Still, painful incidents will occur. A white child explains that she was touching her classmate s hair because she wanted to feel what a black person s hair was like. Two teachers, one black, the other white, one a classroom teacher, the other the guidance counselor, start a group to bring children of color together, to talk about themselves, share experience and gather strength. The main seventh grade history book in a middle school does include women and men of color, white women and disabled folks, but they tend to be mentioned in sidebars or in optional end of chapter activities. Teachers at the school have not noticed the hidden messages.
White men are the norm, others are optional or exceptional exceptions.
They teach units of American history as more inclusive using the text as just one supplementary source and 2. We ll celebrate their lives merely as a display to pass by or we might say as extracurricular activity. It s not easy to involve all of her teachers, to teach them the importance of changing. But she has involved about four-fifths of her staff so far in the Equity Project. No district mandate helps her out.