Diversity in education means all are seen
I’m a former educator. One of the most important things I tried to inspire in my students was to find and own their truth. This compels me to continue to learn and not be afraid I might find some things I was taught just aren’t true.
We all want an educated citizenry. But can we agree that’s happening when there are attempts to ban books and limit what’s taught in school? False narratives and silos of misinformation infiltrate our lives because of what we thought we knew.
Until I began working on my doctorate more than 25 years ago, I, and many others, bought into the idea that America was a melting pot. It’s a great theoretical idea, but it’s a distorted view of the real America.
In 1782, French immigrant J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur wrote that in America, “Individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.” The concept drew its strength from the idea of unity fostered by beliefs and ideals — not race, blood, or sect.
The melting pot concept grew into something that denied individuality and cultural uniqueness. Some of us became invisible. Americans were encouraged to assimilate and adopt an Anglo conformity model. However, sociologists in the ’60s curated a salad bowl model to define America.
Toward the end of my tenure as an educator, a colleague and I started teaching a class on diversity. In this class, students discussed elements of who we are, our origins and the ideas that the playing field for various groups was not level. We used exercises that demonstrated how privilege provided advantages others did not have. We discussed perceptions students brought to class.
They shared their experiences and volunteered how their naiveté, and, in some cases, ignorance hadn’t allowed them a lens to see the reality of inequity, much less the fact that other people had it differently.
Truths were shared from books such as Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste,” which discusses how America provided Germany the blueprint for segregation, or Jan Jarboe Russell’s “The Train to Crystal City,” which chronicles people forced into family internment camps in Texas during World War II.
This class predated the angst generated by Christopher Rufo, an activist with the Manhattan Institute, who helped frame Critical Race Theory as a threat for conservatives. We taught these classes in an atmosphere of respect, responsibility and resonance. Students respected each other and listened to facts rather than distortions. Each took a responsibility to challenge what they didn’t understand and gained truths that resonated for them based on empirical evidence.
I am stunned as I examine people’s predilection to ban books and control classrooms. What are people afraid of ? Diversity? We are not alike. Equity? Things are never entirely equal, but we should work toward it. Inclusion? The hardest struggle I’ve had in America is being seen; and with that, the fear of not being seen as a part of the future, particularly as I was expected to melt into a society.
Books, education and diversity, equity and inclusion provide opportunity for people of all backgrounds to see themselves as part of the future.
Archie R. Wortham, PH.D., retired after more than 40 years as an educator. He also served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army.