A Talk to Teachers

Abstract

Let's begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time. Everyone in this room is in one way or another aware of that. We are in a revolutionary situation, no matter how unpopular that word has become in this country. The society in which we live is desperately menaced, not by Khrushchev, but from within. To any citizen of this country who figures himself as responsible-and particularly those of you who deal with the minds and hearts of young people-must be prepared to "go for broke." Or to put it another way, you must understand that in the attempt to correct so many generations of bad faith and cruelty, when it is operating not only in the classroom but in society, you will meet the most fantastic, the most brutal, and the most determined resistance. There is no point in pretending that this won't happen.Since I am talking to schoolteachers and I am not a teacher myself, and in some ways am fairly easily intimidated, I beg you to let me leave that and go back to what I think to be the entire purpose of education in the first place. It would seem to me that when a child is born, if I'm the child's parent, it is my obligation and my high duty to civilize that child. Man is a social animal. He cannot exist without a society. A society, in turn, depends on certain things which everyone within that society takes for granted. Now the crucial paradox which confronts us here is that the whole process of education occurs within a social framework and is designed to perpetuate the aims of society. Thus, for example, the boys and girls who were born during the era of the Third Reich, when educated to the purposes of the Third Reich, became barbarians. The paradox of education is precisely this-that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a James Baldwin was a noted writer best known for his novels on sexual and personal identity and his essays on civil rights in the United States.

Gatekeepers and Guardians of Black Intellectual Thought: Black Male Teacher-Coaches Combating an Anti-Black Epistemic Order

“…To unsettle the coloniality of America’s (i.e., White) curriculum is to upset Americans (i.e., White) identity (Baldwin, 2008). Thus, one can think of these Black male teacher-coaches as forcing perpetrators of a White-controlled epistemic order that, I argue, is inherently anti-Black to finally face the truth and see themselves for who they are.…”

Interrogating Democracy, Education, and Modern White Supremacy: A (Re)Constitution Toward Racially Just Democratic Teacher Education

“…Of great importance in the transmission of democratic education are teachers themselves: How they are prepared, how they teach, and how they are responsible to the communities they serve. However, because white supremacy has undoubtedly altered the course on which democratic education can thrive, the question becomes how teachers respond to racism, especially if, as Baldwin (1963) pointedly asks them, “it is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person.” Certainly, teachers are not the sole bearers of the task of disrupting prejudice, yet perhaps they are best poised to do so via their preparation to teach for democracy, their immersion in its dissemination, and their frontline witnessing to the many racist ways in which it is thwarted.…”

Race, Emotions, and Woke in Teaching

“…Next, I use three of Baldwin's works-"A Talk to Teachers," "A Letter to My Nephew," and "I Am Not Your Negro"-and statements from other of Baldwin's writings to discuss White teachers, students of color, and emotions. Baldwin's (1963c) "A Talk to Teachers"-an often-assigned essay in teacher education programs-provokes a range of different emotional responses from White teacher candidates. Baldwin's essay can stir up positive emotions in White teachers about students of color, causing them to be angry about the "mis education" they received and to understand why schooling promotes negative emotions in Black students.…”

“…Baldwin acknowledges the resistance that teachers face in society as he argues for social justice for students who live in a dangerous time and are constantly dealing with systemic inequality. Baldwin (1963c) stated, "he [or she, the Black student] is born in the shadow of the stars and stripes. .…”