According to the 2017 “Hate at School” study conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 35% of students reported being concerned about hate and bias at school. A subsequent 2018 SPLC study that surveyed 2,776 educators nationally determined that over 60% had witnessed a hate or bias incident in their schools. Racism is the driving motivation behind the majority of hate and bias incidents reported in school, accounting for 63 percent of incidents reported in the news and 33 percent of incidents reported by teachers. Concerningly, the 2019 “Hate in Schools” report found that the majority of the hate and bias incidents witnessed by educators were not addressed by school leaders: in 57 percent of the incidents, there was no response from administration or disciplinary action; in nine cases out of 10, administrators did not denounce the bias or even attempt to uphold school values.

While many current conversations focus on anti-Blackness both past and present, schools have long wielded colonialist practices to force assimilation, another aspect of our country's historically racist systems. Whitewashing of culture, particularly within indigenous communities, was highlighted in the establishment of The Carlisle School, the first federally-funded Native American school. Per The Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center, between 1879 and 1918, 10,500 Native American students were sent to the school, whose founding was predicated under the idea that “American Indians were the equals of European-Americans, and that Native American children immersed in mainstream Euro-American culture would become assimilated”. Although that language implies a vision of equity, the violent use of assimilation to devalue and eradicate indigenous culture belies the underlying White supremacist beliefs that prioritized Eurocentric practices. After years of similar treatment, including teachers punishing students for speaking Spanish, Chicano students at several high schools in East Los Angeles conducted a walkout in 1968. They were protesting lack of school funding, overcrowding, and culturally irrelevant curriculum. This student activism led to the hiring of a more diverse teaching staff, implementation of Mexican-American history within the curriculum, and a focus on college preparatory classes for Latinx students. A success story such as the Chicano Walkouts (also called Blowouts), though, also serves to illustrate the wide array of racial and ethnic discrimination students have faced for generations.

Racist and biased practices are ever-present in our classrooms and the systems in place at our schools; to be anti-racist is to be someone who actively fights racism. Therefore, you might ask, what does racism look like in schools today? We no longer live in the era of slavery or Jim Crow Laws, so how can we fight against something we can’t clearly identify? Sources such as Categorical Inequalities Between Black And White Students Are Common in US Schools - But Don't Have To Be and How Racism Affects Minority Students In Public Schools examine the tangible ways that we see racism in every school system —namely in school discipline, over-policing in schools with high populations of Black and brown students, access to enrichment curriculum and other resources, perpetuating stereotypes and biases, and other areas. Anti-racist work is, consequently, the work of all teachers, without exception. And it is not easy work. As Ibram X. Kendi writes, “to be anti-racist is a radical choice in the face of history” and requires day-in and day-out self-reflection about making non-racist, unbiased, equitable decisions in order to uproot the current oppressive systems in place.

As educators, we have a unique power to shape the trajectory of students’ lives, and shape the future of school systems. It is our obligation to create spaces that holistically meet the needs of each of our students - where each student feels valued, respected, and safe. In doing so, not only is student growth maximized, but educators can facilitate discussion on these challenging yet important issues that students face outside of our classrooms and raise a generation equipped to act intentionally and amplify their voices for the greater good of liberation. To do so, we must prepare ourselves to actively confront racism in all school spaces and require that fellow teachers and administrators do the same. The events that occurred leading up to May of 2020 have resulted in a vast array of well researched, comprehensive resources put together by experts in the field of racial studies on how to journey toward anti-racism in a multitude of life’s arenas. This toolkit, created by educators for educators, is a curated list of readings, videos, social media platforms, and additional resources aimed to provide knowledge and power to actionably confront racism in our schools and classrooms. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the incredible works about anti-racism that are continuously being developed, but a starting point meant for educators who want to learn more about anti-racist education. There are links to powerful resources that will likely lead you on a journey to find your own, self-driven, authentic path towards becoming an anti-racist educator as you continue this necessary work throughout your career.

Each individual enters the realm of anti-racist education with a unique background. Some educators are novices in the journey of exploring anti-racism in the classroom, and others are seasoned veterans. As Kendi so clearly explains, there is no destination of anti-racist work, this work is a continual cycle of educating oneself, acting, and reflecting. This toolkit relies upon Andrew M. Ibrahim’s continuum of change in order to differentiate resources. Use the following “Navigating the Toolkit” to help you understand how to effectively and efficiently use the toolkit to meet your needs, understanding that honestly identifying your starting point is critical to your success in this work and is just that —the beginning of your journey along a continuum of change.

As educators, we are entrusted to keep our children safe from harm and to provide supportive and affirming spaces in which our students can learn and thrive. In order to do so we must respond to this moment with urgency. This vital work begins with an essential commitment to Black lives and liberation, and to combat racism, prejudice, and bias within ourselves and the systems that impact and harm our BIPOC students, friends, and colleagues. “No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make.” Educators must make the conscious choice to consider what anti-racist work can look like in our classroom and school spaces, to boldly confront the internal biases we all carry, and to use research-based strategies, trainings, and leverage a network of support to do this work authentically and effectively in our schools.