The Elephant in the Room
Last summer, I served as a chemistry instructor for a program specifically for high school kids entering the 12th grade. One of my students asked me to review an essay she was working on for an English class, and I gladly accepted this task. She was doing very well in my course, and I wanted to support my students as much as possible. As I recall, the essay focused on issues of race and politics and I thought it was reasonably good. During the next class period, I returned her essay with my comments and asked her if she was aware that the House of Representatives had passed a resolution apologizing for slavery, and that maybe she could mention this in her essay. Another student sitting close by politely asked me to repeat what I just said. I replied, “Well, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday apologizing for slavery.” The class became very quiet, and the student responded, “What is an apology going to do?”
Now, at that moment I admit I was a little uncomfortable. I was there to teach these students about chemistry, not having a discussion about race. After a few moments of gathering my thoughts, I replied, “Well, I do think an apology is a step in the right direction. This creates an opportunity to have a real dialogue about race.” It was completely naïve of me to think that would be the end of the conversation. My response prompted the students to discuss this further and for the next several minutes, I let them have an open dialogue about race in my chemistry class. And some of these students were very passionate during the discussion! Eventually, the class settled down and we focused on my chemistry lesson plan. The discussion reminded me that issues about race remains the “big elephant in the room.” However, the election of the first African American President of the United States has certainly created an opportunity to talk about these very issues.
On Sunday mornings, I sometimes watch the talk show “Meet the Press” on NBC. (Yes, you know you are getting old, when the highlight of your day focuses on watching programs that focus on politics and daily headlines.) Anyway, Tavis Smiley appeared on the show one morning as a panelist and was asked if Dr. King’s dream had been fulfilled with the election of President Obama. Mr. Smiley responded that the election of President Obama was a “significant down payment on Dr. King’s dream,” but he felt the dream has not been fulfilled yet. In a nutshell, Mr. Smiley stated that we are making progress.
One June 18, 2009—one day before Juneteenth—the U.S. Senate also passed a resolution apologizing for slavery, similar to the resolution passed by the House last year. An apology will certainly not fix the past, but again I do think it is a step in the right direction. The real solution is to have an open and honest dialogue about racism. That is the only way we will begin to make some real progress on these issues.
Now, at that moment I admit I was a little uncomfortable. I was there to teach these students about chemistry, not having a discussion about race. After a few moments of gathering my thoughts, I replied, “Well, I do think an apology is a step in the right direction. This creates an opportunity to have a real dialogue about race.” It was completely naïve of me to think that would be the end of the conversation. My response prompted the students to discuss this further and for the next several minutes, I let them have an open dialogue about race in my chemistry class. And some of these students were very passionate during the discussion! Eventually, the class settled down and we focused on my chemistry lesson plan. The discussion reminded me that issues about race remains the “big elephant in the room.” However, the election of the first African American President of the United States has certainly created an opportunity to talk about these very issues.
On Sunday mornings, I sometimes watch the talk show “Meet the Press” on NBC. (Yes, you know you are getting old, when the highlight of your day focuses on watching programs that focus on politics and daily headlines.) Anyway, Tavis Smiley appeared on the show one morning as a panelist and was asked if Dr. King’s dream had been fulfilled with the election of President Obama. Mr. Smiley responded that the election of President Obama was a “significant down payment on Dr. King’s dream,” but he felt the dream has not been fulfilled yet. In a nutshell, Mr. Smiley stated that we are making progress.
One June 18, 2009—one day before Juneteenth—the U.S. Senate also passed a resolution apologizing for slavery, similar to the resolution passed by the House last year. An apology will certainly not fix the past, but again I do think it is a step in the right direction. The real solution is to have an open and honest dialogue about racism. That is the only way we will begin to make some real progress on these issues.
You can't be an effective teacher in any subject area without caring about the students themselves. You also can't care about African American students without acknowledging this very significant time period in race relations. Some people try to act like it doesn't matter. Heh! Maybe they live in a world where race doesn't matter, but that's not my reality.
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