#SmallBites

I didn't mean to talk about Critical Race Theory, but with Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday, people have been ranting about how we can't teach the truth about Juneteenth and enslavement because of all the bans. Well, like most trending social media rants, this one is not based in fact. 

As I have stated, you aren't teaching critical race theory when you teach critical aspects about race and racism. Since your job as an educator is to teach your students to think critically about the world around them; since you want to teach them to be good problem-solvers; since you hopefully aren't training them to be your ideological minions; you do not have to worry about critical race theory bans in education. First, CRT is more concerned with the systems that disenfranchise populations than the individual racist. The bans seem more concerned with evil educator ideologues teaching students that all members of any particular group are racist, sexist oppressors. Raise your hand if that was on your syllabus last year. 

If you weren't telling your students they were guilty or superior or inferior, stand down. Know your standards. Read the bills (Here's HB3979 from Texas). Prepare your lessons and teach your students to read, investigate, write, evaluate and be good citizens.

If you'd like more info, here is my Critical Race Theory series on YouTube, along with some additional resources to help you do your own research so you can feel confident about the upcoming school year:

Critical Race Theory-The Basics (15m listen)

What You Need to Know About Critical Race Theory with Sheldon Eakins (45m listen)

Critical Race Theory and SEL (4m read)

Get the more resources at hedreich.com/.

This episode was sponsored by Bonnie Nieves author of the newly released Be Awesome On Purpose. If you want time to dedicate to creating more equitable spaces, start with student led, student centered and gradeless (yes gradeless!) practices to streamline your administrative task list and give your students more choice and voice. Get your copy today!

Pride month usually focuses our attention on the right love who we love. That struggle historically does not only belong to the LG community. 

Miscegenation was illegal in all but 9 states at some point in our history. This country may not be able to agree on pandemic mask wearing, but it sure was unified on miscegenation, or, mixed marriages. No Catholics and non-Catholics in some states, no Whites with Asians or Filipinos and of course, no Whites with Negroes, Mulattoes, Quadroons, Octoroons, etc.--if you're wondering what or who all those words mean, I'll get to the 1 drop rule soon.

At any rate, the Lovings--yes, that was the last name of Richard and Mildred (néeJeter), were a couple who dared to love and marry, a marriage that was null and void in the state of Virginia.

It's fitting that we celebrate the Lovings and their fight for the right to love who they chose this month, when so many are celebrating that same right, even as some state constitution language still says otherwise. Read more about Loving Day on Lovingday.org.

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As I did research for an upcoming book on Black wealthy communities, I found myself getting a different view of segregation. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sitting where I sit in the theater, eating out wherever I choose and having my pick of seats on trains and planes. However, seeing the heyday of Black societies created by Black entrepreneurs showed me a few positives I have only heretofore considered in passing:

There was respite from racism in a tightly knit community.

There was support for doing it ourselves. When White lenders wouldn't insure us or give us business loans and mortgages, we built our own banks.

Students were taught by culturally literate community leaders and educators.

There were other lessons, but those stand out. And if I can find the silver linings in segregation, what does that say about other ideologies that I might not be on board with? Might there be lessons learned if I simply dive in, read up and look at things from another angle? 

What if you pick ONE thing this summer and read the opposing arguments on that ONE thing with an open mind? What if you look at it from down instead of up or left instead of right? What if you purpose to learn about any one thing from a different point of view? 

If you're like me and segregation, you'll come up with more questions than answers, more what ifs. You'll come up with a fresh perspective.

If I were to teach on the Tulsa Massacre now, I would teach less about redlining and Jim Crow and more about the rich history that developed because of a tightly knit community that found strength in its reliance on its members. 

Now, your turn. Drop me a line on Twitter or Instagram and tell me what subject you picked!

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We can have the big conversations about the big bans. Finally, if you are not a legal scholar, you probably are in the dark about what CRT really is. Check the last 2 episodes of the podcast and the vlog for help here. But the big takeaway is this: 

Teaching is political, you cannot get away from current events, mask protocols and a million other things that influence class campus and community. You can, however, keep your opinions out of the class discussions. Check your opinions at the school building door. Save them for Facebook. Your classroom is for student learning and exploration. Craft good questions and teach them to respect divergent opinions that do no harm. Foster mutual respect and teach media literacy. These skills will be much more useful than teaching critical race theory, which, I'd be willing to bet, no teacher is doing unless they are preparing ss for pre-law.

