Like all National Education Association employees, I recently attended a series of all-day trainings on race and racism, hosted by colleagues in NEA’s Human and Civil Rights Department. We dove into the long history of racism in American institutions, including public schools; learned the difference between interpersonal racism and institutional racism; and worked hard to build our own “racial equity lens.”
For NEA Today, this means looking at every article we write—and those we don’t write—and ask ourselves, “Do students and educators of color benefit from this work?” My goal is the same as your goal, I believe: To help prepare all students to succeed in this diverse world.
As part of this effort, in this special-focus issue of NEA Today, we’re talking about race. How do you respond to a racist incident in your classroom or campus? How will NEA’s Read Across America focus on diverse books?
Most of all, please take a look at the article, “Why do we care about racism in education?” in which NEA President Lily Eskelsen García explains NEA’s formal commitment to racial equity. It’s about your students. It’s about justice. And it’s about equity. I think you’ll find her words inspiring and instructive. Eskelsen García says, “Our mission is to create a new normal: A love of all our children, a love of their common humanity.”
