Equity & Diversity

16 Resources on Talking to Students About Police Killings and Racism

By Debra Viadero — April 16, 2021 2 min read
A demonstrator holds a sign along a perimeter fence guarded by law enforcement officers during a protest over Sunday's fatal shooting of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, on April 14, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. At right on the fence is an image of George Floyd.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

As the trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd, comes to a head, teachers may struggle with how to talk about issues of racism and police violence with students.
The discussions can be challenging and uncomfortable, but they are needed. Chauvin faces charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for the killing last May of Floyd, a Black man. A video of Floyd gasping for breath as the former police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee quickly went viral, setting off a protest movement against police brutality and systemic racism across the United States and around the world.
Days after the trial began on March 29, Daunte Wright, 20, was killed by a police officer in the nearby community of Brooklyn Center, Minn., sparking protests there and elsewhere. That officer, Kim Potter, who was said to have mistaken her gun for a Taser weapon, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Wright, who was Black.
Then, on April 15, officials in Chicago released body camera footage of a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo, a 7th grader who lived in Little Village, a predominately Latino neighborhood on the city’s West side.

Attention to issues of racism, race-related violence, and police brutality will likely grow in the days ahead as closing arguments begin in the Chauvin case.

To help educators think about how to discuss these cases and other race-related violence and how to support Black students and other students of color who may be distraught by what they read and see in the media, Education Week has compiled some resources from its archives and elsewhere. Here are a few:

News articles from Education Week writers:

For Black students’ views:

Some opinion essays:

Some classroom resources from national groups:

Maya Riser-Kositsky, Librarian and Data Specialist contributed to this article.

Events

Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Boosting Student and Staff Mental Health: What Schools Can Do
Join this free virtual event based on recent reporting on student and staff mental health challenges and how schools have responded.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
Practical Methods for Integrating Computer Science into Core Curriculum
Dive into insights on integrating computer science into core curricula with expert tips and practical strategies to empower students at every grade level.
Content provided by Learning.com

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Race Is a Big Factor in School Closures. What You Need to Know
Districts are more likely to close majority Black schools, researcher says.
5 min read
Key in keyhole on wood door
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Equity & Diversity Opinion There's a Difference Between Equity and Equality. Schools Need to Understand That
Equity looks different depending on the situation, and it's not always straightforward. That can cause confusion.
15 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity What the Research Says New National Data Show Depth of Disparities in a Chaotic Year of Schooling
The first federal civil rights data released since the pandemic show that inequities persisted even when school buildings shut down.
10 min read
Tanya Holyfield, a second grade teacher with Manchester Academic Charter School, teaches remote students from her classroom on March 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh.
Tanya Holyfield, a 2nd grade teacher at Manchester Academic Charter School, teaches remote students from her classroom on March 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh. New federal data from the 2020-21 school year show that longstanding inequities among groups of students did not change much even in a year when many students spent all or part of the year in remote and hybrid learning.
Andrew Rus/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP
Equity & Diversity Opinion Am I Anti-Equity? You Decide
The push for equity has taken us into territory where "pro-equity" ideologues are doing destructive things in the education space.
5 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty