Yeah so we are doing a social studies unit on our ancestors. We’ve done some version of this for as long as I can remember…more than 15 years? The students are asked to talk to family, interview relatives, make a family tree, and identify one of their countries of origin. (You know…not the U.S.A. unless they are indeed a Native People of this country)

Ok. So, our units are language rich and it’s my job to come up with some of the daily vocabulary. There I was picking words: ancestor, traditions, relationship, immigrant…hmm…immigrant…

So, all of a sudden I am thinking…for the FIRST TIME …because white privilege…SLAVERY.

I have had Black students. None this year, but usually I have a child with ancestry that very very likely includes slavery. And it’s never occurred to me to deal with this. Sigh. Well, there it is. And here we are.

I was debating whether to enter this word into the Google doc all the other teachers at my grade level will access. I was thinking they won’t like it. They will object. They’ll question my judgement. They’ll think it’s inappropriate. I was afraid. This is uncomfortable.

Now, I am of the mind that when something bothers me, it’s time to act. It means I know the right thing to do and I’m afraid.

Right then, one said colleague walks in and we talk. We are much more like-minded. I tell him about it. He affirms its validity. This helps. I decide. I do it. SLAVERY is one of our words. It is right between immigration, emigrate, migration, and refugee. Even if the other teachers might not utilize it, I will. It needs to be discussed outside the context of Black History. This is family history. This is the history of my students. Even if they aren’t Black…