily basis. They must then create their own personal and internal strategy that provides instruction on how to address their own individual racism. Having satisfied these prerequisites, they can engage with colleagues in discovering strategies to examine and eradicate inequities and racism in the classroom, school, district, and institutionalized levels.

Finding passion for equity, developing equitable classroom practices, and being persistent in this work are the key components of and guiding strategy for anti-racist leaders.

I would argue that the process described above is not necessarily consecutive or linear. If we wait until we think we have become experts on how racism affects us and others, we may never make it to the phase that requires us to take action, so I believe our own development continues as we step up into leadership in our own lives.

Also, our own personal anti-racist strategy will continue to change and evolve with time and circumstance. And most importantly, we have to practice kindness and trust with each other and ourselves, allowing for missteps and honest dialogue to keep each other accountable. What if we keep reminding ourselves and each other to do this work from a place of love, care and trust? Now, wouldn't that be something?

The experience that haunts me most from the equity training this week, is something a colleague said to me during our discussion when I mentioned that I have noticed that much of the discourse centered around the achievement and experiences of students of color seemed negative and based on a deficiency model.

My coworker said that too often there is a need to alleviate everyone's discomfort. She shared her frustration, expressly naming this as a frustration other people of color feel as well with white denial, which often translates into the wish for white people to feel the pain of racism and for them to linger in that experience for a while, at least during these race-focused trainings.

Because we, the workshop participants, had more opportunities to talk through ideas and share our thinking with each other on the second day, I realized that for many of the white educators in the room this was one of the first times they ever encountered some of the ideas and terminology dealing with racism. I find that hard to believe, but that's the reality of living in a majority white state and in a supposedly progressive city with one of the highest white populations. White privilege in such an environment makes it easy for white people to not have to think about issues of race and to face their own racism.

I don't want to sound uppity, because there is so much I am still grappling with myself, but I do share some of my colleague's frustration about white people's denial and lack of insight into the experience of people of color in this society.

The best part about the training was what happened during breaks, which was networking. I took the time to approach several seasoned professionals. Our conversations were cordial and fruitful. These relationships are what I need to grow and feel supported and sustained as a professional.