Who cares if our children grow up to be racists?
Racism is learned. No one cares about racist students.
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Hey, I’m not an official anti-racism educator. But I am a student and a subject of anti-racism. Many people of color are anti-racism educators for free and by force. We’ve answered and auto-corrected race-based questions long before Google.
Myself, I had a college roommate remind me of how Black people have an extra muscle in our legs for athletics. He repeated it like a fact he had learned. So, yeah, I have a stake in schools too.
Here’s my theory — we don’t care if our children grow up to be racists. Sure, it’s not ideal, but we don’t care if it happens. If we did, anti-racism education would be a requirement in schools.
With every turn of a tassel, we say, an anti-racist mindset is unnecessary for students to develop.
And, that’s not because racism and bias are impossible to measure. Like math, there are tests, tools, and resources to evaluate racism.
Instead, we leave anti-racism to parents. Or worse, we all hope children get it somehow.
But can’t we do more to stunt the seeds of racism from growing?
This is why discrimination, stereotypes, and inequalities persist.
This is why some people don’t consider racism an issue.
This is why some people see racism as external to themselves.
Our schools aren’t teaching and talking about racism.
But the bells must ding and ring because anti-racism education is vital.
Those who don’t value anti-racism education are an insult. Anti-racism education is restitution for the institutions. Anyone who doesn’t respect anti-racism education hasn’t tried to measure the scope of racism.
So, it does not add up for me when most adults say math was the most valuable subject for their lives. Of course, I’m all for STEM education, but we must stem the racial issues that continue to draw blood.
The advancements in our society do not leave racism behind. Racism can advance at the same pace. Just look at the bias in technology. Has STEM education prevented bias in technology?
