Several days ago, I was sitting in my classroom. It was a busy day with at least 15 kids in my in-school suspension program. I was exhausted and did not look forward to the union meeting I attended for three days in Chicago. The days off are welcome, but it's still work.
It was my planning time, and I was about to leave my classroom and take my daily jaunt around the building when the 6th-grade counselor entered my room. She looked distraught. I wondered what lovely young person cussed out the teacher on a bright Wednesday afternoon.
However, that wasn't why she wanted to talk to me. She said to me that the 6th graders in a teacher's class found the death of Emmett Till funny and that it didn't matter to them because he wasn't their family.
Now, here is a very young white woman concerned that black children are laughing at one of the most horribly racist murders in history. What's far more interesting is that she cares more than them.
She asked me if I could talk to them about why his death was monumental in American History.
Now you may ask yourself, was she asking me because I was black? Yes, of course she was. As black educators, we are often tasked with addressing black children in our schools. It can be stressful to be asked to "whisper" to African American children like they will listen to us any better than a white person.
We don't have hand signals or secret words that make a kid act better. Trust me, I get cussed out too. It's an invisible tax that Black educators pay because we are seen as the resource for all things black in the school.
I told her I would talk to them. I didn't have to, but the death of Till is no laughing matter. Seventy years is not that long ago.
The teachers were in the process of corraling that infamous 6th-grade energy when I walked in. Eager and wild young eyes looked at me.
"Mr. White wants to talk to you about Till and the impact of his death on the Civil Rights Movement."
I stood there thinking, what do I want to tell these babies? Do eleven and 12-year-olds need to know the brutality of Till? Do you need to understand how innocence was snatched by two vicious racists in 1955?
Till was a boy only a few years older than them.
I decided yes, they do. As states try to erase our ugly, bloody, and dehumanizing history and act like it doesn't need to be taught, I will as long as I can expose an America that was willing to kill children.
I told them the narrative of Emmett and how Roy Bryant and J.W Milam kidnapped him from his uncle's house, Mose Wright. They took him because he allegedly whistled at Bryant's wife. She was the clerk in the store that her husband Roy owned.
I explained how they beat him to near death before they shot him and threw him in the river with a fan tied to his feet.
The sixth graders didn't say anything as I talked about Mamie Till. She was a hero, I told them. A hero that belonged to you but also to America. She allowed her son's casket to remain open. I told them she wanted, in her words, for the world to see what had happened to her baby.
His death in 1955 sparked the Civil Rights Movement. When the rest of the United States saw racists were willing to kill a 14-year-old boy, white people began to take notice. At this time, a "King" was rising from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church and leading the charge. But no single event galvanized the nation like Till.
I thanked the kids for allowing me to speak and asked if they had questions. None did, but I didn't expect them to. I laid it down as plainly as I could that Till was important and that his death helped lead to the rights you have today. I hoped they understood at least a little bit.
Some of our politicians and school board members are against a well-rounded education. Hiding these stories from our nation's children, white, black, and all races, is a disservice to their education. Florida is a model for the removal of history from classrooms. The "Stop Woke Act" purpose is to stifle how African American history is taught in schools. It's believed that teaching about the past will make white kids feel bad about themselves. The purpose of education is not to indoctrinate children or hurt them but to impart information and then allow the student to draw their own conclusions.
Alabama's diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are on the chopping block. Universities can still have them but cannot use tax dollars to support them. The DEI program aims to promote diversity among the student body and recruit diverse faculty and students. Colleges benefit from a diverse staff and student body. I believe Alabama is stifling progress toward a more inclusive workplace by passing this act.
The law prevents the consideration of race in admissions to universities. However, the United States Supreme Court struck affirmative action down in 2023. I believe we will see fewer students of color in Alabama schools. I hope I am wrong.
We must teach the fullness of all American history, which includes human beings of different hues, cultures, sexual orientations, and religions. We cannot ignore the trauma of marginalized people. We must understand how these events shaped our country and how we can strive to be better. Teachers are not in the business of causing emotional distress to children when teaching history. We want to develop critical-thinking adults who see history as the roadmap to a better outcome for future generations.
I am glad I spoke to the 6th graders, and if need be, I will do it again because it is a travesty of education if these kids don’t learn their history.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Charles White's work on Medium.