Stretching Our Thinking

1. Reflect on what you know. Start with an acknowledgement that your own beliefs, biases and understandings of race, inequalities, class and identity are important. Your lived experiences, your level of privilege and how you interpret the current events may influence how you talk to your children about such topics. Before starting a conversation explaining racism to kids, take the time to educate yourself and reflect.
   
   
2. Do your research. You’re not expected to be an expert, but take it upon yourself to get informed. These are topics that are difficult for a variety of reasons – understand this is a learning process, and we all have something to learn.
   
   
3. Acknowledge what you don’t know. If you don’t know how to answer a question your child poses, that’s okay. Reassure your child that you’ll look into it, and see if you can learn together with your child. Encourage your child to continue to ask questions.
   
   
4. Limit exposure to media and social media. Protests are occurring right now over racism across our nation. Protests have occurred throughout history to express feelings over conflict, violence, injustice, discrimination, inequality and more. To peacefully assemble is a protected right in the United States and is a way to stand together and make your voice heard.
   
   It is important for your child to understand what is happening, but also understand that the images and stories portrayed on the news and social media can cause anxiety and fear in both children and adults. It’s encouraged to limit exposure based on what you feel is right for you and your family.
   
   
5. Listen and encourage your child. What are the questions your child is asking? What do they already know, and what are they concerned or worried about? Share age-appropriate and diverse books, stories and movies about different societies, cultures and ideas with your child and allow and encourage them to speak freely about social justice, injustice and other issues.
   
   
6. Monitor your child’s emotions. Understand when your child may become overwhelmed and adjust as needed. Let them know that you’re going to keep talking about these issues and they should, too.
   
   
7. Correct misinformation. Correct misperceptions and misinformation the world has about people who are of a different race. Help your child better understand that no one is less human than another, and we should treat everyone fairly, with respect and kindness.
   
   
8. Talk about race in age-appropriate ways.     
         - For preschoolers: At this age, your child may begin to notice and point out differences in the people around you, like when you’re at the park. If your child asks about someone's skin tone, you might say, "Isn't it wonderful that we are all so different!" You can even hold your arm against theirs to show the differences in skin tones within your family.
   
        - For elementary school children: This is the age that is important to have open talks with your child about race, diversity and racism. Discussing these topics will help your child see you as a trusted source of information on the topic, and he or she can come to you with any questions. Point out stereotypes and racial bias in media and books such as villains or "bad guys" in movies.
   

**These are based on my quiz results and what it said I need to improve.

This is an incredibly useful tool to evaluate where systems are on the anti-racist continuum. I was really hoping that I would find our institution further along in our journey. The "But" statements help me to see that we are somewhere between symbolic change and identity change. In other words, we still have a lot of work to do. It is challenging but so important that the real work of changing the system begins. Having "a sense of restored community and mutual caring" is the ultimate goal.

Using Data To Advance Racial Equity.

Reflection. Data is one means of understanding a culture. Within our region, our population samples are so small that data is easily skewed. Data seems to be used to legitimize observed or anecdotally noted concerns. The power of teachers is in the use of qualitative data. 

Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization
As a Teacher Center that serves and supports a teaching staff that is 99% white, working towards a Fully Inclusive Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization can be problematic. Should work toward these goals could be seen as disingenuous.  It is easy to stand in the middle of a farm and state that no one should go hungry. As a child, I experienced many open-minded "accepting" grownups in my 98% white town but when a family of color moved in their actions were less than open-minded. 

The Opportunity Survey.
"The survey oversampled very low-income adults (those living below 50 percent of the federal poverty line), African American men, and Asian Americans—groups whose voices are frequently overlooked in opinion polling"
I think this is also self-reported data.

How questions were provided would be interesting to see. What does it mean to prefer "Greater rehabilitation" Vs "Stricter Punishment"? for example.  "However, there are differences in opinions on related policies. Just 38 percent of black men prioritize stricter punishment over rehabilitation for those convicted of crimes. Among other adults, this jumps to 54 percent". Was this asked in the context of a scenario or was it simply asked and interpretation of the question a part of the question?.

Interesting data but for me, it seems to lead to more questions and less clarity 

I selected this resource because I have participated in anti-racist work in my school district but I wanted to see where I thought we fell as a whole.  One thing that really stood out to me in the Continuum are the "but" statements in section 3.Symbolic Change, and section 4.Identity Change.  I feel this is where people/institutions can get stuck; in the 'but'.  I feel that people in theses stages want the right thing for people, and want equity, however they let their 'fear' of retribution or others ideals to get in the way.

I read the Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization. This is a very clear chart that can be used with any organization. It would be great to have this document along with policies and procedures (i.e. code of conduct handbook, employee recruitment plans, etc...) to see where you organization is. After looking at this chart, I'm really proud of how my school district has dug into this work and made significant changes. My recently on the Student Code of Conduct. We had a variety of stakeholders including parents, students, and educators to examine the policies and the biases towards some students. We were able to make changes that have improved the student behaviors in our school district because of these changes. Overall, I would say we are a 4/5 on the continuum: 4. Identity Change An Affirming Institution