Difficulty of Racial Discourse in the Classroom

As a graduate of Spelman College, I have become very comfortable with speaking about race in any environment. Before coming to Spelman College, I was not aware that race is a social construct and not a biological factor. In the Spelman College environment, it was enlightening to have racial discourse in the classroom. The professors challenged us to understand our racial identity individually and our racial identity within the context of white America. As a student in Toni Morrison seminar, my head popped, when I read Toni Morrison's, Playing in the Dark. I learned that the presence of blackness is in every arena, although others that are racists attempt to erase every inkling of presence of blackness; their efforts even more enforce the presence of blackness. This is extremely powerful in many ways because no matter how much we try to become color blind to other races, that have been constructed by human beings, our very blindness will only make their race resonate even more.

So as an educator, it is imperative that I do not pretend to be color blind to many color hues that are present within my classroom. I can not be silent about the racism that is covert but breathing in every aspect of the world. But when I chose to talk about race, and its tension, and difficulties, I must approach it in a productive way. Even it is challenging and uncomfortable, we must address it. If I don't address it, I subconsciously demonstrate to my students that racism is alright!

So I have decided to teach the autobiographical novel Kaffir Boy, to of course talk about race, but to build apathy for the importance of education for all of my students. The population of my students is predominantly African American, Hispanic, and a very small percentage of Whites. I spent weeks building background knowledge about the South African Apartheid, and its impacts on the races involved. My one white student, was not present during this introduction, so he was not aware of the content of the book. After his first encounter with the novel, I received a very racist email on his or his father's behalf about their racist opinions concerning Black people and the dominance of Whites over Blacks.

As an educator, I had to ensure that I addressed the issue in a productive way! Of course, there were many thoughts that went through my head upon receiving the email. However, it demonstrated the impact that silence of racial discourse in the classroom and in our communities has on children. Our children are socialized human beings and in many cases educators are left to address the issues of racism in our classrooms. An overarching question should be, "Should teachers be left to fight this battle of racism alone?" So many questions go through my mind: "Is it our job to address race in the classroom?" "At what age?" "How do you continue to conduct the discourse even when there is tension in the classroom?"

Of course I don't have all the answers, but some solutions that I do have is that, you must create a community of learners within your classroom. Building a community is extremely difficult and it is time consuming, but it is a must if racial discourse in the classroom will be productive. Productivity is the key! Racial discourse should not be utilized to insult other races, but we must express our deepest emotions, fears, and thoughts in order to move on to discussing productive ways of dealing with racism. The tension in the classroom is inevitable, but the productivity takes place during and after the tension. Lastly, you have to look yourself in the mirror, physically, spiritually, and personally and face your racist thoughts! You have to face your insecurities in talking about race in general, before you attempt to address them in the classroom. There will be times when you will be uncomfortable, but it is a part of the process.

What will you do as an educator/individual to alleviate racism?