An Unwanted Word

In my last blog, I discussed teaching in Metro Public Schools...I'm going to continue that discussion.

Today, I taught 6th-8th grade for young men who have severe learning or attention disorders. All of the students in the class, except one young person, were African-Americans.

During the afternoon, I was instructed to read from a Social Studies unit the students are going through. I noticed the subject was "Harriet Tubman" and I thought to myself, "wow, this will be great, I did my undergrad in history, I'll be able to really make this come alive for them."

About ten minutes into reading the simple biography of Tubman a young man rose up and said, "how could your people to do this to my people?" I'd just finished reading a section about six year old Harriet who'd been beaten severely for stealing food for her family because they were so malnourished some of them were nearly being worked to the point of literal death.

The classroom was completely silent. Instead of offering a complex historical explanation of sociological influence, norms, customs, world-views...I simply said, "I don't know Rahkim (pronounced Rah-keem)."

Another young boy spoke up after a few more minutes of silence, "People sure can be evil can't they?"

It dawned on me that I did a degree in American History from a predominantly white evangelical college. As grateful as I am for that experience, the every day experiences I encounter with people are far more crucial to the ones I learn in the labratory that is the classroom.

A good reminder for those of us who like to hide in the tower.