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While out in Twitter Gen Pop (code for out of the protected learning spaces of Edutwitter) I found a new friend. Ms. McCall. She doesn’t know me, but I have claimed her. We think alike, at least when it comes to CRT. Critical Race Theory and the legislation being put forth against it is legislation that wants to ban talk of race, racism, identity politics and for sure anything that smacks of the lack of historical empathy that we suffer from in our country. That means we want to indoctrinate our kids, just not in any new ways they have not already been indoctrinated.

I want my students to think on their own. I want them to research, look at ideologies from all sides and know that there is probably not an evil ideology or a good ideology. As long as humans run systems, they will be biased and flawed. But: The more we teach students to examine critically what they learn, the better off we’ll be because critical thinkers do not blindly follow. SO either we want a Nazi Germany repeat or we want to build a nation of citizens who espouse empathy and understanding. Both need critical thinking and critical thinking cannot flourish in classrooms where civic disagreement cannot take place. Teachers, burn your partisanship card, or at least drop it at the schoolhouse door. Your students need a neutral guide to their student led discussions—including discussions on critical race theory.

Building on last week's intro, this episode explores three of the basic tenets of Critical Race Theory, taken from Derrick Bell's original work. Be sure to watch #SmallBites e47 to keep up with the series as we explore what Critical Race Theory is and isn't and how components of CRT can help us to be better educators and citizens. 

This past week, my students gave me the highest compliments any student can pay a teacher. They mentioned, over and over, that I care, that I create a safe space and that they feel seen and validated. Some even mentioned learning, which is also a good thing. But at the end of the day, if my students know that our classroom is a safe space for discussion; if they know they will not be judged and that all discussions will have room for dissenting opinions and mutual respect (which are not mutually exclusive), I have done the most important part of my job. And honestly, if my students feel seen and accepted, they will learn. 

When you hear about the big bad boogie man "Critical Race Theory", ignore the parts about Marxist theories (what is that again??) and revisionist historians and ask yourself if you know everything there is to know about our country's history. Ask yourself if there are stories you don't know, perspectives you haven't heard or contributions you never noticed. Ask yourself if someone in your class or on your campus has a story that is missing in our history books. Then ask yourself if science evolves and adjusts. Because if you believe the earth is round, without believing in 'revisionist science', then it's ok to evolve and learn more. Whether or not we like it, our past influences our present. It's why the doctor asks for a complete medical history. He wants to critically examine the way your past influences your health and well being. In that same way, we need to look critically at our thoughts around race and the way our past influences our wellbeing as a society. Join me Friday at 7c on YouTube, there's more to come. 

This episode is an intro to Critical Race Theory with an emphasis on socio-emotional learning. 

Visit Hedreich.com for resources and more vignettes and educational strategies.

I'm a big Shonda Rhimes fan, having watched and rewatched countless Grey's Anatomy episodes. This season, both Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 are using primetime TV to allow us to watch some of the horror of what has been American life play out on screen. This week, Station 19 S4E12 caught my attention. It showed the complexities of people reacting to the George Floyd murder: the shock, the rage, the helplessness, the disbelief, the discomfort, the self-preservation, the complex mixture of any and all of those. I hope you'll watch it, there are many lessons to be gleaned.

This week, think about what you've been taught, what we are learning about what we were taught and then consider the difference between being a racist and hating; and propping up racially biased systems by not actively working to disrupt them.

Many of us desire to be inclusive. I hope most of us do not hate. But not hating is no longer enough.

America is a world leader, an economic force to be reckoned with. America is a world leader, in gun violence. We kill each other more than in many developed nations and even more than in most sub-Saharan nations, considered to be the poorest in the world. As we wind down this school year, how about asking your students why they think that is? Ask them why such a great nation should be so violent. Ask them why the adults who teach them to use their words don't. And ask them what they think we need to do differently. 

Then tell me, because this year's killings have me at a loss for words. 

Enjoy the 5AM show a few hours early:

Last week I was determined to hope fast to hope. Then Toledo got shot. And the people in Indianapolis. And the people in Austin Tx. Driving down the street, I asked my son who the flag was flying half mast for. His answer? This country. The weight of this world on top of the global pandemic is crushing and I could do a "how to talk to your students about..." multiple times weekly. How do I talk to them about the number of violent incidents that we keep brushing off as one offs? I will tell them the only thing I know; As long as YOU are in the world, you can be light in your corner of the world, you can be change, you can make a difference. I will tell them that I believe they can be better. I will tell them that I believe in them for my future, for their own. 

And when the next headline comes, I will remind myself that as long as I am in the world, I can make a difference. 

Visit Hedreich.com for resources and more vignettes and educational strategies.