By Michael Brosnan

As one can tell by the date of this post, I have hesitated to write about the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the continued violence and racism against people of color in America, and the groundswell of protests in every state and around the world. Don’t get me wrong. I am angry about George Floyd’s death. I’m angry about the way police in so many communities illegally profile, target, abuse, arrest, and too often kill people of color. I’m angry that the list of victims keeps growing. I’m angry that this sort of racism is embedded so deep in American culture that it persists against each generations’ passionate call for change. I’m particularly angry at those in the top levels of national leadership who time after time express sympathy for those killed, if that, and then quietly act to defend the status quo that privileges whites and suppresses people of color in myriad ways. And I’m appalled by those elected officials who can view citizens who peacefully protest injustice — who ask America to be what it claims to be — and somehow see them as thugs, as the kind of threat that requires military intervention.

So why do I hesitate? Because there are plenty of clear, passionate, expert voices out there who have made the case for racial justice and political and social change. The scope and scale of racism in American history and our current culture is about as clear as anything can be — and I can point to dozens of articles and books and op-eds that both dig into this truth and make the case for change now and forever. For me to highlight the injustices and make the broad argument for change seems a bit egotistical — as if I will suddenly be the one to drive change because of my outrage and the shape of my argument. It would be nice to think I could do this, but it’s more likely that I’m simply screaming my frustration in an echo chamber. And I certainly don’t want to express outrage as a way to imply solidarity with people of color or to suggest that I’ve done something good for society through penning a few paragraphs about what is wrong — immoral, criminal, culturally damaging — in American society. I want actual, measurable, lasting change.

For those of us who are white, expressing outrage is far better than silence and indifference. It’s good to be an ally to people of color. It’s good to do the self-reflection and self-education to understand the truth about American history and society and our own indoctrination in the story of white superiority. It’s good to acknowledge our inherent advantages as white people in America today. But that’s the least we can do. The more important work is when we return to our families, communities, and jobs and beginning the daily effort to collectively keep up the pressure and demands for change until we get where we know we need to be. 

While I want our federal, state, and local government officials to enact laws, policies, and procedures that will lead quickly to racial justice and equity — and I will vote only for candidates who make this central to their political commitment (along with a clear commitment to environmental justice) — I also know that related change must also happen in every single institution in our nation. White supremacy was woven into the fabric of this country from the day Europeans arrived. While we were able to unthread the formal institution of slavery in the bloodbath of the Civil War, we have never eradicated racism and racial injustice — and in our continuing white-dominated culture do not seem to care deeply enough to make it happen. We never should have gotten to this point. We’ve had numerous chances over the past five decades to right this original wrong. But we haven’t. In fact, since the enactment of the Civil Rights bills in the 1960s, economic and social conditions have gotten worse for people of color. This needs to change now. Starting today. Overall, our goal must be, as bell hooks puts it, to dismantle the interlocking systems of domination. Another way to put it, the flip side, as Martin Luther King, Jr. and bell hooks argue, is to focus on developing a truly “beloved community.”

The systems in question include housing, education, jobs, banking, criminal justice, environmental health, health care, food, and more. It also includes Corporate America where displays of racial discrimination and bias are widely evident in staffing and leadership as well as in business operations and practices.

Here, I want to focus on education — the institution I know best. While I’ve seen progress in some areas, racism and racial bias still seriously undermine our system of education, still hurt our schools, still fail and damage too many students — and, in doing so, damage all students. If we say we are outraged by the killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans, we should also say we are outraged by the racial injustices in our schools — both public and private — and that we will use whatever thimble full of power we have to insist on and commit to change. We should hold steady in this commitment until we know we’ve achieved what should have been evident from the start.

What should be evident? That the point of our education system is to justly treat and support each and every child in developing their academic and social-emotional skills en route to citizenship and fulfilling work. It’s not hard to identify the problems and outline the goals. But in my experience, the needed change keeps running up against white indifference, ignorance, and/or outright resistance.

There are plenty of resources available to help educators in this effort. Here, I’ll only outline areas where I think we must focus our attention until we can talk about systems of racial injustice in the past tense:

• In the public school sphere, we must insist on high-quality, equitable education for all children. We must design it, build it, and maintain it. If we’re going to continue to fund education primarily through property taxes, we must also insist on state and federal supplemental funding that raises the per-student funding at every school to a level that would make any of us comfortable sending our children to any school. Resource disparities should no longer exist. Decades ago, writer Jonathan Kozol passionately and painstakingly outlined the immoral and inequitable funding and outcomes in public education. In recent times, Nikole Hannah-Jones and other writers and journalists have made similar arguments — and have done so brilliantly. Too many of us just haven’t listened. It’s time we do.

• Private and public schools need put make it clear that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are part of the essential mission of every school. These need to be key elements of every school’s mission statement — and all policies, practices, and pedagogy must arise out of these statements.

•  Private schools need to commit to supporting and partnering with public education. They also need to commit to a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body that at the very least represents the states in which the schools are located. They also need to commit to a racially diverse teaching and administrative staff that at the very least matches the diversity of the state in which they are located. They also need to make this commitment clear in their mission statements, which in turn drive policies, practices, and pedagogy.

• Our university schools of education should all commit to enrolling a diverse group of students and require courses in antiracist education, which encompasses classroom and community practices. For working teachers who haven’t had such training, it must be required professional development. Within five years, every teacher in American should have training in antiracist teaching and should be evaluated on their commitment to students and families based on race. Following this, all educators should be involved in continuing professional development to improve their antiracist teaching practices.

•  In every subject, teachers should be trained in delivering an antiracist curriculum. Academic leaders should ensure that the academic program at every level is viewed through a racial lens and adjusted as needed. This work applies to STEM-related courses as much as the humanities and the arts.

•  Every aspect of school life — from the classroom to the science lab to the theater to the playing field to the lunch room to the counseling program to family connections — must be viewed carefully through a racial lens to identify shortcomings and develop a plan to correct the problems. Schools are good about collecting and analyzing data. So it’s time to include annual data on the experiences and educational outcomes of all students based on race — and to follow through with all the necessary support systems and partnerships to ensure positive outcomes.

• For all of us in education, we need to hold each other accountable. We also need to engage in our broader communities to support the kind of leadership change that will lead to racial justice in all areas of society.

 I’m sure there are other salient bullet points one could add to this list. I’m also sure others can state the challenges and needed steps more clearly than I can. But I hope you’ll share my wish that we use this new civil rights groundswell as the catalyst for improving our schools so they are truly diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just. If all of us aim to do our part in our schools and communities, we can start the flywheel of change and this time keep it spinning until we get justice right.