Good White People and the Myth of Anti-Racism in Urban Education
written by jeremy o’brian
Somewhere in America, at some school where white people believe themselves to be progressive and “anti-racist educators,” some black teacher is sitting in awe of how unbelievably uncritical educational leadership can be.
In case you don’t know, I would like to start by naming that we are in the middle of a global pandemic. All of us. But for Black Americans and the students we serve in “underrepresented communities,” that reality is only one more thing to add to an ever-growing list of concerns. In case you don’t know, in the middle of a global pandemic, Black people are still feeling the weight of racial violence at the hands of the police, the state. In case you don’t know, your silence is so loud.
Growing up, I heard my mama say “it’s always something.” It wasn't until I became both an adult and teacher that I started to get what it is she possibly meant. To put it simply, for black folk in America, “it’s always something” might simply mean “the odds seem to be always already stacked against me.” Or in the words of the fictional Florida Evans: “damn, damn, damn!”
For the sake of this note. I use “white people” and “white leadership” synonymously. One of my problems with education, from this one teacher’s point of view, is that white people are hardly ever almost never learning. We learn by being challenged and being in conversation with people who may or may not be aligned with our thinking. We learn by opening the floor and the playing field for genuine and un-policed dialogue. We learn by trying something that we “never thought about” pedagogically. But it is often the case that the systems in place are created in order to manipulate order, insist on one way of doing a thing while offering illusions of collaboration and using test scores as a method of gaslighting teachers.
The system is constructed in such a way that everything is implemented based on the norms and comfort levels of those in power. The system is also constructed in such a way that power becomes synonymous with white. Nothing new here, but I have to name that this is true of many of the spaces (charter schools) I’ve been in as an educator.
Charter school networks have constructed a game where black children are challenged to assimilate (test scores, “grit,” and etc.) with little to no rationale for how it matters in the context of social inclusion. Charter schools have constructed a system, much like America, where even when black teachers are invited into the room they are silenced and treated as though they should be glad to be in the room. When in fact, if you are genuinely doing the work of anti-racism, you would understand that you are the one who is lucky to be in the room. But narcissism and white supremacy has allowed you to conquer resources and tell yourself stories about your own imagined benevolence. If your way of operating and educating is the only way to be successful, this is more about social control than it is social inclusion. Your refusal to engage the totality of blackness, of black folk points to dishonesty when you say you’re anti-racist.
I often hear conversations around racism and systematic oppression that seem to position “good white people” in education as something different than Amy from the park, or Carolyn Bryant Donham in the case of Emmett Till. From Zimmerman. or Tamir’s murders. or Miriam Carey. or Tanisha Anderson.
Most alarming is the consistent inquiries, inquiries posed to your “inferiors” about what the answer is to the problem of racism within the education system as though they don't notice how overwhelming white charter schools and their leadership are. These inquiries are often followed by sentiments that sound like “I’m doing my best.” Here’s the thing:
Sure. Yes you are. You are doing your best. But your best isn’t enough, and you shouldn’t get to continuously drop the ball at the expense of black kids. Moreover, stop asking black teachers for advice in a system that refuses their growth. It is not the job of black teachers to help you figure out your job as a leader when you refuse to invite black educators, policymakers, thinkers into these spaces and positions of influence. It is manipulative to continuously seek counsel when you have no interest in black professional mobility in these spaces. The problem with this idea of “anti-racism” then becomes the lack of a genuine praxis.
The practices of white people who were once educators (or never educators) but are now in leadership roles always point to them being far from “anti-racist.” The investment in maintaining leadership (dominance) in schools populated by black and brown children points to a deep-rooted fear of blackness. If you genuinely want to do good, you’d acknowledge the historical nature of falsified democracy, economic disparities, racism, racial privilege, intersectional privilege, imperialism, and beyond in order to extend black and brown communities the resources and leadership roles without stipulations of keeping you nearby or in the room.
