As an equity consultant, I often get asked by people who experience some type of privilege: “but what can I do to help?”
Here it is, folks. Concrete, timely, and relevant opportunities for us to continue to stand up for historically marginalized and oppressed people. A chance for us to continue to apply everything we have been learning in our book clubs and social media posts to what is happening in our real lives.
I know that it can be daunting and scary. We might make some people mad which could make us feel rejected and uncomfortable and we might even become their new target which could make our lives more difficult. But we need to quit expecting marginalized folks to be the only people who are standing up for themselves. If any true change is to occur, everyone who experiences some type of privilege needs to start jumping into the ring more and be willing to take some risks.
Since the word “advocate” comes from the latin word “advocare,” which means “add a voice,” advocacy can only be demonstrated through our public words and actions. We need to keep moving beyond the posts and the conversations and continue to put ourselves on the front lines. We need to take some of the heat off of the folks who are already doing this work.
Educators are just some of the folks who have been taking a public beating when they advocate for equity. There are a lot of ways that you can support their work and here are a few timely examples.
The 2020 Minnesota State Teacher of the Year, Qorhso Hassan, read the book Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice, to her fourth grade students at Echo Park Elementary in Burnsville, Minnesota, on October 29th, 2020. This is a book that “follows two families — one [w]hite, one Black — as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives.” It is important to keep in mind that Burnsville is only miles from where George Floyd was murdered; these are students who have been directly exposed to the topics discussed in the book.
A parent complained to the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association who then wrote a public response to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz requesting that the book be removed from the list of state-provided resources. As reported in The Pioneer Press (10/30/20), “‘The book in question won multiple awards and was authored by psychologists seeking to help children process a difficult set of issues,’ spokespeople for the [MN] Education and Health departments said in a statement Friday. ‘It presents several complete conversations, as voiced by different characters, that many kids have likely heard in different parts of their lives.’”
This could have been an opportunity for the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association to partner with Hassan and to build more bridges instead of trying to silence her anti-racist teaching.
Hassan is planning on continuing to teach Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice, and the principles of racial justice and racial identity.
“When I speak about not just attracting, but retaining teachers of color- this is it. Our school district has this foundation of diversity, equity, and cultural proficiency, but they will not support a Black and anti-racist teacher who is using tools that are culturally inclusive,” Hassan said. “Young black kids know that they are Black and know the connotations of being black in America before they start school.” She wants to know why she is being ostracized, attacked, devalued, and disrespected. She deserves support from her district and to not feel tokenized for amplifying marginalized voices.
In addition to not feeling supported by her district, Hassan is also surprised that the local union president sent an email of support to the members, but has yet to publicly stand behind her. The union’s Social Justice Committee, however, is supporting a protest organized by Dakota County United Educators’ Union to support Hassan.
To support Hassan, here is what we can do: contact District 196’s School Board and superintendent, Mary Kreger, of District 196 and tell them we support Ms. Hassan and that we demand that the district shows her support as well. And, if you are in MN, you can attend a protest today at 4:30 PM at 3455 153rd Street West, Rosemount, MN to let the Superintendent and School Board know that they need to back their pledge for diversity and equity with their actual actions by openly and enthusiastically supporting Qorsho as a Black, Muslim, Somali-American, anti-racist teacher.
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In Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, school librarians put up a display in the high school library featuring “flags,quotes, and books” to educate students and staff members about LGBTQ+ folx. As school board member, Timothy Nitcznski, said "’If you're going to go down that road, I feel that we should have KKK month, or I feel that we should have white supremacy month,’ … Nitcznski disagreed with what he referred to as the ‘rainbow in the library.’”
Comparing LGBTQ+ identities to people who choose to belong to hate groups is beyond misinformed. It is xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, and causes harm.
Fortunately, Superintendent, Patti Cross, and Board President, Kimberly Phillips, are proposing that their “school board members take sensitivity and diversity training.” We can reach out to them and let them know we agree with their stance. And we can let School Board member, Timothy Nitcznski, know that we do not agree with his prejudicial and discriminatory words (via the Superintendent: crospatr@sulcosd.k12.pa.us).
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In Burlington, Wisconsin, Melissa Statz taught her fourth grade students about the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha and that Black Lives Matter. Statz was attacked and harassed by thousands of community members, parents, and school board members. And while the Superintendent, Stephen Plank, initially communicated neutrality, he grew from the experience and later said, “‘I see how my perspective was offensive and understand that there is no neutrality when pursuing equity,’ Plank said in the letter. ‘The fact that we even need to specifically say that Black Lives Matter to affirm the importance of human beings is to say that we as a nation have not done a good job of regarding Black and brown people as valuable members of our society historically or currently.’”
We can show support by emailing Superintendent Plank and informing him that he did the right thing by supporting his teacher, and that we also believe that Black Lives Matter.
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These are just a few examples of the daily battles educators are facing when they try to stand up for themselves and for their students. This is why so many marginalized educators have resigned and continue to resign from K-12 teaching, because it is exhausting to do this work on our own. We need everyone who cares about supporting historically marginalized and oppressed human to put their thoughts of advocacy into action.
