It’s Not So Black and White
Discussing racial issues can make students and teachers uncomfortable. Here, an educator shares her wisdom on teaching about slavery and other race-related issues.
By Dr. Beverly Tatum
By
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.
In
October of 1998 public broadcasting stations aired a four-part
documentary,
Americans in Africa, that explored the
central paradox of a democracy that declared all men equal but
enslaved and oppressed one group to provide independence and
prosperity for another. The filmmakers worked for nearly ten
years, interviewing scholars, studying historic documents, and
poring over personal narratives to produce a compelling
examination of this central, painful, and extremely complex
issue in American life.
With far less time and far
fewer resources, classroom teachers across the country are
faced with explaining the same issue. Your task is more
difficult because your audience is children.
Slavery is
a topic that makes many of us uncomfortable. Yet, black-white
race relations in the United States have been forever shaped
by slavery and its social, psychological, and economic legacy.
It requires discussion. How should we approach the topic with
children?
Too often I hear from young African-American
students that they feel embarrassment in school when slavery
is discussed. Ironically, slavery is one of the few ways the
black experience is included in their schooling, even during
Black History Month, a time of celebration. Uncomfortable with
the portrayal of their group as helpless victims, students
squirm as they feel the eyes of white children looking for
their reaction to this subject.
In my
professional-development work with white teachers, they
sometimes remark how uncomfortable they, too, are with this
example (and others) of the painful history of race relations.
As one elementary teacher said: It is hard to tell small
children about slavery, hard to explain that young black men
were lynched and that police turned fire hoses on children
while others bombed churches, killing black children at their
prayers. This history is a terrible legacy for all of us. The
other day [another] teacher told me that she could not look
into the faces of her students when she taught about these
things. It was too painful, and too embarrassing. . . . If we
are all uncomfortable, something is wrong in our
approach.?
Something is wrong. While it is necessary to
be honest about the racism of our past and present, it is also
necessary to provide children (and adults) with a vision that
change is possible. Where can we find this vision? We can look
for it in our history, we can create it with our colleagues,
and we can demonstrate it in our classrooms.
The
Africans who were brought here as slaves were not just passive
victims. They found ways to resist their victimization. All
whites were not bad, and some black resisters found white
allies. Concrete examples are critical.
For young
children, examples can be found in picture books. One of my
favorites is Faith Ringgold's
Aunt Harriettes Underground
Railroad in the Sky (Crown Publishers, 1992). This story
is told from the point of view of a young black girl who
travels back in time and experiences both the chilling
realities of slavery and the power of her own resistance and
eventual escape. White people are presented in the story as
enemies (slave owners) and as allies (hosts on the Underground
Railroad). This dual representation is important for all
children, regardless of color.
A white friend of mine
often told her young son the story of how Rosa Parks refused
to sit in the back of the bus in 1955 and sparked her whole
community to take a stand against racist whites during the
Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. The story was one of the
childs favorites when he was just four years old. Then one
day he asked her, Are all white people bad?? Now he was five,
and already seemed to be feeling bad about being
white.
I recommended talking more about what white
people had done to oppose injustice. Jeanette Winter's book
Follow the Drinking Gourd (Dragonfly Books, 1998)
highlights the role of a white man and other white allies who
offer assistance along the Underground Railroad.
When
discussing a sensitive topic such as slavery, make sure all
are treated respectfully as individuals. Follow the rule
yourself, and don't allow children to be treated as if they
represent an entire racial group.
When you feel
uncomfortable or notice students squirming, acknowledge the
discomfort. Let them know it is normal. You can say, It is
hard to talk about the time when there were slaves. It can
make us all feel bad. Sometimes I feel _ .? You can fill in
the blank yourself; feelings of guilt or anger are
common.
Let students see themselves as agents of change
and healing. Although slavery ended a long time ago, we still
face racism today. By treating one another with respect,
students are fighting racism.
Encourage them to note
examples of bias and stereotypes in their reading. Children
can learn to question whether derogatory depictions of other
people are stereotypes. They can learn to ask who is doing
what in the story's plot, and why; who is in the role of
leader and who is taking the orders; and who has been left out
of the story altogether.
Social studies and history
curricula rarely emphasize examples of black or white
resistance to slavery or racism. You're not alone in your
discomfort with the topic, or your search for solutions. Share
your concerns, frustrations, success stories, and resources
with colleagues and friends.
Coming to terms with past
and present injustice is often cause for anger and guilt,
frustration and despair. All children, regardless of color,
need to find the hope in this history. We must not
insensitively sanitize the pain of those caught in the bind of
oppression. We need to celebrate the strength of the human
spirit to go beyond the roles of victim and victimizer. In
doing so, we may inspire one another to do likewise in the
struggle against the contemporary injustices we face.
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D., is the
author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in
the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race
(Basic
Books, 1997). She is dean of the college and professor of
psychology and education at Mount Holyoke College in South
Hadley, Massachusetts.
About the Author
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D., is the author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race (Basic Books, 1997). She is dean of the college and professor of psychology and education at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
