Summary of Article
The article "White Teachers Need Anti-Racist Therapy" is an opinion based article written by Bettina L. Love. In her article, Love expresses her thoughts about racism in schools and how to fight it. She may not have realized it while writing the article, but her tone in the article was a bit racist herself. She generalized all white teachers by claiming that they cannot fight racism until they stop being racist themselves. Her exact words were "White teachers have a different task: Many must first win the fight regarding racism within themselves" (Love, B. L, 2020, February 6, para. 4). Another of Love's propositions is that "White teachers need a particular type of therapy. They must learn how to deal with what Cheryl E. Matias calls 'White emotionalities' and what Robin DiAngelo has termed 'White fragility.' Emotions of guilt, shame, anger, denial, sadness, dissonance, and discomfort boil up when issues of race and racism challenge their sense of self" (2020, para. 6). With her tone being counterproductive to the points she was making I think that the ideas she was trying to express may have been lost to many. Overall, it seems that Love wants to make schools a racism free zone. Love believes that before teachers can enforce anti-racist ideas and actions, they first must look inside themselves to make sure that they truly understand what this means. Her proposed method for reform is to employ therapists in schools for teachers to help treat them learn to promote anti-racism.The Message of This Article
Earlier in the semester we took a look at what prejudice and bias look like in schools. Racism falls under this category. In an environment where students are judged based on their appearances or backgrounds, it is easy to be intimidated and often times students suffer both mentally and physically because of it. In her article, Love tries to express that teachers need to turn schools into racism free zones. This can only be done by working from the top down. Educators must first free themselves from bias before they can pass the message onto their students. Once this is achieved, then progress can be made to promote anti-racist behaviors. By promoting anti-racist behaviors, schools will have taken a step towards true equality for students. If students come out of school with anti-racist morals, then that means they will have a better chance of creating a better society where everyone is truly equal.
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| (Quick Palmer, 2019) |
References
Love, B. L. (2020, February 6). White Teachers Need Anti-Racist Therapy. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/02/07/all-teachers-need-therapy-white-teachers-need.html
Quick-Palmer, A. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.verveup.com/shesaid/diversity-is-not-equality
Quick-Palmer, A. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.verveup.com/shesaid/diversity-is-not-equality
Hey Richard, your post was intresting, the article "White Teachers Need Anti-Racist Therapy" could be somewhat genuine. Although race can be controversial at times, maybe the author was explaining that white people have different upbringings then people of different races. From my personal experience, I went to a predominantly white school in Merrick. I felt lucky enough to experience different cultures from Latin America, Europe, and all over. But sometimes people do not have the chance to reach out to people as I did. This can be a problem because you're looking at the world from the way you always looked at it. Perhaps an influence from another culture can change your whole perception of it. Unfountatly racism in America is apart of our histroy, and it's our job as educators to accommodate everybody regardless of who you are.
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