Episode 136: Addressing Racism in Schools: A Guide for Educators During Black Futures Month

This episode of the 3E Podcast addresses the urgent issue of racism and anti-DEI efforts in schools. Dr. Almitra Berry discusses the disturbing story of a 10-year-old Black girl with autism who was handcuffed by police, highlighting systemic inequities. The episode delves into data on disciplinary disparities, achievement gaps, and funding inequities impacting marginalized students. Dr. Berry provides strategies for educators to navigate regulations while maintaining equity, and calls on listeners to take action by documenting incidents, sharing the episode, and joining the community.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

If you're a parent, teacher or school leader and you're sick and tired of the frustration, anger and unfair treatment of children at high risk in our public schools, then perhaps it's time for all of us to do something about it. In this podcast, Dr amitra Berry brings you tips, tools, strategies and tactics to build successful solutions while touching, moving and inspiring all of us to transform our schools so that every child thrives. Here's your host, Dr Bay.

Dr Almitra Berry: 0:37

The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it and then dismantle it. These words from Ibram X kendi have never been more urgent than they are today. Welcome back, equity warriors. Thanks for joining me. I'm Dr almetra Berry, and this black futures month episode couldn't be more critical. But before we dive in, I want to thank our growing community of Patreon subscribers. I am truly grateful for your support. Hashtag 3e gratitude and your support is essential for our fight for those not yet subscribed, Visit patreon.com forward slash 3e podcast, to join our movement and access exclusive resources for educational equity and advocacy. So I was on an ED chat on blue sky last week, and there was a lot of focus on dei and what's happening in our schools. And by the way, if you're not on blue sky yet, log in, download the app, follow me at almitra Berry, look for the hashtags edu sky and Ed chat. Let me tell you, folks, blue sky is a positive, powerful and empowering experience for educators and for our advocates, and if you only look at one social media platform, please make it blue sky. And know I am not compensated for that endorsement or for anything I promote or have ever promoted on this podcast, except for my own books. But that's a different story. In any event, on The Ed chat, one big question that continued to pop up was, why, why is there so much fear? Why is there such an exhaustive effort to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in our schools? Of course, my simple answer to all of that is hate, racism. But simple isn't always enough. So for clarity sake, let's dig into what racism and anti de efforts look like, some of the ways that this is manifesting in our schools. Oddly enough, earlier that same day of the ED chat reel popped up into my feed, and I want to share that content, those images, that story that really pissed me off shook me to my core and reminded me why I have to continue to be a voice, particularly for our black and brown children, but for all our marginalized children. This is Black futures month, and I am focusing on our black children. But still, this video was of a 10 year old black girl. Her name is McKenna, and McKenna is diagnosed with autism and anxiety, and in this video, McKenna was being led out of a bathroom at her school in Conroe, Texas, in handcuffs By not one, but two. Conroe ISD police officers, a child, a 10 year old child with autism, in handcuffs, and I want that to sink in, this child hadn't done anything horribly wrong. She hadn't harmed anybody. She hadn't hurt herself. She did throw some markers, she did hide in a bathroom, and she did push past a teacher who was trying to block a doorway. Now if you watch the body cam video, you can hear the officers doing everything they can to try to get a felony charge against McKenna, they said she was arresting resisting arrest when she was just trying to get her shoes back on her feet. They encouraged, they pressured a white female teacher trying to get her to say she was assaulted. COVID so they could charge McKenna with felony assault of a public servant, and you can hear the teacher in the background on the body cam saying, I feel really silly about this, but they pressured along with another teacher at the school. Later, they refused to release McKenna into her father's custody. By the way, McKenna's dad happens to be white and a former police officer. He knows his rights, he knows his daughter's rights, and all of this putting McKenna in handcuffs is in violation of the no kids in cuffs law that was passed in Texas in 2023 this law states that a peace officer, quote, may not restrain a student enrolled in fifth grade or below unless the Student poses a serious risk of harm to the student or another person. End quote, no kids in cuffs. Evidently, those officers hadn't read the law, or maybe didn't give a shit about McKenna's rights. Ultimately, McKenna faced two assaults on public servant charges. You see that teacher came back and said, yes, she was assaulted, as did another