Opinion
Equity & Diversity Opinion

An Open Letter to a Parent Afraid of Anti-Racist Education

By Christina Torres — September 17, 2020 5 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Editor’s Note: Last week, Rick Hess invited Julie Gunlock, the director of the Independent Women’s Forum’s center for progress and innovation, to guest blog on his Education Week opinion blog, Rick Hess Straight Up. In the second of her three guest opinion posts, Gunlock decried the “No Family Separation, Black Lives Matter, Pro Civil Liberties, Climate Change is Real” Zoom background of her son’s school administrator, characterizing it as an incursion of politics into the public schoolhouse. This post, in particular, provoked strong reader reactions both in the comments section and on social media. The debate on Twitter grew especially charged as Gunlock personally disparaged her critics. Education Week reached out to Christina Torres, a teacher and former Education Week blogger who received some of that derision, inviting her to respond.

Dear Julie,

When I tweeted a critique of your blog post on a sunny morning last week, I didn’t think much about it. While I vehemently disagree with you, nothing you wrote was that original. Many teachers have had to defend why our classrooms engage in critical conversation about social justice for years.

I do think your post did one thing well: It captured the powerful fear of anti-racist, anti-bias, or culturally responsive education that some people have.

I imagine you might tell me that you’re not afraid. Your actions show otherwise. Discussing feedback about our own ideas is the part of writing that requires the most bravery. Yet, when someone disagreed with you on Twitter, you called her “hostile.” When I questioned you, you said (in now-deleted tweets) that I was a “racist and a bad teacher.”

You may have wanted to scare me, but unlike you, I’m not afraid of talking about race. Like many other BIPOC—Black, Indigenous, and people of color—folks, I come from a family where we had to discuss it when I was a kid. I come from ancestors who were able to thrive in spite of other people’s fears and the systemic racism those fears wrought. I don’t scare easy.

I also live in a world where discussing race is no longer “a necessary evil,” as it may have felt when my parents wanted to prepare me for the world. Instead, it has resulted in difficult, beautiful, and rich conversations with some of the best people you’ll ever meet: my 8th grade students. I have students who disagree with me about politics, and we all survive! We talk about it and we all grow together.

I also live in a world where discussing race is no longer 'a necessary evil,' as it may have felt when my parents wanted to prepare me for the world."

That’s the thing: Teachers don’t just teach “content.” We never have. For generations, we have also taught our students to listen, share, and be empathetic. Teachers don’t just help students understand themselves and the world around them, we also model how to have constructive discussions with one another.

And because race plays a role in everything from housing issues to the environment to the books we read, we can’t teach students about the world without including race. The idea that in doing so, we’re pushing what you called “social-justice crap” in your tweets just isn’t true.

I can understand your fears, unfounded as they are. You’re scared schools are trying to supplant families and teach morality. That’s a discussion you don’t need to have in a vacuum. It doesn’t seem like you had teachers to help you face tough topics head-on. It doesn’t seem like you have space in your life to engage in these essential conversations. I’m sad you live in a world run by your own fear and the only defenses you have to discomfort are mockery and snarky tweets.

But I don’t want that empathy to overshadow the real crux of this discussion: your discomfort with a sign that read, “No Family Separation. Black Lives Matter. Pro Civil Liberties. Climate Change is Real.” You equated these sentiments to your own “universal truths,” including that “owning a gun is [your] constitutional right,” that “public school unions need to be dismantled,” that you “love tax cuts, dogs, red lipstick, and good French bread.”

Here’s the problem with your false equivalence: Gun control, school choice, and unions are nuanced policy issues with arguments to be made both pro and con.

What exactly is the other side of the position that “Black Lives Matter”? That Black lives … don’t matter? The statements you oppose aren’t policy positions. The statements you oppose recognize the humanity of Black people, affirm that families shouldn’t be forcibly separated, validate that climate change is scientific fact, and remind us that our Constitutional civil liberties are important.

None of those statements should be politically partisan issues; they are merely factual, compassionate understandings of the world around us. (In fact, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel ruled that using the phrase “Black Lives Matter” isn’t inherently political.)

Yet, you politicized these issues. Why? What right do any of us have to debate the worthiness of the Black community? It is racist against Black people to suggest that a display of “Black Lives Matter” is equivalent to a display of your thoughts on union policy or your feelings on bread. Neither you nor I can imagine the pain of having to watch people online debate whether our lives matter.

Here’s the kicker: You could be part of the solution. You could listen to Black voices and learn. Discussing my curriculum with families has led to awesome moments for all of us—in my classroom and their homes.

Also, despite your claim that I’m racist, I have many white friends! I even have a white husband! All joking aside, one of the many things I love about all my friends, regardless of race, is that we’re not afraid to have meaningful conversations with each other, including about race.

Whether I’m teaching or writing for places like Education Week, I think a lot about legacy. What will people see when they remember me as a teacher or look at my writing? Right now, when people search your name, they’ll see the words of a woman who was too scared to answer tough questions and who then deleted her personal attacks without apology.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. One of the beautiful things I’ve learned as a teacher is that we never stop learning and evolving. There’s still a chance for you to be brave and join us in having some important discussions about race in our country.

When you’re ready to have those conversations, I’ll be here, ready to listen.

With aloha,
Christina Torres

A version of this article appeared in the September 30, 2020 edition of Education Week as An Open Letter to a Parent Afraid of Anti-Racist Education

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
Reading & Literacy Webinar
(Re)Focus on Dyslexia: Moving Beyond Diagnosis & Toward Transformation
Move beyond dyslexia diagnoses & focus on effective literacy instruction for ALL students. Join us to learn research-based strategies that benefit learners in PreK-8.
Content provided by EPS Learning
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
Cohesive Instruction, Connected Schools: Scale Excellence District-Wide with the Right Technology
Ensure all students receive high-quality instruction with a cohesive educational framework. Learn how to empower teachers and leverage technology.
Content provided by Instructure
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
School Climate & Safety Webinar
How to Use Data to Combat Bullying and Enhance School Safety
Join our webinar to learn how data can help identify bullying, implement effective interventions, & foster student well-being.
Content provided by Panorama Education

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 Why It's Important to Recruit More School Counselors of Color
Many students of color say they want to talk to someone who looks like them.
5 min read
School social worker Melva Mullins embraces a student in her office at Garnet-Patterson S.T.A.Y. High School in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2024, after the student confided in Mullins about some heavy topics.
School social worker Melva Mullins embraces a student in her office at Garnet-Patterson S.T.A.Y. High School in the District of Columbia on Sept. 27, 2024, after the student confided in Mullins about some heavy topics.
Maansi Srivastava for Education Week
Equity & Diversity What Works to Help Students of Color Feel Like They Belong at School
New research focuses on how ethnic studies classes and local partnerships can help students of all races feel they belong in school.
5 min read
Group of diverse people (aerial view) in a circle holding hands. Cooperation and teamwork. Community of friends, students, or volunteers committed to social issues for peace and the environment.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Equity & Diversity It's Banned Books Week. Have the Challenges to Books Slowed Down?
Attempts to ban books in public schools are still prevalent, according to two new reports.
5 min read
Image of a bookshelf.
Luoman/E+
Equity & Diversity Educators Tend to View Black Girls More Harshly. Here Are the Consequences
Schools discipline Black girls more frequently and severely than their white peers—even for similar incidents.
8 min read
Sign on door that reads "Principal's Office" from a school.
Liz Yap/education Week with E+