My heart hurts and I do not even know where to start. My heart hurts that some of my students grow up in a world where people do not accept them and they have fears. They have fears of walking down the street, they have fears of writing checks, running and honestly basic things I take for granted.
I am a white woman. I know I have lots of privileges. I do not have to worry about the color of my skin affecting anything. I understand I will never fully understand the pain individuals go through who aren’t the same skin color as me. I, however, will not let this go unnoticed and I will not let it stay this way.
I believe it all starts with where your heart is and every day I am breaking the walls in my heart that society has taught me to be there. Now I am not proclaiming I am perfect. I never will be perfect but every day I am trying to be better. Everyone is important and that is something I believe and will fight for.
As an educator, my job is to teach. Part of that teaching however is teaching students how to be successful members of society. One thing we as educators can do is teach anti-racism, teach acceptance, teach love.
Honestly, this post is not enough. Nothing will be enough unless we are actively working on making sure this systematic issue does not last another century in this country.