Equity & Diversity News in Brief

Federal Judge Orders Parties to Lawsuit to Read NFL Player’s Book on Racial Bias

By Tribune News Service — July 17, 2018 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A federal judge in Alabama has taken the unusual step of ordering everyone in a school desegregation case to read a book written by an NFL tight end.

The judge was slated to hold a hearing this week to decide if the city of Gardendale should have to pay $1.3 million to lawyers for black students who challenged its failed legal effort to start its own school system.

But before that July 17 hearing, U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala late last month ordered all the lawyers, the county and city school boards, and other witnesses to read Under Our Skin by Benjamin Watson, and be ready to discuss it at the hearing.

Watson, a 14-year NFL veteran now with the Baltimore Ravens, wrote the book following the Ferguson, Mo., riots in 2014 after a grand jury declined to indict a police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed man. In his book, Watson explores racial discrimination in his life.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the July 18, 2018 edition of Education Week as Federal Judge Orders Parties to Lawsuit To Read NFL Player’s Book on Racial Bias

Events

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
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
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
Teaching Webinar
Teacher Perspectives: What is the Future of Virtual Education?
Hear from practicing educators on how virtual and hybrid options offer more flexibility and best practices for administrative support.
Content provided by Class

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 Q&A How Schools Can Address Racial Stressors, An Expert Explains
A Stanford researcher looks at how schools play a role in interventions for students of color dealing with racial stressors.
6 min read
Student alone in an empty school hallway (blurred). Bullying, discrimination and racism.
Pornpak Khunatorn/iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity Educational Inequality: 4 Moments in History That Explain Where We Are Today
A new Columbia University report highlights how inequality was embedded in the creation of public education in the United States.
5 min read
This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
AP Photo
Equity & Diversity The Origins of Racial Inequality in Education
"Uncovering Inequality," a project from Columbia University, chronicles how policies created and sustained inequalities in schools.
4 min read
In this May 13, 2014, file photo National Education Association staff members from Washington joining students, parents and educators at a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington on the 60th anniversary Brown v. Board of Education decision that struck down "separate but equal" laws that kept schools segregated.
In this May 13, 2014, file photo National Education Association staff members from Washington joining students, parents and educators at a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington on the 60th anniversary Brown v. Board of Education decision that struck down "separate but equal" laws that kept schools segregated.
AP Photo
Equity & Diversity Opinion 'What We Need Is Compassion Toward One Another'
Robert F. Kennedy spoke timeless words following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. His message should guide educators today.
A.J. Rinaldi
4 min read
Mourners gather at the Ebenezer Baptist Church for funeral services for the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in Atlanta, Ga., April 9, 1968. Seated from far left are, Sen. Robert Kennedy and his wife, Ethel; Archbishop Cooke of New York, in front of Kennedy; Margaretta Rockefeller, third from left in next row; Whitney Young of the Urban League, leaning forward and speaking to Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, at far right. Among the people standing are, Michigan Gov. George Romney, third from right; New York Mayor John Lindsay; and New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, far right.
Mourners, including Robert F. Kennedy, gather on April 9, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta for funeral services for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
AP