The articles Dear White Teachers and Student Athletes Kneel to Level the Playing Field both stuck out to me this week a lot more than I had expected. For the last few years the topics discussed in Student Athletes Kneel to Level the Playing Field have been extremely relevant. I also felt as though I gained a better understanding of Colin Kaepernick and why he did what he did. I also found myself growing angry at the responses people had and still have to this movement, especially our president. The fact that Trump said “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out. He’s fired. He’s fired!’ is insanely infuriating to me. That quote shows that he doesn't really seem to know what is going on and why people are kneeling. If he does know what is going on than that makes me lose even more respect for this man.
Another quoate that really stood out to me in this article was "when we kneel you riot, but when we're shot you're quiet". This quote is sadly quite accurate. Some of the people mentioned in the article that had been shot or had been victims of police brutality I had never even heard of. However I remember hearing and seeing a lot of complaints about Nike after they featured Colin Kaepernick in a commercial. The fact that everyone was so passionate about Nike and claiming that they were going to burn their Nike clothes is insane, especially because I bet a lot of them don't fully understand the kneeling and are just being jerks, to put it nicely.
In regards to the Dear White Teachers article, I think a lot of important points were brought up. As someone who is white, these are points that I can take into consideration as a teacher. An important quote from the article is when a middle school student said "Only certain kids get sent out, for doing the same things white kids do, maybe just a little louder or bolder, so we get caught". I think itt is completely unacceptable for a young student to feel racially attacked at this age. Especially because schools should feel as though they are a safe environment.
Heather, I couldn't help but chuckle when reading your blog. You write "I bet a lot of them don't fully understand the kneeling and are just being jerks, to put it nicely." Many of them are jerks, but many of them I feel are also ignorant. If one looks at it from the conservative white male perspective, it appears to be an affront to our national values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but they do not realize that their privilege blinds them to the gross irony that marginalized peoples are systematically robbed of their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is why Kaepernick kneels, but for them to consider that America is not as wonderful as the dominant narrative portrays it to be, they would have a culture and identity crisis.
ReplyDeleteBut I think this identity crisis is necessary, for the marginalized/underprivileged have had to deal with much worse. If the privileged--the men, the white, the upper class, the bourgeoisie--can be made uncomfortable, perhaps they can become sympathetic to the inhumanity that still permeates the geopolitical climate of the 21st century. The fact that underprivileged youth have to protest under the slogan "if we kneel you riot; if we're shot you're quiet" sickens me to the core, and makes me hate Trump, racism, fearmongering, and the white patriarchal status quo.
I agree when you say that "it is unacceptable fo students to feel racially attacked at this age", and especially at school. As teachers it is our job to make sure that all students feel valued and appreciated regardless of their backgrounds. It is important to remember our own backgrounds as teachers and the experiences that we have had in schools. While we may not be able to relate to all students, we have an obligation to make every student feel accepted.
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