At least three Oklahoma districts that serve mostly students of color say they don鈥檛 plan on changing the way they talk about racism in the classroom and are willing to face the consequences of a new state law restricting those practices and conversations.
Individual and systemic acts of racism shape the everyday reality of their students鈥� lives, and it would be unethical and academically destructive to deny that it exists, as the law effectively asks them to do, administrators said. School leaders in Hanna, Millwood, and Tulsa said they have no plans to end their anti-bias training, change any part of their curriculum, or shutter the wealth of in-school and after-school activities that celebrate students鈥� cultural identities. Refusal to do so could be interpreted by state administrators as running afoul of the law.
They are willing to face the consequences, which include administrators and teachers losing their licenses and certificates and the district losing its accreditation, making the diplomas principals hand out invalid.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 have to not celebrate children for being different for the sake of not hurting someone鈥檚 feelings because everything generally is based on white people鈥檚 holidays and their rituals,鈥� said Cecilia Robinson-Woods, superintendent of the majority Black Millwood district outside Oklahoma City. 鈥淚鈥檓 not worried about showing up in court. I鈥檓 not worried about having to go to the state board and plead my case.鈥�
Much of this year鈥檚 raucous debate over whether teachers should talk to students about America鈥檚 racist past and how administrators should address longstanding disparities between white students and students of color has focused on the feelings of white students and the attitudes of their parents.
But students of color today make up the majority of America鈥檚 student body, and their parents in recent decades have pushed administrators to more aggressively address explicit and implicit ways school districts have denied their children the best academic opportunities. Similarly, their elected school board members have demanded that teachers tell a more complete version of America鈥檚 history that includes stories of how their children鈥檚 ancestors suffered from and fought against white supremacy.
Some administrators warn Oklahoma鈥檚 ban will upend most of that work and will be costly, time-intensive, and disruptive during an already chaotic year when many students have failed to show up to class and have slipped academically.
The state鈥檚 law is vague in some areas and specific in others. Whether or not districts comply with the law will be left up to interpretation by members of the public, administrators, and officials at the state鈥檚 department of education.
Under the law, administrators, among other things, will be 鈥減rohibited from adopting diversity, equity, or inclusion plans鈥� or 鈥渕andating diversity training.鈥� They also are barred from 鈥渆xecuting contracts or agreements with internal or external entities, persons, companies or businesses to provide services, training, professional development, or any other assistance that includes, incorporates or is based on discriminatory practices.鈥�
Discriminatory practices are defined as the eight concepts that most states that have passed similar laws have banned, including teaching that someone 鈥渋s inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,鈥� 鈥渟hould feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress,鈥� or 鈥渂ears responsibility for actions committed in the past鈥� because of their race or sex.
Lauren Partain, the spokeswoman for Tulsa Public schools, said in a statement that school districts had no indication of the scope and breadth of the law that goes into effect this fall until the department鈥檚 rules were posted online on July 12, just a month before students returned to school.
The second-largest district in the state said that equity is intentionally one of its core values, that it supports culturally responsive teaching and 鈥渨orks urgently to identify and dismantle the systemic practices and structures that have sustained racism for far too long.鈥�
鈥淲e are teaching our children an accurate鈥攁nd at times painful, difficult, and uncomfortable鈥攈istory about our shared human experience,鈥� Partain said.
鈥淲e cannot and will not teach those histories and experiences that reflect only the dominant white culture, just as we cannot and will not provide an education that deprives children of a true and accurate understanding of the world in which they live.鈥�
Failing to acknowledge Oklahoma鈥檚 racist past would be 鈥榙isingenuous鈥�
Oklahoma鈥檚 public school system today is more than 8 percent Black, 19 percent Latino and 12 percent Native American.
Throughout the state鈥檚 history, thousands of Native American students were sent to boarding schools in order to erase their cultural identity. And until the federal government intervened in the 1960s and 1970s, the state would not allow most students of color to attend school with white students.
A conducted by the state鈥檚 department of education in 2019 showed that white students outperformed Black, Latino, and Native American students even when socioeconomic, disability, and linguistic barriers are removed. Those disparities have only worsened since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
When Millwood Superintendent Cecilia Robinson-Woods was an elementary student, she never attended one elementary school for two consecutive years. Robinson-Woods and her siblings were bused to different elementary schools each year, as were other Black students in her neighborhood. But a fellow teacher, who is white, told her that she walked to the elementary school around the corner as a child, Robinson-Woods said.
Now, Oklahoma state department rules might prevent teachers from telling that story for fear of 鈥渟tereotyping鈥� based on race and sex, she said. But it would be disingenous for her as a teacher not to share it, Robinson-Woods said.
鈥淚鈥檓 not saying anything that I haven鈥檛 lived, that I haven鈥檛 experienced, that I don鈥檛 have to protect my kids and my community from. And I鈥檓 speaking about my individual experiences within the system,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if speaking about that is wrong, I guess I don鈥檛 want to be right.鈥�
More than 96 percent of Millwood鈥檚 students and 80 percent of its teachers are Black. Teachers regularly discuss current events with students, for example the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests for racial equity, and the local Black Lives Matter movement, something which directly impact students鈥� lives.
鈥淲hen you are a culturally responsive educator, you try to make connections to kids so that they can hold on to information and knowledge,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s a teacher, I wouldn鈥檛 limit that connection for a kid, just because I thought it was gonna violate the law.鈥�
Millwood teachers also provide students lessons on inclusion, which the district plans to expand this year into its professional development program, and has worked to purchase more literature that feature people of color.
A superintendent pledges to be a 鈥榤artyr鈥�
In the 80-student district of Hanna, 62 percent of students are members of the Muskogee Nation, a Native American tribe. When Chad Hull became superintendent two years ago, he introduced a day where the entire district celebrates Native American culture. This year, he plans to invite council leaders and performers from the Muskogee Nation, even if it draws objections.
Students will spend the day learning about Native American history in Oklahoma, the school will serve indigenous cuisine in the cafeteria, and the day will feature traditional dances performed by people from the Muskogee Nation. The district also offers a class in Native American studies that discusses historical injustices such as the Trail of Tears. The students also learn about ways Black Oklahomans overcame systemic racism during a designated African American Week.
Hull said he plans to keep all of this in place despite the new law.
In the small, rural school district, parents are already heavily involved in school operations, and all students are taught to appreciate diversity, Hull said. He doesn鈥檛 anticipate parents wanting the school to do anything differently next year because of the law.
鈥淚f we have any complaints come in, we鈥檒l address them, but we exclude nobody and we鈥檙e keeping that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l be a martyr for that. I鈥檒l fight that until the end. They need to see what Native Americans and African Americans have been through in Oklahoma.鈥�
