E Pluribus Part 1- Out of Many Stories, We Teach

This week a reporter interviewed me about teaching Black history in my 8th-grade social studies class. I was conflicted.
While I feel that my voice as a white educator is not a voice that should be amplified right now I do think the story of how we learned to incorporate Black voices into the story of American history is a story worth hearing.

  Allyship is challenging and although I took professional risks in transforming our curriculum I was never really in danger. So I won't claim to be an ally but the central thesis of my E Pluribus series is this: 
The way to start deconstructing structural racism is to start NOW.
Be vulnerable and admit you don't know all the stories and then do the work to learn Black history.
Never consider yourself done but always stay curious and open.

All good teaching starts with a "WHY?"

The why starts here:  Without seeking out stories that represent the many diverse people who built our nation we are missing out.

It's that simple. 

My mission as an educator is to inspire curiosity so future citizens have empathy and want to impact the world. I am failing them by teaching them history centered on the white perspective.
We fail them when we use a textbook that tells a white story, centered in white political and economic power, and leave Black people, indigenous people, Latinx people, women, Asian people, LGBTQ+ people, folks with disabilities and more in the margins and sidebars.
White as the norm and everything else measured against it supports structural racism. 
That's why we tell many stories because out of many we gain understanding, empathy, and cultural humility.

Artwork by Meital Smith, "E Pluribus Unum" available on amplifier.org