Thread by @xianb8

As my students marinate over last night's events, I want to share a few guidelines for covering racist atrocities. They are not comprehensive nor perfect--they are just things I've relied on in moments like now and I thought they might help someone.
#StopAAPIHate

I won't be able to answer or provide links immediately, as I will be stopping to support student work (of course). But I will try to answer some questions later.

DO remind students of the humanity of victims before discussing.
DO remind students this is not a game or a spectacle and it's different from fictional violence or media.
DO remind students of class norms around the humanity of all and that historical inequity has a direction

DO provide a reminder that students can opt-out of content that surfaces trauma (without qualification) but not content that makes them feel sad about those in power's role in historical inequities.

DON'T DON'T DON'T X 100 show videos of violence against victims.

DON'T show unfiltered news coverage unless you have extensive expertise teaching critically approaches to racism in media coverage and believe this is a priority of this particular lesson.
DO provide fact lists but with deep attention to the prejudices that might be included.

DON'T provide quotes and narratives from folks from outside the affected community unless you are specifically critically analyzing them.

DON'T include police reports unless you are critically analyzing them and certainly NEVER use them to convey the "facts" of the atrocities.

DO provide spaces for students to ask questions and share analysis based on their RELEVANT life experience.

DON'T make room for debate about the humanity of others or play "academic hypothesis" on racist atrocities.

DO consult with folks from the targeted group.

DON'T cold call for this--none of us have the time or emotional energy for this ever and especially not now.

If you don't have an equitable working relationship with anyone who could lend eyes on this, hire a consultant.

Off to open the next section. Will continue (with the insights they provide) later.

DO be attentive for disparities in your own reactions to students and account for differences in social power.

Let me give you an example from today:

Last period we studied the San Patricios and then last night's racist shootings.

In response to the shooting an oft absent student said, "This is why I hate white people."

The class paused. She said, "I mean, RACIST white people, the San Patricios fought for justice."

Teachers tend to shut down absentee students. Teachers tend to shut down conversations thru their own political lenses w/o accounting for the inequities in how society recognizes humanity.

More often than not--often with positive motives--these shutdowns amplify inequity.

Students who haven't had the chance to speak of their own dehumanization in an academic environment are going to need space to learn how they want to describe it.

When I went thru this in college, I often felt like the professors were actively looking to catch me in a mistake.

I was aware of this feeling and after 3 yrs in college, I was a grown ass adult and it was still devastating.

It's happening to 10 yos just looking for ways to describe their own anger at the structures of the society--the same ones running the schools--dehumanizing them.

The rest of the lesson was also challenging and beautiful. Like I said, I did not have the spoons to confidently teach today, and yet together, we learned from each other greatness.

Another one of my students said, "I hate to say it, but how much I care about these shootings is going to depend on who got shot. I'm just so tired of people dying that I don't feel like I can care beyond my people. And the San Patricios did. It's so much."

I don't feel like an expert and I don't feel like adding more do's and don't's. I'm thankful for the chance to teach--no matter how much the systems want to prevent real learning. And I'm thankful for you all also fighting this fight. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Oh, one last thing:
DON'T forget to specifically plan on how to support students in intersecting their analysis. NBISOC need space for our own anger and grief and also we need support in not couching our analysis in white supremacy.

We shouldn't have to have the atrocities we've encountered and still encounter compared to what others' have faced for value and we also mustn't pretend like our struggles are novel and outside of these persistent dynamics of racism, ableism, misogyny, classism and all.