Summary: Being an anti-racist educator means being dedicated to constantly self-reflecting and advocating for social justice at all times. We need to understand how racism shows in the education system, as many students are susceptible to mistreatment based on race. To truly be an effective educator, one must be able to identify and work on their own implicit bias. Educators should try to include anti-racist teachings in their classrooms, regardless of which course it is. While your school may not be diverse in its staff, it is important to be an ally to staff members and create a network of support. Another way to combat systemic educational racism is to push for funding in school districts that have more students of color and less advances programs in their schools.

Classroom Strategies: This article lists a few specific tactics to use in the classroom that I find would be beneficial, such as pushing against racist stereotypes and finding sources that depict "counter-stereotypic examples." Other ideas are to use sites that anonymize student submissions or sites that randomly choose students to call on. In the English classroom, I can choose to include anti-racist literature, such as work done by abolitionists, civil rights leaders, or activist literature.

Summary: While many school districts include anti-racism in their initiatives and plans, many lack follow-through. As an English teacher, diverse readings in the classroom are not enough to successfully be an anti-racist educator. To achieve holistic education models, educators must embrace anti-racist teaching strategies. Anti-racist practices in the classroom are crucial to helping BIPOC students feel empowered in the classroom. For other students, integrating anti-racism practices helps them understand big concepts such as systemic racism and prejudice. It helps those students understand how forms of oppression create divides and affect everyone. English language arts teachers should prioritize student empowerment and cultivate their racial consciousness as individuals who make decisions about teaching and learning to strengthen their anti-racist practices.

Classroom Strategies: Integrating counter-stories in the classroom can empower students from marginalized communities because they can read stories that will resonate with them. They also help elicit empathy from other students, as they can read about different power structures in the world. Students can identify similarities and differences between the book and themselves through close reading, including narratives and characters that illustrate racial and racist themes.

This source compiles 18 books written by BIPOC authors about race and identity, racism, prejudice, and anti-racism in a modern context and in a historical context. These pieces of literature could help students of marginalized communities feel represented in the classroom and empathize with course material. Not only this, but other students can gain an understanding of cultures that vary from theirs, building their cultural understanding and empathy. As a future English teacher, I plan to strengthen my own diverse readings so I can share ones I think would be beneficial to my students. The following two books are ones which especially stuck out to me as resources for my classroom.