Camden’s Blog

I had some difficulty with this question at first because my simple answer to this was – that would never happen!   I didn’t have a white child in my classroom until I began my third year of teaching and I know that in some part this was by my design.  So I dug back into the text from the perspective that it was indeed me that it was speaking to and not those other “unenlightened” well-meaning white teachers that I am just slightly arrogant enough to believe these articles are meant for to read and learn from.  I have a tendency to believe my perspective on racism in our country and in education is well focused and completely socially just.  I have come to realize that it is not and I have room for improvement.  Particularly, I read and re-read the following quote in the first paragraph “white people need to undergo a profound shift, from viewing the world through a lens of dominance to a comment to equitably shared power and resources.”  This key paradigm shift calls on educators and families to nurture white children’s early identity and social-emotional development in new ways.”  So far in my first 9 years of teaching, I have focused my attention on children of color in the classroom and of doing my very best to build confidence, self-esteem and self-empowerment in my students.  It seriously never occurred to me that I needed to “fix” white children and their families, just that I needed to “help” students of color and their families.   I listened to a program on MSNBC called A Conversation About Race.  Unfortunately, I missed the documentary about the two men who held the conversation and I joined the program where a selected guest panel was continuing the conversation.  It reminded me of this article and the various guests made points with key concepts discussed in it.  Concepts of how racism is socially constructed through our economic, political and educational system and how power has been historically distributed by it.  Poverty was the prevailing theme in the discussion and the legacy of racism for Americans today it that it profoundly influences our social relationships today.  One part of the discussion I found particularly interesting and would like to apply to this article, is that of the discussion of African American people (and this applies to all people of color) and how they must find ways to transcend racism in this country.  One panelist argued that the word transcend implies that racism is something to step over because it will continue to stay put, and they argue that it is something that all people should seek to transform. And I believe that is where this article is most relevant for me as a teacher, especially a white teacher.   Of course I know that children are not colorblind and they see physical differences.  I know they are socialized at a very young age to assign personality characteristics to physical qualities through media and subtle messages that trusted adults provide them.  But I needed the invitation that this article offered to me to join in on the “much-needed conversation about how to “grow” white children who will strive for a just society and thrive in an anti-racist, multicultural world.” Who better to hold the watering can and turn on the sunshine for them than a white teacher who has just grown up a little more herself?

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