But no. You’re not so different from other white people whose crimes are more tangible- not so much. You’re not so different from the police. The power and privilege you wield may not be as overwhelmingly loud as others but you are committed to the denigration of a people it seems. It is in your praxis. It is in the lack of and refusal to imagine black leadership. It is in the learned politeness and silencing of black teachers. It is in the refusal to even IMAGINE black autonomy and intellectual individuality to the point that everything has to be done by way of your norms. It is in the constant praising of black children and the undeniable but unearned distrust of black teachers — black adults.
It is often the case that “good white people” tend to feel very good about themselves because they don’t do things like “call the cops” or blatantly use“the N-word.” But please understand this. You may not be the type to call the cops, but you are always already policing blackness and it is most evident in your treatment of black teachers and your lack of black leadership.
You develop systems where you’re always giving feedback, but your system doesn’t hold you accountable for the only real goal you have committed to, which is building intellectually autonomous and educated black kids.
Since the onset of COVID-19 many of our schools have closed down the doors and moved to remote learning, revealing what we have always known about inequality for Black students in the American education system- you can not build the child up without building his community.
In education, we give resources to schools in particular communities while never trusting that they are capable of deciding the best use of those resources. In education, we give resources to black teachers without trusting that they have a clue. The resources, then, are not tools for anything but oppression and control. And I do understand the collaborative nature of education, but you have to first acknowledge that there must be a shift in your thinking around what it looks like to collaborate and work with black teachers, educators, and thinkers.
If education is a tool for garnering social inclusion, how do you justify the overwhelming presence of white narcissism?
It is narcissistic to never engage black educators, community organizers and thought leaders, and somehow determine exactly what they need, and narcissism seems to be the method by which “good white people” operate.
We can no longer afford to adhere to the racial politics of time. We can no longer afford all-white leadership who believe themselves to be saviors (and yes I am including non-white people who are complicit). Black folks don’t need a savior, hell… Black folk saved American democracy. Dr. Brittney Cooper offers that “if time had a race, it’d be white.” This is one of the more compelling ways for me to think about the privileging of white educators in a system that should be about preparing black students for adequate social inclusion, systematic consciousness, and intellectual autonomy.
Leadership must reflect the melting pot rhetoric we so often lean on to buy obedience. I would like to invite you to think of the resources and positions of power within education in such a way that you become okay with not always being the one in the “boss” chair. If you are really interested in being an anti-racist educator, you’d be okay with not wielding power and allowing black people more mobility in a system that is “suppose” to be about building their communal autonomy.
Your desire to be a “good white” can’t be greater than your desire to be a useful and equitable educator, and equity extends far beyond state tests. “Good white people” must learn that collaboration sometimes mean you just might not have a seat at the table, you must learn the inherent value of informed black voices in the room, you must learn to listen to people who have both lived and studied “urban” education, because if you don’t our children walk the fine line of being screwed and being doubly screwed.
I watch you fear any opposing views, especially that of black educators, and I am supposed to believe that you want the best for black children? Do you realize that these very same children will continue to grow, ultimately becoming the same adults you secretly despise?
Ultimately, I believe you when you say you love your job. I hear you when you say you’re doing your best. Just like America, your job gives you so much hope and professional promise. But your job and the genuine uplift and sustenance of black children aren’t always synonymous and it should be.
Plainly: you can not love black children and fear the adults they become.
You can not genuinely want what is absolutely best for them, you can not desire to build emotionally intelligent and intellectually autonomous black students if you resist conversation, genuine intellectual engagement, and challenges from your black co-workers. All I’m saying is bringing in black teachers is an easier job than black leadership because you still get to be the “boss” at the end of the day. Real equity might look like black leadership who challenge and genuinely collaborate for the sake of black intellectual autonomy and social inclusion.
“Anti-racism” is a verb. It is often the case that it is used as beautiful rhetoric in lieu of an actual Anti-Racist praxis, and that is how anti-racism becomes a lie.