teacher, a false allegation. In the end, those charges were dropped because they couldn't be substantiated, but the damage was done. McKenna now has an arrest record, a felony arrest record, and unless you're the orange thing sitting up on Pennsylvania Avenue, a felony record does impact your life tremendously. Think about what that says to every teacher, every administrator, ultimately, any law enforcement officer that McKenna happens to encounter later on in her life. Now fast forward to January, 20, 2025, and that flurry of executive orders, the Federal directives actively dismantling protections for people like McKenna are most vulnerable students. Now, y'all know, I like to lean into my data, so let me take you through some numbers, recent CDC data. According to the CDC, nearly 1/3 of our high school students experience racism in school. Getting a little more granular. 46% of black students report experiencing racism in school, and that's from the CDC, which, if he has his way, will be taken apart. Civil Rights Data gives us a very vivid picture of what educational inequity and racism looks like in our schools. Black boys are nearly twice as likely as white boys to receive out of school suspensions or expulsions, twice as likely black students as a whole are 3.9 times now, for those of you like me who like nice, easy round numbers in math, that's almost four times 3.9 times more likely to be suspended than white students for the same offenses. Students with disabilities are twice as likely to face disciplinary action. And I think about McKenna, who is both black and a student with a disability. So if I do simple math, what four times plus two times would be eight times more likely. And those of you who are mathematicians correct my math, give me what is the true percentage, or how many times more likely was McKenna because of her double marginalization. But even more troubling, these disparities start as early as preschool. I've talked about that before, where black children represent 18% of enrollment, but in preschool, 38% of out of school suspensions starting in preschool. That's the discipline side. Let's look at achievement the achievement gaps. Yep, they are equally troubling if we look at just eighth graders nationwide, 91% of black students, 89% of Native American students, and 86% of Latino students tested below proficient in math, below proficient in math and in schools that have high enrollments of black and Latino students, only 35% of those schools offer calculus. In schools that have predominantly white populations, 54% of those. To offer calculus. Keep going. More disturbing. I don't know. Can it get any worse? Black students are twice as likely as white students to be in districts with inadequate funding, and they are 3.5 times more likely to be in chronically underfunded districts. In real terms, this means that districts serving predominantly black and Latino students have funding gaps of more than $5,000 per pupil, five grand, and they want vouchers. But let's talk about, or at least take a snapshot here, of the technological inequities exposed by the pandemic. Because we wouldn't have known otherwise, only 74% of how black households, 74% of black households had consistent access to remote learning tools, compared to 89% of Asian and 86% of white households. These types of disparities continue to affect student achievement and student opportunities, particularly for students who have a little extra melanin in their skin. And these aren't just statistics, they're not just numbers. These are the daily realities of our black and brown children. Think about the effect, a very chilling effect, of Trump's pause on all federal funding the children most impacted by that pause, the fear, the terror, the concern, the confusion on the part of educators and school administrators around the country when they go to log in and Say it says, Sorry, your funds have been paused. Who is most impacted by that? Yeah, children of color, children with special needs, children living below the federal poverty level, are most marginalized, the most in need of support. My fellow educators, especially those of you who live in red states who are navigating some very hostile political environments. I see you, remember I live in Texas, I see that you are balancing professional ethics with increasingly restrictive mandates. As of last month, January of this year, at least 18 states have imposed bans or restrictions on instruction about race, gender and related topics. And then there's project 2520 25 their their grand plan, the proposals in there that he is enacting, that he swore he didn't know anything about. I haven't read it, whatever, that threatens to fundamentally reshape public education by dismantling federal protections that have taken decades to build quick refresher goals of project 2025 dismantle the Department of Education, eliminate civil rights protections in federal oversight of educational equity, redirect funding from public schools to private institutions, and if you want to dig into those, I was going to say potentialities. But what that means go back to episodes 106, to 118, it's not every episode. It's like every other episode. But there I did a deep dive into the educational aims of