Why #Blacklivesmatter is a Part of My Classroom

I can't breathe.

-Eric Garner

Part I- Subjectivity

I had a teacher in high school that became like a father to me. He took me under his wing. He mentored me and guided me, and eventually helped me to get a full scholarship to a private college.

That school was Kansas City Art Institute. I visited it and broke down. Not only did I not want to attend this school (no disrespect to the institution), but I also realized that art degrees are not functional for the most part. I still love to draw, but I did not want to spend four years and lots of money on a degree I would not use. (That said, I never want to discourage my students from persuing their dreams, and if one of them wanted to attend art school I would support them completely.)

But the ultimate fear existed in how I would tell my teacher that I decided not to attend this school. Trepidation seeped into every fiber of my body. 

As expected, he did not take it well. But I also came to realize that he had shaped me in his image. A year later I went to visit the school, only to hear condescending comments from him about the choice I had made. As my hero began to fall from grace, I realized that his AP art history class was extremely subjective- obsessing over the French classisicts and the imagery of Western life, while, with the exception of the Edo woodcuts of Japan, completely ignoring the rest of the world. In addition to the racism rooted in this philosophy, it was clear that he was infusing his own opinion into the class by openly criticizing or praising various works based on his own opinions. There was no objectivity.

Reflecting upon this sick individual, it became clear to me that as teachers, it is our duty to try to have students think independently. Trying to make them copies of ourselves is harmful not only to them, but to us as well.

Part II- Black Lives Matter

Yesterday it was revealed that multiple officers from the Baltimore Police Department will be charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

While this looks like a remnant of hope, not only am I skeptical of the results, but Mr. Gray is still dead. I'm not sure what consolation, if any, this will bring to his family.

Even in death, black men are dehumanized and degraded. Just days ago, there were a slew of political pundits and commentators theorizing that he had somehow caused his own injuries. "Suicide" was too offensive of a word and it was too soon to use, but there were lots of other assertions that redefined ignorance. Rush Limbaugh pointed out, "Look at how many times the police did not kill Freddie Gray." Yes, they should be commended for that, whereas Mr. Limbaugh was arrested for prescription drug fraud, yet it's somehow not "amazing" that he was not killed or is not in jail.

Whites constantly attack the "decline of the two parent household" in black families, black on black crime, or the problems that plague many communities of color. My biggest problem with this sort of logic is this- nobody is saying that black on black crime is not a problem. But for one, as a white man, I don't believe it is my job to lecture black people on what to do in their own communities. And two, this obscures the larger issue- the racist system in which we live; a black man kills a black man and goes to jail, and when a white police officer kills a black man he receives paid administrative leave.

Finally, why black lives matter? Don't all lives matter? Of course all lives matter, all people matter. No one is disputing that remotely. We say black lives matter because those are the ones that clearly do not matter in America today. We do not have a pattern of unarmed white men being killed by police officers. If the problem was equal, if "reverse racism" existed, if somehow Africans had conquered Europeans, then yes, "all lives matter" would be a valid claim. But that's not what has occurred over centuries, and it's certainly not what's happening in America today.

Part III- #BlackLivesMatter In the Classroom

How do we balance these two seemingly different schools of thought based on subjectivity and objectivity?

First, we need to create a classroom environment where all views are tolerated. Kids should be able to express their disagreement without fearing retribution from their classmates in teacher. I saw this in my own classroom this week. A (Hispanic) student journaled about how #alllivesmatter is a more powerful hashtag/concept than #blacklivesmatter. She was the only student in my classroom who had this opinion. Nonetheless, her peers all clapped for her response afterwards for her well-thought response. It was a powerful reminder that all students should feel accepted, no matter which position they take.

One of the ways to do this is to focus on counterarguments in essay writing. When students write, they should be able to take in the totality of views in order to maintain an informed opinion.

We can also stress the importance of compassion. When reading To Kill A Mockingbird, my coworker had the class evaluate all of the characters' courage on a scale of 1-10 during the trail. When Mayella was brought up, the entire class instantly said that she should get a 1. Their teacher emphasized empathy. Look at what Mayella has experienced. Consider what her father has done to her. Look at their living conditions, as well as their stigma in Maycomb. The students saw that courage can take many forms and can be subtle. It's important to recognize that even outside of conversations on race, it's important to be feel compassion even for those we may disagree with. Mayella's actions and their evaluations of her courage show us that our individual experiences form our opinions. This, even if we disagree with others, is critical to remember; the context of the opinions that have been formed on both ends define us as individuals. The more students can view the sentiments of which they disagree with a sense of objectivity, the more respectful classroom debates will be, no matter the subject matter.

Third, we can take into the context of the "pedagogy of the oppressed" into everything we teach. If we look at history through a critical context of those that have disproportionately affected by xenophobia, racism, Manifest Destiny, and genocide, we can teach in a way that honors the realities of history- realities with which many of us did not encounter in school ourselves. This does not mean we do not honor the great achievements of history- it means that this is not the only thing we do, and that we do it beyond the Western World.

Finally, it's hard to argue that saying that unarmed black men should not be killed is subjective. This is a basic fact of human dignity. I have no doubt that in fifty years, white Americans will look back on this period in history with the same attitudes of disbelief that their parents and grandparents carried during the Civil Rights era. Do I believe racism will end? Certainly I am not that naive. I do believe that we are going through some of our darkest days as a country, and one day we shall look back on them with shame and accept the fact that black human beings matter and do not deserve to be killed at the mercy at those who have more power than they.