Creating character

Racial Sentiment and Public Support for Arming Teachers with Guns in the United States

“…While much of the debate focused on the necessity for teachers to protect themselves and their students in the absence of an effective law enforcement presence, a subset of the voices speaking out against the arming of teachers pointed out the potential disparity in how a policy of arming teachers would affect students of color. Ifill's (2018) piece made a bold assertion: if you give teachers guns, they will be more likely to use them against students of color, particularly Black students. This contention is bold but reasonable, given the United States' history of using the criminal justice system and institutionalized violence to control and harm Black people (e.g., Alexander 2012;Beckett & Sasson, 2004).…”

“…Ifill (2018) argues that the targeting of students of color by armed teachers is the next logical step in extending the treatment of people of color by the criminal justice system to the public school system. Research has shown that people are likely to hold stereotypes of Black people as dangerous (Quillian & Pager, 2001; Schaller et al, 2003), stereotypes that often lead to undue attention and violence (Carbado & Roithmayr, 2014; Harris, 2003; Richardson & Goff, 2012).…”

“…Even when students of color are not immediately punished via a criminal justice intervention, they are more likely to experience forms of exclusionary discipline such as out-of-school suspensions that hinder their academic performance and drive them to associate with deviant peers, leading to delinquent behavior (Brooks et al, 2000;Brown, 2007;Kupchik & Ward, 2014;Mendez et al, 2002;Poulin et al, 2001;Wald & Kurlaender, 2003). Ifill (2018) argues that the targeting of students of color by armed teachers is the next logical step in extending the treatment of people of color by the criminal justice system to the public school system. Research has shown that people are likely to hold stereotypes of Black people as dangerous (Quillian & Pager, 2001;Schaller et al, 2003), stereotypes that often lead to undue attention and violence (Carbado & Roithmayr, 2014;Harris, 2003;Richardson & Goff, 2012).…”

“…It is possible that support for arming teachers in the United States is driven by racial sentiment as well. Even though school shootings have largely been committed by White offenders (Muschert, 2007; Schiele & Stewart, 2001; Schutten et al, 2020), there are concerns that arming teachers will lead to a disproportionate amount of violence against students of color (Ifill, 2018), as is evidenced by research on the “school-to-prison pipeline” which finds that policies that increase security measures in American schools have been disproportionately detrimental to students of color (Darensbourg et al, 2010; Marchbanks et al, 2018; Skiba & Peterson, 1999; Skiba et al, 1997). If support for arming teachers is driven by racial sentiment, then it would give credence to the idea that arming teachers is another way to police students of color in American schools.…”

Walt Whitman’s Poetry Reprints and the Study of Nineteenth-Century Literary Circulation

“…According to Matthew L. Ifill, the poem "was in Whitman's recital canon as early as 1877." 24 In an entry on November 6, 1891, Traubel quotes Whitman as saying, "'You know I don't like to sing my own songs," and then describing "The Midnight Visitor" as "often a good escape for me, when I am pestered for recitations" (WWWC 9:125). This is the last remark about "The Midnight Visitor" that can be found in Traubel's compendium.…”