Kwame Sarfo-Mensah agreed to answer a few questions about his book, Learning to Relearn: Supporting Identity in a Culturally Affirming Classroom.

Kwame is the founder and CEO of Identity Talk Consulting LLC, a global educational consulting firm.

LF: What are the main lessons educators should take away from your book in the context of today’s political environment?

One of the main lessons educators should take from Learning to Relearn, especially in today’s political climate, is that affirming student identity is not optional or ideological; it’s foundational to equitable, high-quality education. Amid increasing attacks on DEI efforts, state-level rollbacks, and executive orders restricting how race, gender, and history are taught, this book reminds us that culturally affirming practice is not “extra”—it’s essential.

These anti-DEI mandates seek to intimidate educators into silence, but Learning to Relearn equips teachers with the language, framework, and moral clarity to persist in centering student identity, despite political headwinds.

The book emphasizes that our responsibility as educators is to every student, particularly those from historically marginalized communities. That means creating culturally-affirming classrooms where self-expression is valued and students don’t have to leave parts of their identity at the door. It’s also a space where teachers critically examine their instructional approach and ensure that the curriculum accurately reflects the historical and lived experiences of historically marginalized communities.

Educators can still do this work within legal and policy constraints by focusing on what they teach—truth, empathy, critical thinking—and how they teach—with humanity, cultural relevance, and intellectual rigor. Relearning is about unlearning harmful norms, re-centering justice, and building school environments that honor the full humanity of every child. That mission doesn’t disappear with policy shifts—it becomes even more urgent.

LF: You have different chapters about different student cultures. What do you think are some “universal” practices teachers can apply in multicultural classrooms?

While identity-affirming teaching should always be responsive to the specific communities we serve, there are certain universal practices that help create inclusive learning environments across all classrooms. The first is building critical humility and empathy. That means recognizing our power and positionality to know we can’t fully speak about oppressive acts against historically marginalized communities without having the lived experience.

In the case of critical humility, many teachers preach about restorative justice and social-emotional learning but conveniently shy away from the difficult conversations about identity because it makes them feel guilty and uncomfortable. As teachers, when we say we’re engaging in restorative practices and SEL, we’re committed to healing, centering, and affirming our students and embracing all of whom they are.

We must de-center ourselves and take a step back to understand and educate ourselves on the emotional impact acts of oppression and discrimination have on historically marginalized communities. Through empathy comes a clearer perspective.

Another practice is interrogating our personal biases. Teachers need to conduct personal audits of our feelings and behaviors around the issues of race, class, language, gender, sexual orientation, and other identity markers. This involves questioning our biases, examining stereotypical beliefs, and challenging our ideologies around racial and cultural identity.

As teachers, we must understand how these notions impact our actions and the way we educate our students. This self-evaluation process can bring about feelings of anger, discomfort, frustration, and denial. However, it is necessary for us, as teachers, to allow those feelings to manifest and then push through them so we can serve as active interrupters of racism and inequality at the personal and professional levels and create positive school communities that are culturally inclusive, welcoming, and affirm the intersectional identities of all students, especially our BIPOC students.

LF: Even though the majority of the public school population is composed of students of color, many teachers are in communities that are predominantly, if not entirely, white. What recommendations of practice do you have for them?

Teachers working in predominantly white communities have a crucial role to play in anti-bias, identity-affirming work. First, they must resist the idea that “diversity work” doesn’t apply to their students. White students especially need to understand the historical and social forces that shape their worldview. They also need the tools to navigate a multiracial society with empathy, critical consciousness, and accountability.

Although I have never taught in a predominantly white school, I did, however, attend a predominantly white high school, so this question definitely hits home. Rather than provide you with a prescriptive list of things to do, I’m going to draw from my own high school experience and challenge you to think critically about the following questions as you prepare to engage in identity-affirming work this school year:

