This is a teachable moment!
If this is a problem in your classrom, a good idea would be to use your Social Studies time block to explain/discuss what racism is, and point out that there is a difference between racism and prejudice, and when something should be taken as offensive and when it shouldn't
We as educators can be prejudiced and not even realize it. One can biased for or against people based on race or other factors. But we also have preferences in who we feel more comfortable in dealing with: it's hard to admit, but most teachers like the smart, well-behaved child with decent, hard-working parents. If they are not very smart, but at least polite and well-mannered, then that child will get more (positive) attention and reinforcement from us. The not-so-smart, poorly-behaved child with uninvolved parents, particularly children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, tend to fall between the cracks. It's sad, and we don't want to admit it, but it's true.
Some of the posts I've seen in recent months have me concerned for Black, Latino, and economically disadvantaged students in these classrooms. How many times have we seen posts where teachers (presumably White), have expressed their disgust for "urban schools" or "inner city schools"? That is nothing more than code for "schools with a lot of Blacks, Latinos (i.e., non-English speakers), and poor people. Let's face it: If you are White, grew up in a suburban community, and your entire existence has been around people whose ethnicity and socioeconomic status is exactly like yours, then by default, you may have difficulty relating to students in an urban setting. That alone doesn't mean that you are racist, but understand that your limited contact with different cultures/ethnicities does impact your role as an educator. The challenge for ALL educators- regardless of our race- is that we must not let our social and political views influence how we interact with our students. We have to check our personal beliefs at the door. Along with that comes balancing act of understanding the implications of race in our country and how that affects our students.
Some teachers- along with our student- have not been PROPERLY educated about race, racism and the difference between racism and social prejudice. Educating one's self about different cultures/ethnicities outside of their own is key. We must be careful that what we do and what we say isn't taken offensively by students of color, or be misconstrued by our students and their parents. Often, it's teachers' lack of awareness that what they are saying/doing may be interpreted by a person of color as racially-charged. At the same time, many students throw around the word "racist" when they have no other recourse for explaining the actions of a teacher; they themselves have not been exposed to other cultures outside their community!
An example: Black student who lives in a predominately Black community may have limited contact with whites, with the exception of Whites in positions of authority (i.e., police officers and teachers), and their experiences with Whites may not have been good ones. So, they have the mistaken notion that every White person is racist. It's up to us as educators to tell the and show them that is not true.
I would encourage all teachers to do some personal reasearch (as if you have time lol) on Brown vs. Board of Education, and the fallout of the integration of our public school system. For several years, even now, there were teachers who believed that Black students couldn't learn, were academically inferior, and as a result, would not teach Black students or make them feel included in the learning process. Black students who did excel were purposefully graded harder, and were failed for no reason. There are plenty of people who experienced that, and they remember the feelings of rejection, the insults, the frustration, and the poor-self esteem that came from those experiences in the public schools. For many Black students, the only positive reinforcement and inclusion they received in academia came from teachers who looked like them.
Unfortunately, a lot of students in this day and age will use racism to justify poor behavior and low academic performance. And, there are people of color who are also unenlightened about the difference between social prejudice or racsim and a good teacher who simply wants to do a good job and have students respect his/her authority.
I would say to non-Black and non-Latino educators to not be offended when a parent or student seems to function better in a class where the instructor is also Black or Latino. There is a comfort level there, and built-in understanding and compassion with regard to the implications of being a person of color in this country. So passing that kid on to what the parents perceive as a more concerned, caring teacher could be a good thing for two reasons: 1)It would remove a problem-student from your class, 2)It could serve as a real education for the student and parents that this child isn't going to get an "easy pass" just because he/she and the teacher are the same ethnicity, 3)Because the student and teacher are the same ethnicity, that teacher may have higher expectations for that student and require MORE from that student and force them to perform on a higher level that they weren't even expecting!