project 2025, one aim at a time, and what that would mean to our marginalized learners and our public schools in general. Now this is where I get to say, I tried to tell y'all. I tried to tell you, and I will not keep saying his name. Instead, I'm going to call him the convict in chief, his administration's actions to eliminate all things Dei, or what they want to deem as woke, even though they couldn't tell you what woke was, all the DEI initiatives across federal agencies being eliminated, including the Department of Education, they are just The tip of the iceberg. They have already removed hundreds of guidance documents and reports they have, in effect, erased decades of progress in educational equity. I went to look for a report the other day on the Department of Ed's civil rights portion of their. Site that is about civil rights, and I got a 404 error. Information was gone. They are trying. They are pressing again. Fellow educators, especially those of you in red states, I feel you. And if you're wondering, how do you navigate, how do you do right by your children while keeping yourself out of the sights of the Zealots who would have your heads on a platter for being woke? I'm going to give you a few strategic approaches. Here's how you can comply with current regulations while effectively addressing systemic racism and inequities. Number one, focus on data driven approaches, focus on student outcomes, document academic impacts, track student outcome data and maintain detailed records of any incident that even hints at being racist. This isn't about compliance. It's about building a case for equity through evidence while covering your tail second, reframe your language while maintaining your mission. Let's replace this. Hear me out. Replace anti racism with learner excellence, focus discussions on student success instead of equity. Remember the goal isn't to abandon our principles, but to work within the system and protect our ability to serve all children. Number three, build coalitions with civil rights organizations universities that support dei and parent groups supportive of inclusive education in states with anti dei legislation, these partnerships will prove crucial for maintaining support systems to our for our most vulnerable children. We need equity warriors in place to maintain a resistance. If Harriet Tubman had broadcast her mission location and all her escape plans on the social media of the day, she would not have completed not one single trip to freedom, let alone 13, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to pass along the Underground Railroad details to others who are seeking freedom on their own. You equity warriors in the trenches, be more like Harriet to my colleagues facing pressure from anti dei legislation, remember that the vagueness in the laws that they're passing is intentional, so don't self censor. Wait for specific directives before you change or limit your inclusive practices. Your learners need you to be brave, because the stakes have never been higher. And this isn't just about money. This is about opportunity. This is about justice. This is about black and brown futures. So I challenge every educator listening to take three immediate actions. Action number one, document, remember. Document, every incident of educational inequity you witness build the evidence base we need to fight back. And if you want it on social but you're afraid to post it, send it to me. I'll do it for you, and I will maintain your anonymity. Action number two, share this episode with five colleagues. Text it to them, help them understand all at stake for your children, your learners, and for you as educators as well. And then action number three, join our community on Patreon and blue sky so that you can get those exclusive strategies and support in navigating these challenges, not just from me, but from the entire community that is focused on maintaining equity and defeating racism in our schools. Remember when they try to silence discussions about race, we have to speak louder. When they attempt to dismantle equity initiatives, we must build more, newer and stronger networks and fuck that. When they go low, we go high. Bullshit. This is a new day with a new enemy, one that has been empowered so when they push for policies that harm our children, we must push back harder before we part ways. I want to hear from you. DM me on blue sky, text me your questions, stories or topic suggestions. You know that link? Is down in the show notes to send me a text your experiences and insights fuel this movement for educational equity. This is Dr almitra Berry reminding you that in times of educational crisis, silence is not an option. And remember, don't worry about things you cannot change. Change the things you can no longer accept, and that's a wrap for today's episode of the 3e podcast. Now here's how you can make a real difference. First, smash that subscribe button. It's free, it's easy, just do it. Second, share the show with anyone you know who cares about education. And third, consider becoming a supporter of the show. Together, we're not just talking about change, we're making it happen. Make a donation today to be part of that mission and change, and I'll catch you next time you.