This is the 3rd of our blogs today about our black students and I'm interested in the comments on this. What is the intersection of school and society? Are we really doing anything in school that helps our black students when they leave school? I'd argue very little. How they behave at school reflects how they behave outside, and if we're not supporting them here, we are hurting them out there. Referrals aren't the solution. We need to find a better way. Read more after the jump.
In society - More of our students end up in jail or dead than their counterparts. Why? Because the school systems release our black students into the wild with no skills or options. Is it their own fault they didn't learn? Partially, but the rebellion in the classroom reflects their rebellion against their circumstances, which presents itself post-graduation as a rebellion against the structures that reinforce their positions of powerlessness. They have felt helpless, some of them, since they could feel anything. People whom are acted upon instead of actors. They talk to the police the way they talk to us with very different, much more devastating results, and I don't blame the police entirely. We don't teach our students respect for authority, the reality of consequences, or culturally responsiveness. We owe it to our students to show them and teach them to understand a world outside of theirs. Black lives matter, so black students matter. If that's true, then educating them shouldn't' be an option, it should be a mandate. If a student needs consequences to learn, we need to give those to them. Protect our students with education. Nurture them with love and understanding. Inspire them with compassion and investment. That's how you show our students that black lives matter. Not with a t-shirt and a hashtag, but with honest, authentic engagement.
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