The Only Cure for White Supremacy Is To Teach Students Real American History

On January 6, as my students were learning about the history of trench warfare during World War I, I had no idea that our own…

White People, Celebrate Black History Month By Facing the Truth of White Supremacy

I came across an image on social media the other day and it made me stop and think. In it, two boys—one white and one…

Discussing White Privilege in an All-White Class Is Uncomfortable. Do It Anyway.

With so many pressing education issues on our collective agenda, it is important that we don’t ignore the national conversation on race that erupted during…

If You Really Want to Make a Difference in Black Lives, Change How You Teach White Kids

The latest episodes of police murdering Black people have my chest burning like a building set ablaze. My heart is hot, my stomach churns. My…

Black and Latino Students Are Locked Out of Advanced Classes While White Students Reap the Benefits

In schools across America, Black and Latino students are being pushed into less advanced courses, while their White peers reap the benefits of taking advanced…

I’ll Believe Chicago Is Progressive When We Close the Gaps for Black and Brown Kids

Shame on it all! In a new report, “The Secret Shame: How America’s Most Progressive Cities Betray Their Commitment to Educational Opportunities for All,” brightbeam…

5 Education Reports That Defined the Decade

WHAT WE GOT WRONG: The decade is coming to a close, but don’t expect the conversations and issues that were raised in the 2010s to be swept under the rug. …

Black Kids Don’t Need to Sit Next to White Kids to Learn

WHAT WE GOT WRONG: Over the last decade, and indeed for longer than that, those fighting for justice, many of them White, have largely looked to integration as the panacea for educational inequity.…

We Were Making Progress on School Discipline Until Betsy DeVos Came Along

WHAT WE GOT WRONG: At the turn of the century, in 1999, I was graduating from high school, motivated to enter the teaching profession with a passion to reform school discipline practices and eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline. …

White Students Can Fight for Racial Justice, But Only If Teachers Are Willing to Give Them the Tools

I teach a class in which my predominantly White juniors and seniors teach all of the predominantly White freshmen and sophomores about racial literacy and…