Call to Action: Racial Reconciliation through Education

Call to Action: Racial Reconciliation through Education

Julie Hinshaw

I feel as if the pages of our history are being written before our very eyes. The author of this crazy history book has been trying to bring the readers to a call to action, and we are finally, albeit belatedly, hearing it. Recent events…the police brutality, blatant racism, and the emotional, even violent, protests…require a response. Although I know that actions speak louder than words, words are a good first step because they often inspire the action that follows. The powerful words of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi still spark action today. Yes, words have an immortal power, but must be used wisely and courageously - especially now. It’s past time to speak up for change.

It is my hope and prayer that the deaths of Aumund Aubrey and George Floyd will take their place in history as the tipping point that opened the door to real racial reconciliation in our country. It is our responsibility to write the next chapter of our history book in the way we respond. If we’re going to be writers of history, we have some work to do. 

First, we must educate ourselves. 

  • We must read the real history of systemic racism, segregation, and redlining. These are the dark chapters that were left out of our history classes. 

  • We must listen to African Americans. As a white woman, I need to get out of my comfort zone, ask the hard questions, and hear the hard stories. Stories have a powerful way of allowing us a glimpse of what it’s like to walk in the shoes of another.

Next, we must take a good, hard look at our own biases. We all have them...and they must be uncovered. This is not easy or comfortable, but this self-assessment work is crucial to develop the empathy and compassion that is needed to change the world. Here is what we know about love and hate: our hearts are hard-wired for love, but hatred must be taught. Hate is not usually taught explicitly, instead it sneaks in through little actions and comments along the way. As an educator, I feel this burden heavily on my shoulders. I must be keenly aware of what is reflected by my words and deeds. When I reflect on my early career as a teacher, I wonder if I did enough to teach love and not hate. I was young and ignorant in many ways. In my 5th grade class, I had some issues with a few boys (white boys) lightly teasing an Indian boy in our class. They were all good kids and I didn’t believe the teasing was malicious. But clearly I didn’t understand the hurt it was causing. The boy’s mother requested a conference and I listened carefully. There was so much I didn’t know or understand about her culture...all because I hadn’t taken to the time to find out. I didn’t understand because I chose not to. I had contributed to this boy’s feelings of exclusion because I had chosen to ignore his differences, rather than seek to understand and appreciate them. I cracked down on the teasing and the principal visited with the boys as well. Things improved, but looking back, I can’t help but wonder if my too-slow response sent the wrong message. I’m sure now that it did. As a white woman, I can no longer be silent and I can no longer be colorblind.

Finally, if we truly want the next chapter of our history to be one of healing and reconciliation, we must address our education system. We must equip and train our teachers in cultural awareness and equity. We must teach the real stories of our past in order to reconcile them. We must model and teach tolerance, empathy, and perspective-taking. We must embrace differences, while finding common ground. It’s a monumental task, but we have made some progress. We are (finally) intentionally diversifying our school libraries. We are (finally) training staff on equity and cultural awareness. We are (finally) seeing the value in teaching relationship skills in our schools. Social-emotional learning is becoming more of a priority. But is it enough? Are we making the changes we need to make to turn the tide of racism in this country? Will our children and grandchildren inherit a more tolerant, more just world? These are the questions that sometimes keep me up at night because the short answer is...no. We need to do more…more training, more curriculum reform, more listening, more restorative practices, more empathy education. We need more common ground.

Nelson Mandela said that “education is the most powerful weapon with which to change the world”. It’s time to brandish that weapon…together. 

Here are just a few resources for making change in our schools, our homes, and our hearts. There are so many out there. What favorites would you add?

At Home:

At School:

In our own lives:

*Note: I realize that education is not the only action needed. We need to respond in our election ballots, in the way we treat our neighbors, in the causes we fund, and in the policies for which we advocate. I only address education because that is my world. It was not my intent to simplify a complex matter, only to point out an avenue to create change for our future.

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