The murder of George Floyd—and the protests and calls for defunding the police that have emerged in the wake of his death—has reinvigorated the debate over whether law enforcement officers, who are often armed, should be in schools.
The school-to-prison pipeline perpetuates a history of profiting from, rather than educating, Black people.
School districts in Minneapolis, Denver, and Seattle, among others, have either ended or suspended their contracts with local police. In Oakland, the school district eliminated its own police department, and Chicago narrowly voted to keep its contract with local police.
More white people now support the notion of Black lives mattering than they did in 2016. This is especially true for white educators. Although more than 80 percent of teachers and administrators are white, white educators are more likely than white people in general to at least say that Black lives matter—which admittedly can sometimes be an empty gesture.
But when it comes to removing police officers from schools, many educators are not onboard. According to an Education Week survey, 75 percent of teachers disagree with removing police officers from schools, and roughly a third of teachers believe that armed officers are necessary because students are out of control.
When asked if armed officers treat students of color fairly, 91 percent of teachers answered yes, while 78 percent of teachers disagreed to some degree that armed officers contributed to the school-to-prison pipeline.
Perhaps these educators aren’t aware of the evidence of the consequences to Black students of having armed officers in schools. Armed officers in schools do, in fact, contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline. According to the Civil Rights Data Collection, Black students are both more likely to get suspended from school, or to be arrested at school, than students of any other race.
The school-to-prison pipeline perpetuates a history of profiting from, rather than educating, Black people.
What does it mean for a Black child when a white educator says that Black lives matter? I never had to decide whether Black lives mattered because for me, Black lives have always mattered. My students had the assurance that I, as their teacher, walked on the same streets they did and have family and friends who look like theirs.
It’s not inconsequential that white educators or educational institutions, which are traditionally white institutional spaces, say that Black lives matter. It is important because saying so is an open acknowledgement of the inherent humanity of Black lives, a recognition that Black people are not without worth, dignity, and purpose.
In my experience as an educator in New Jersey, I’ve seen many white educators display “care” for Black children, but only if those children acquiesced to instructional methods and content from a Eurocentric point of view.
In my experience as an educator in New Jersey, I’ve seen many white educators display “care” for Black children, but only if those children acquiesced to instructional methods and content from a Eurocentric point of view. Black students who resisted such norms did not get the same level of “care.”
Also, white educators seem less committed to understanding that racism is why Black students underachieve and are overly disciplined. Instead, they often accept the false notion that Black students just aren’t motivated enough or that their families do not or cannot create the right environment for their academic success. As the same Education Week survey revealed, more than 80 percent of teachers blamed discipline disparities on Black children living in high crime areas.
So it seems that white educators’ allyship with Black Lives Matter has yet to extend to blaming racism for the persistent problems that Black students experience in schools. Nonetheless, there are some truths that white “allies” must keep in mind.
Schools with larger minority and poor populations are more likely to implement criminalized disciplinary policies—suspensions, expulsions, police referrals, and arrests—and are less likely to connect students to psychological or behavioral care. Black youth are more likely to be mistaken as older, perceived as guilty, and face police violence if accused of a crime.
Allies must also keep in mind that policing in the United States is rooted in slave patrols. Much of the policing many deem necessary in America’s cities, where Black people make up a sizable portion of the population, is racist. Just watching the news may help create or reinforce stereotypical views of African Americans as the criminal perpetrators and whites as the victims.
The fight against racism isn’t about simply removing racist individuals from our schools. It’s about removing racism from within our schools by advocating for policies like getting cops out of classrooms. When it comes to Black lives mattering, you cannot be a good person fighting on both sides. You’re either for Black lives or against Black lives—there is no in between.
After all, the phrase is “Black lives matter,” not “Black lives matter, but…