Closing out our year on educational
research, I’ve decided to review an immensely thoughtful book entitled The Guide
for White Women Who Teach Black Boys. This text is not expressly
research. However, it does reference a large body of research from within
the field of equity and race, and then complements it with testimonies from
teachers (both of color and White), commentaries by researchers, and
commentaries by many others who have been impacted or involved in the systems
of school.
The title
of the book itself is pretty catchy-- some might say provocative. But the
authors decided to be very upfront with who their audience would be and what
their purpose was. In the opening chapters they construct an argument
that establishes the tremendous inequities that exist in our system-- specifically
if you are a young Black boy. The authors intentionally use the term
“boy” over “men” to emphasize their youth, in a world that often depicts them
as much older and -- in many cases-- much more menacing and dangerous.
The book examines the disproportionate numbers of students of color who
are suspended, expelled, or “pushed out” of schools, their over representation
in special education classes, and their under representation in honors and AP
classes. They provide research showing that by the time Black children attend
school, they have already had “unfavorable, demeaning experiences with White
people, leading to feelings of holistic inferiority.” And they provide the most recent data
indicating that 82% of all teachers are White, and 62% of all teachers are White
women. The book argues that spotlighting White women teachers is
important for a number of reasons.
First, as
mentioned above, White women are collectively the largest single demographic of
active teachers. Therefore, any type of broadscale change will rest on
their collective shoulders. Second, as
author Heather Hackman explains, the historical relationship between White
women and young Black men / boys is one of the most complicated in our nation’s
history. They explain a little about the way that both groups have been
marginalized and how the intersection of sex and race was used to not only
objectify women, but to cast young Black men as predators. And third, the
authors explain that ultimately the types of thinking that will go into the process
of teaching Black boys will “scale up” to the general population as well.
The book
prepares the readers early on for some of the harsh realities it spotlights
later. It states that the purpose of the book is not to blame White
women-- or Black boys-- for the current state of education. It is not
saying that White women are bad people. In fact, it expressly states, “We
assume most teachers are good people who want the best for their students.”
So the issue is not one of overt choices we are generally making, but
rather a host of things we say or do that communicate a general narrative which
might be heard and understood differently by students.
Among other
concepts, it addresses some things we have discussed before in our own school.
Concepts like “colorblindness,” or the belief held by some that we can
treat all people the same regardless of their race. Of course, it is a
noble goal. Unfortunately, a wide body
of research indicates that this simply is not the case, even when we say it is.
In fact, an inability to recognize the identities of our students, some
of which are embedded in race, can render them invisible. Another concept that
we have discussed before, but which bares further study, is that of white
saviorism, or the deeply held belief that people of color need to be saved.
It’s a trope that has been popularized in movies and literature-- from
Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds to Hilary Swank in Freedom
Writers to Sandra Bullocks in The Blindside. We must be
careful of the intentions behind our choices, as well as our choices
themselves.
The book is
so full of studies and research that it provides a lot for us to contemplate.
I would often cringe as I read it.
In many instances, I would read of practices or situations in the book
and thought, “Oh, I’ve done that before,” “I’ve said that before,” “I’ve
thought that before.” And in doing so, it helped me to become more aware
of some of these pesky assumptions and biases that I had not fully realized. Or
in some cases, I made observations that allowed me to better understand how
harmful those choices could be. As the authors explain, the best antidote
to addressing what it is we don’t know is to read, to stay vigilante in our
work as anti-racist educators, to study ourselves and our practices, and to
continue in our growth as educators striving to create an environment where
everyone can be successful.
The book is
not necessarily an easy read. At times, you can hear the anger and
frustration spill out of the pages. At times, you might cringe at the
stories or become defensive. However,
facing these moments is extremely important for White teachers. In those
moments, we must remind ourselves that we are not responsible for the past
racial sins of our country, but that we can address the inequalities of today.
We don’t have to blame ourselves for the way that we have been socialized
into our understandings of race, but we must be ever diligent in our reading,
reflecting, and listening in order to become more aware of the way we might be
perpetuating systems of inequality.
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