With in-person education nationwide stalled due to the pandemic, it’s not at all clear when public school systems will restart. But one thing we can be sure of is that, when students eventually return to school, there likely will be some new iteration of racism in the education system.
If American history has taught us anything, it’s that racist policies are never eliminated. They’re only replaced with more sophisticated methods of maintaining racism’s stranglehold on black people and our society.
Even after fighting a Civil War over slavery and enacting a host of laws forbidding de jure and de facto racism, including the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, states passed black codes and instituted separate but unequal policies.
The task ahead is to build an education system where black students can perform to their academic and intellectual potential.
In the South, prior to the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, black children couldn’t attend schools with white children. After Brown, some all-white districts closed shop while white politicians rerouted tax dollars to create new all-white academies. Today, white families can still spurn integration if they so choose.
I am concerned for what awaits black students after we “get through” this crisis. The outcomes could be devastating.
As many schools are likely to remain closed until September, black students will experience serious setbacks for missing the remainder of the school year. It’s not because they are incapable, but because of the compounded racism they may have to confront when they return.
Contrary to the stereotype, education continues to be a value of the highest priority in the black community. This is a legacy that dates back to the underground schools in the Antebellum South, where black people taught themselves how to read and write.
Nevertheless, black people are often blamed for black students who underachieve in school. The reality is that black children are frequently over-disciplined, underserved, and sent to schools in dangerous conditions.
While research shows that black teachers help black students perform better academically, less than 7 percent of our nation’s teachers are black, and only 2 percent of our teachers are black men.
The standardized testing that our whole system runs on has a history of racism.
After the current crisis, does anyone think that our nation will come to grips with the truth that our public education system harms black children?
When schools reopen, how many rising black ninth-graders won’t get into the freshman honors courses that they are qualified for (a common occurrence in, for example, Pennsylvania and New Jersey)? How many will be retained without having had an opportunity to improve upon their grade? How far will the opportunity gap widen for black students due to the challenges they face while learning remotely?
And how many black students who’ve missed months of school will be considered more unruly by their teachers, suspended from school and subjected to detentions by law enforcement? Will black teacher turnover be even worse now?
Teacher turnover already has a negative effect on black students and low-income students. In my state of New Jersey, the school districts with the lowest rate of teacher retention have the highest percentage of black and low-income students, according to the state’s school performance report. Black teachers tend to leave these districts due to burnout and a lack of support from administration.
The possibility of addressing these systemic issues is far-fetched when schools are “functioning” in status quo conditions. And so far, there haven’t been any signs that school districts have planned to ensure they will abandon racist policies when students eventually return to school.
What black students can’t afford is another post-Hurricane Katrina reality, where black teachers are fired, black families lose democratic control of many of the schools, and other black families are unable to return to their homes, thanks in large part to racism.
Some serious questions will have to be answered in regard to the educational progress of students missing significant time in school. Just as important is who answers those questions, especially if it’s the educators that operate in and secure public schools as white institutional spaces.
Educators must be aware of the racism within their school buildings and school policies prior to the COVID-19 crisis and how the impact of that racism can be compounded because of the new realities for students, both inside and outside the classroom.
Educators must also be aware of the racist ideas they perpetuate in their daily practice. This includes recognizing the racism that their students and their families face, and how that can shape their experiences with teachers, administrators, and the material.
With that awareness in mind, educators must ensure that antiracism is the guiding force for their work each day.
What that entails is creating a world without standardized testing. It may also mean transfering black students from schools taught by a majority of white teachers.
The task ahead is to build an education system where black students can perform to their academic and intellectual potential, one where they aren’t disproportionately suspended and referred to law enforcement.
Now that would be anti-racist.