Last June, I had the blessed opportunity to go to the States to present a paper at the annual Critical Race Studies in Education Association (CRSEA) Conference. This event ‘woke me’ with innovative academic, activist work that truly inspired. Given recent events ‘back home’, CRSEA issued a statement in response to Charlottesville. They also listed resources for us as teachers to engage in conversations about the ills of white supremacy and to further anti-racist social justice movements within our classrooms and communities. I felt compelled to share. Their statement and links to resources below:
CRSEA Response to Charlottesville
The Critical Race Studies in Education Association (CRSEA) is an interdisciplinary consortium of scholars, activists, and practitioners committed to racial justice. As a body of individuals who collectively work within our respective academies and communities, to alleviate, eradicate, and to abolish white supremacy, we condemn the White supremacist gathering and subsequent violence in Charlottesville. As educational academics, practitioners, community members, parents, partners, and concerned humans, we seek to ensure that this current socio-political moment becomes an opportunity for collective learning, historical remembering, and for critical analysis and collective action.
The white supremacist rhetoric, conditions, and actions of our Nation have been amplified and magnified by the events in Charlottesville. Beyond our collective and righteous feelings of anger, CRSEA seeks to continue to serve as an organization that provides resources to address, teach, examine, and critique conditions and actions that perpetuate domestic terrorism rooted in white supremacy. In these trying times, we implore our community to first and foremost engage in and with communities that are affirming and healing to promote our health and well-being. Further, we wish to uplift the practices, materials, and efforts of many who work towards racial justice. Provided below are resources for K-16 teachers to engage in conversations about the ills of white supremacy and to further anti-racist social justice movements within our classrooms and communities. #ResistanceMatters #CriticalTeachingMatters #SilenceisViolence #BlackLivesMatter
Teaching Resources:
https://rethinkingschoolsblog.com/2017/08/14/seven-ways-that-teachers-can-respond-to-the-evil-of-charlottesville-starting-now/
Check out #CharlottesvilleCurriculum on Twitter for resources to guide this difficult conversation. bit.ly/CharlottesvilleCurriculum
Education Week: http://bit.ly/2vxEmu6
NPR: http://www.npr.org/2017/08/14/543390148/resources-for-educators-to-use-the-wake-of-charlottesville
Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/20170814/ten-ways-fight-hate-community-response-guide
https://www.splcenter.org/20170810/alt-right-campus-what-students-need-know