• What unceded Native land is your school/neighborhood occupying?
• Why is your school/neighborhood so white?
• What specific efforts are being made to increase teacher diversity within your school district?
• Does your school provide affinity spaces where students of color can connect and share their experiences about race and racism?
• Has your school done a full equity audit to identify institutional practices that are producing trends of discrimination toward students of color?
• Has your school done a full audit of their student handbook or code of conduct to identify which policies are perpetuating racial harm?
• Does your school library have a wide selection of children’s books and other literature that authentically connects to the cultural, historical, and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, Asian Pacific Islander, and Latinx people?
• What structures does your school/district have in place to ensure that teachers are receiving continuous and meaningful professional development around anti-bias, anti-racist practices throughout the school year?
• Does your school district’s teacher-performance-evaluation rubric include clear indicators for culturally sustaining and anti-racist practices?
• What supports have been put in place to accommodate multilingual learners in your school, as well as their parents?
• In what ways does your school/district build genuine partnerships with their families of color?
• Does the school prioritize and actively engage in restorative practices and social-emotional learning with an anti-bias, anti-racist lens?
• What anti-racist learning resources are available that white teachers can refer to for self-education around race and racism?
• Is there a racial disproportionality that exists within your school’s special education program?If so, why is that the case?
• Does your school provide a welcoming environment that affirms, respects, and centers LGBTQIA+ students?

Please do not view these questions as a prescription to racism. Rather, look at them as opportunities for growth as your school embarks on its journey toward creating an identity-affirming learning environment for teachers and students. This is far from a complete list, as there are so many more questions I could’ve posed. But this list should get your school off to a great start this school year.

LF: If some teachers apply your recommendations, how should they respond if they get attacked as using critical race theory?

If teachers applying the recommendations of Learning to Relearn are accused by parents or school officials of teaching critical race theory,” the first step is to clarify intent and ground their response in truth … not fear.

Learning to Relearn isn’t about legal theory or divisive politics. It’s about fostering identity-affirming classrooms where all students feel seen, respected, and empowered to learn. That’s not critical race theory. That’s culturally responsive teaching, and it’s backed by decades of educational research.

In today’s climate, where anti-DEI executive orders and legislative rollbacks are creating confusion, and in some cases, deliberate fear, educators need to stay rooted in their mission. Recent executive orders and policies at the state and federal level have attempted to limit how race, gender, and history are taught in schools, but those restrictions do not prohibit teachers from affirming student identity, teaching accurate history, or fostering inclusive dialogue. The difference lies in how the work is framed.

When challenged, educators should lean on clear documentation of their instructional goals, which should align with district standards and the core mission of student success. Focus on skills such as critical thinking, empathy, and civic engagement and not on jargon. Remind parents and administrators that the goal is not to divide students but to prepare them to thrive in a racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse world. Position the work as essential to student achievement, not as political activism.

Finally, it’s important to build alliances with other like-minded educators because this work cannot be done alone. Connect with supportive colleagues, equity leaders, unions, and national organizations that can provide legal guidance and public-messaging support. We’re not just teaching content. We’re modeling courage and leadership for our students.

The great James Baldwin once stated, “A teacher who is not free to teach, is not a teacher.” In other words, we need to reclaim our teaching autonomy and academic freedom as educators. This school year and beyond will serve as a litmus test of your professional integrity. Our good consciences simply cannot allow this reactionary propaganda to persist unchecked. More than ever, we must face our moment of truth and commit, as a teacher community, to go from inaction to “in action.” Our students deserve that, and so do you.

LF: Is there anything I haven’t asked you that you’d like to share?

As we move forward, we must remember that perfection should not be our goal. In this process of learning, unlearning, and relearning, mistakes are inevitable. No matter how many times you read Learning to Relearn and other books, I can guarantee that you will still make mistakes along the way. There is no exact science for how to be an anti-bias, anti-racist educator. There is no algorithm or magic wand out there that will expedite the journey that you must go through as an educator committed to the pursuit of justice.

As someone who is still currently going through that process, all I can say is that you will continue to unpeel layers of your identity that you didn’t realize were there. You will continue to interrogate all the whitewashed ideologies, perspectives, and thoughts that you were conditioned to believe from an early age and all throughout your K-12 schooling.

You will continue to reflect on those times when you fell short as a teacher and subconsciously imposed emotional harm on your students because of your whitewashed conditioning. You will continue to challenge the rules, academic policies, and behavioral protocols that marginalize your most vulnerable students within your school communities. Your growth won’t be measured by the amount of knowledge you gained from this book but rather, by the way you use this knowledge to fight against the systemic inequities that continue to dehumanize historically marginalized students within your school communities and beyond.

Wherever you are in your journey, please remember to give yourself patience and grace as you engage in this internal work. You cannot be of any help to your students if you’re not investing the time to work on yourself.

LF: Thanks, Kwame!