Equality 101

I had a student come into my acting class today and declare, “I was just the victim of racism.” This student is black, has an outstanding disposition towards race and a strong vision of his identity. He was not angry about it – more amused. I’ll recount his story as best I can.

During the passing period, he was walking through the hall with a comb in his hair – the handle of the comb was molded in the Black Power fist. Just outside his classroom, a dean asked him to remove the pick, which he did after telling the dean it wasn’t a pick, it was a comb. His teacher asked “what was that about?” The student told her the story, to which she responded “Maybe you should stop whining.” The student responded, “I’m not whining, I’m simply explaining what happened. We obviously grew up in different situations if you classify that as whining.” The teacher said, “You don’t know me,” to which the student responded, “You don’t know me.” The teacher then sent the student to the office.

I was not a direct witness to this event, but heard it from the student. It goes without saying that the description is probably a bit skewed coming from a student who was sent to the office. Regardless of the accuracy of the story, the ideas behind it warrant attention. The student’s comment about different backgrounds is something we as teachers deal with in each and every classroom, and it sometimes slips our minds. It is important we remember that our students are not mini-me’s, but individuals with their own histories and their own stories.

On a related note, I also heard a conversation today between a couple of history teachers about government class and how they can make it more engaging to students. They realize that government is not for everyone, and that while they indeed love government and studying it, not all students do. They were brainstorming strategies to reach those kids who have cast off government before even stepping into the classroom. That is what we must do as teachers – especially in classrooms where students have not chosen to be there (oh…a regular level high school junior English class for instance) and may have preconceived notions against that subject. We must step outside of our own thoughts and step into the students’ perspective, so we can truly teach all.