The 6th Graders in My School Laughed at the Lynching of Emmett Till
It proves why we must tell these stories in our schools.
Several days ago, I was sitting in my classroom. It was a busy day with at least 15 kids in my in-school suspension program. I was exhausted and did not look forward to the union meeting I attended for three days in Chicago. The days off are welcome, but it's still work.
It was my planning time, and I was about to leave my classroom and take my daily jaunt around the building when the 6th-grade counselor entered my room. She looked distraught. I wondered what lovely young person cussed out the teacher on a bright Wednesday afternoon.
However, that wasn't why she wanted to talk to me. She said to me that the 6th graders in a teacher's class found the death of Emmett Till funny and that it didn't matter to them because he wasn't their family.
Now, here is a very young white woman concerned that black children are laughing at one of the most horribly racist murders in history. What's far more interesting is that she cares more than them.
She asked me if I could talk to them about why his death was monumental in American History.
Now you may ask yourself, was she asking me because I was black? Yes, of course she…
