Ed Note: This post was originally published in 2021.
As a Black man, I want to start by saying that it’s refreshing to see that Juneteenth is now (and still) a federal holiday! For my people, Juneteenth represents a day of unapologetic Black joy, as well as a celebration of Black resistance, Black excellence and, most significantly, Black liberation.
As happy as I am about this growing momentum, the realist in me still questions how liberated we truly are in this country. With Juneteenth just around the corner, my hope is that we continue to call out and combat the anti-Blackness that is still alive and well in our schools.
I have to wonder—are we allowed to talk about our new federal holiday at school? About Black liberation? Because Republican lawmakers have gone to extreme measures to ensure that "critical race theory" and any curricular resources or conversations that might be associated with it, even incorrectly, do not see the light of day. Although critical race theory itself has never been a part of the K-12 curriculum, many politicians have erroneously connected the theory to any books, lessons, curricular frameworks, or academic databases that speak the truth about institutional racism or white supremacy or acknowledge the disenfranchisement of Black students in schools.
What I find ironic is that these folks have gone so far as to describe critical race theory as a form of racist indoctrination.
In all honesty, the American education system, in and of itself, is the most remarkable example of cultural indoctrination because it was never created with the intention of allowing Black students to thrive and develop pride in their cultural identity.
Some bureaucrats and policymakers have gone on record to say America is not a racist nation. Well, if racism in America doesn’t exist, then how come Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, Washington, California, and a growing number of states are advocating for ethnic studies programs to be incorporated into their schools? How do we explain the racist school policies that continue to disenfranchise Black students? Why are Black students still overrepresented in special education programs? These are just a few of the questions that critical race theory can help us answer.
Anti-blackness is also present in how teachers police the language that Black students use in school. Dr. April Baker-Bell and Dr. Jamila Lyiscott discuss the prevalence of anti-Black linguistic racism extensively in their books, “Linguistic Justice” and “Black Appetite, White Food,” respectively. For many of us who completed our training in traditional teacher preparation programs, we need to reevaluate our mental conditioning as it relates to what is deemed as “appropriate” language for students to use in the classroom.
So often, the operative word “appropriate” is a code word used to discriminate against Black students and isolate them from their culturally linguistic identities. Why are we conditioned to think that standard American English is the only appropriate way to speak on school grounds? Why do we check our other languages at the door before entering the school building? As a student, these actions were so normalized around me that I never bothered to question them. Now that I’m an educator, I realize that I was sacrificing a part of myself to comply with this racist thinking.
Black vernacular should not be viewed as a deficit but as an asset for learning.
As teachers, we must affirm our Black students' linguistic versatility and brilliance in the classroom, using their linguistic skills to drive our instruction and enrich their educational experience.
Furthermore, affirming their linguistic versatility and brilliance is a form of scaffolding that needs to be normalized in our instruction. By denying and failing to take full advantage of their special skills, we are simply playing the role of the classroom colonialist and, therefore, we are complicit in the perpetuation of white supremacy culture.
Ultimately, joy is a form of resistance in our struggle for Black liberation. I am not discouraging anyone from celebrating and commemorating this important day in American history. As Black people, celebration is necessary for our survival, so by all means, I implore you to throw those cookouts, blast that Black music, be in community with your loved ones, and throw those Black power fists up in the air! I only ask that we maintain this energy when the celebrations are over and keep our eyes on the prize—liberation.
Liberation is still the endgame, and the prevalence of anti-Blackness within our education system should remind us of how far we are from that goal. True liberation cannot be achieved for our Black students if their minds are clouded with whiteness.