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TEACH LOVE
How to Teach During a Hateful Time
Day 2 — The outlet of sadness
Today was difficult. My students, who are predominately African American, were unsure about the results of the election. They are hearing doom and gloom from every corner and they don’t know what to believe.
There is also a lot of misinformation out there that the kids are picking up on.
Today I was asked to answer for how “old white guys” vote. It wasn’t malicious or intended to hurt my feelings, but I am definitely an old white guy so they felt the need to ask. I voted emphatically for Kamala Harris, so I couldn’t answer completely, but I have also read a lot of stories and spoken to some people about why they voted for the other candidate. I still don’t believe that any of those reasons are valid, but at least I had something to say. I’m actually glad that my kids felt comfortable enough to ask me about it. They also expressed sadness that over half of the country obviously doesn’t care about anybody but themselves.
I also dispelled some ideas about deportations for all immigrants happening next week, about police planning to round up all Black people, and about newspapers and other “freedom of speech” avenues shutting down permanently.
