LIFE CONVOS: Growing Up In America With Non Black Educators

DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

As of August 2017, 80 percent of all public school teachers were non Hispanic White, 9 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 2 percent were non-Hispanic Asian.

Here's the stats for the student body population across the United States: Of the projected 50.7 million public school students entering pre-kindergarten through grade 12 in fall 2018, White students will account for 24.1 million. The remaining 26.6 million will be composed of 7.8 million Black students, 14.0 million Hispanic students, 2.6 million Asian students, 0.2 million Pacific Islander students, 0.5 million American Indian/Alaska Native students, and 1.6 million students of Two or more races.

Interesting huh? If you are a Black student or are raising a Black student, the person teaching you or your child will more than likely be a White person.  Does it make the difference? Should it?

I only ever had 4 Black teachers in my entire educational career which started in 1993 at PS 219 in Brooklyn and ended in 2010 at Long Island University.  The first one, Mrs. Daye, was my Kindergarten elementary school teacher.  This was the onset of my educational career.  I started off in safe hands.  The next one was Mrs. Scott, 3rd grade, the highest class in the grade.  She was incredibly hard on me and for good reason.  I cried because I had to leave my peers in the secondary smart class because my end of the year scores was the highest in the grade.  She knew I had a brighter future than the rest.  In her class, I discovered my voice.  I tried out and joined the GLEE club, convinced my parents to pay for dance class lessons, and I started performing around the school.  I remember bringing in my Maya Angelou poetry book and she let me say "breast" when I recited 'Phenomenal Woman'. After that, nothing up until my French teacher in High School.  He forced me out of dance and into AP French because he knew I danced outside of high school privately.  He also told my guidance counselor that I was cutting class when the overcrowded population of the school made it easy to just disappear.  The last one was a sub-dance teacher, Mr. Sharp.  He gave me a compliment about being graceful in front of my dance peers.  It boosted my ego.

We all have our stories

It is important for White students to encounter Black educators.  It is important for Black students to encounter Black educators.  It is not okay that two industries are promoted as making it as per a Black person.  If you aren't an athlete or a celebrity, then how will you make any money? During the Obama Administration, it was the first time in History that White minors saw a Black Family being promoted as "First Class".  The Obama's were not the first Black's to receive Television coverage, however.  It begs the question as to why the Black community is deemed responsible for fixing themselves when the tools to fix the problems lies in the hands of those creating the problem.  The education systems in America is the first point of contact Blacks kids have with our government and the way the system works against us.  We never hear about it because the White people aren't going to fire themselves.  We all need jobs.  It begs a further question as well, if you're White, why do you want to teach Black kids?