Hope: #ByeRoseanne in the Classroom
Roseanne is the second person in TV history to get fired on her day off (people who have seen the movie “
Friday” know what I’m talking about). But her time should’ve been up way before making those disgusting,
racist comments about Valerie Jarrett. (Vesia Hawkins called it a
“gut punch.”) So,
#ByeRoseanne! https://twitter.com/rolandsmartin/status/1001527305112576002 But aside from learning that Roseanne is really the racist douchebag we all thought she was, I think it’s important to pay attention to
ABC’s response and use it as a teachable moment. Educators, here’s your lesson plan for the week! Take this Roseanne situation and use it to
teach kids that there are and will always be people in the world that look and act differently than them and they have to respect that. And teach them that people are hopefully coming to a point where racism will no longer be tolerated. So if they do decide to say or do something ignorant—especially on social media where
people will put you on blast—there’s a good chance that they will lose their job just like Roseanne. OK, maybe I don’t draft the best lesson plans, but I think you get my point. It matters that big corporations are taking steps to curb racism. But, the real change begins at home and
in your classrooms. I don’t know if we can completely kill racism but it can be seriously wounded.
It starts with education.
Outrage: They Tell Us to Sit Down and Shut Up
Every day there’s someone trying to come at school choice. But y’all
this doesn’t even make any sense:
If one had to choose between the worst public school and the best charter school, you’d still be better off with the public school.
(First of all charter schools are totally, completely, all the way public—but I don’t even want to get into that one.) What blows me away is that this dude is honestly telling Black families that they should stop being uppity and just accept what they’re given. Just send your children to that low-performing school down the block, that same one with the teachers who
don’t believe Black children can achieve. That same one that has
far fewer resources and a decrepit building. That same one where your Black children are viewed as a physical threat
just because of the color of their skin. I came from a
neighborhood where the traditional public schools sucked. And nothing much has changed. So when you step to me, or to Grandma from down the street who just wants her grandbaby to get a good education, or to the single father who wants his young Black son to be able to learn in a safe environment, with your
political talking points and
biases due to privilege, we don’t want to hear it. Your kids have
good schools to attend, our kids don’t. So more and more Black families are looking for better options.
Vesia calls it out here too:
After more than 400 years of educational warfare, why are Black people loyal to an education system that has consistently and perhaps intentionally worked against us? Why do so many think they have to stick to the traditional school-assignment program that has failed so many of us?
Parents like
Cheryl Kirk in Indy are thankful that they had options to choose from and could care less about the model because she’ll get you right on together:
School choice allowed my children to avoid failing schools. School choice is not about defunding public education. School choice is refusing to accept the excuses that poor and minority children are incapable of learning.
Stop telling parents what schools are best for their children and that the poor performing schools they have to choose from are good enough. Because until you’ve walked in their shoes or read from their kids’ raggedy and outdated textbooks, you don’t know a thing.
Photo courtesy of Roseanne Barr attends the Disney ABC Television TCA Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, California.