Teachers looking to combat racism in their classrooms and communities can tap into the resources of a new organization, the Center for Antiracist Education, or CARE.
The Center for Antiracist Education, an initiative of the nonprofit advocacy group, Stand for Children, will provide professional development to guide teachers in identifying racism in learning materials and finding new instructional resources that align with anti-racist principles.
“Teachers see the tremendous suffering and strife and the massive waste of human potential that racism causes in society, and also how racism hurts and holds back students,” said CARE Executive Director Maureen Costello, who previously led the Teaching Tolerance program. “They want to help their students to do better and their schools and our society to be better by strengthening what they teach and how they teach it.”
The nation is experiencing increases in hate crimes and reports of hate-driven bullying among students, CARE says.
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These trends, along with a renewed focus on racial justice following last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, have motivated many teachers to seek tools and resources to create inclusive and equitable environments in their classrooms, the organization says.
“It is our duty to holistically embody what it means to be anti-racist educators,” said Juliana Urtubey, a learning strategist at Booker Elementary School in Las Vegas and a national teacher of the year candidate.“The outcome is huge—more joyful and just classrooms and a better future is achievable for every educator — and CARE is here to help every committed educator progress and reap the benefits.”
AASA, The School Superintendents Association, the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Council of Teachers of English have CARE’s principles of anti-racism, which include:
- Affirming the dignity and humanity of all people
- Embracing historical truths
- Developing a critical consciousness
- Recognizing race and confronting racism
- Creating just systems
“Teachers are asking for the tools to do better,” said Stefanie Wager, president of the National Council for the Social Studies. “They know we ourselves were taught an incomplete version of the story of this country, and they know that we build a stronger country by building well-informed citizens.”
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