This winter, students across the country celebrated Black History Month. They read books by black authors, wrote research papers on civil rights activists or memorized Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. And if they were taught honestly, as they learned about the struggle of the past, they’ll begin to recognize it in their own present — when a cashier squints suspiciously when they walk into a store, when they turn on the news and see another person who looks like them lose his life to senseless violence. These lessons are anything but history.

In the face of these realities, we have no time to waste. This school year marked the first in which the majority of public school students are minorities. Our generation has a responsibility to work to ensure that each and every one of them is moving through a system that affirms their identities, shows them they’re valued and allows them access to the opportunities they have been denied for far too long. This work isn’t limited to the efforts of Civil Rights groups or activists. It falls to all of us, every day.

When I was a teacher through Teach For America in Washington, D.C., I infused my algebra lessons with conversations about race, diversity and the ways people of color have shaped our history as often as possible. Once a quarter, I invited industry professionals of color into my classroom to give my kids blueprints of what future success could look like for them. I am a firm believer in the mantra, “you can’t be it if you can’t see it.” To put it more strongly, I believe that every child has a right to see all of the great things he or she can one day be.

We have a long way to go as a country before we truly achieve justice for all. Fixing the systemic oppression that has created the gross inequality of the present will take the hard, dedicated work of countless change-makers — many who have experienced it first-hand, others who bear witness to it from further away.

As teachers, we can play a central role in this. We can share our own stories so that when our kids look to the front of the room, they see a little bit of themselves reflected back. We can remind them that they matter, that they always have and that they always will.

Jessy Jackson ‘06 SU
Teach For America-D.C.