Bronwyn Harris, Author

I'm sure everyone has heard about Trayvon Martin by now.  He is the young black man who was killed by a neighborhood watch captain, in Florida (where apparently neighborhood watch captains carry guns?)   Trayvon was a teenager who got hungry while watching a basketball game on TV and walked to the corner story to buy Skittles and iced tea.  George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch of the gated community where Trayvon's father lived, called the police (for what?  Because a black teenager was in a gated community?) and was told to wait for police.  He didn't, and accosted Trayvon, ending up shooting him.  He said that he did so in self-defense, so the police let him go.  Apparently it didn't matter that Trayvon was unarmed and 100 pounds lighter than the white man who attacked him. I don't have much new to say about this except that, even never having met this young man, I am broken-hearted.  I have thought about the chance of this kind of th...

I have noticed - in an extremely unscientific survey - that most of the white children I know have only white dolls.  I mentioned this to someone recently who wondered if all children tended to have dolls that looked like them.  In my (again, very unscientific) observations, however, children of color (in the US) tend to have both dolls that look like them and white dolls.  This makes sense, as there is a wider variety of white dolls than other colors, of course (in the US). When having these conversations, I can't help thinking of the doll experiments performed by Kenneth and Mamie Clark in the 1940s.   These were the experiments cited in the Brown v. Board of Education case that eventually led to the desegregation of schools.  The experimenters provided children with two dolls that were identical except that one was white and one was black.  They asked the children (ages 6 to 9) things like "Which doll is the  nice doll?" and "Which doll would yo...

...was what I wanted to name this blog pos t.  But they published it, even with another title, so I'm still exited! Please read.   And yes, all true.  I did have teachers try to trade me their black kids for my Samoan kids.  Yes indeed.

There is a blog post I want to share , from a blogger I really like, because it reminds me of some interactions I've had with some of my students.  This blogger talks about her (black) kids going to a slavery exhibit and getting really scared.  It felt to real to them and the fact is, if they had been born into a different time, they might have been put on a real one of these ships. Kids don't really understand timelines.  I've had many students, in all seriousness, ask me if I had slaves as a little girl.  Or if Martin Luther King, Jr. freed the slaves.  Or if they lived in Africa if they would have been captured and sold.  It's interesting, because in many ways, we try to "child-proof" history, like I've talked about before - making fun little Underground Railroad mazes and word searches.  But history is really scary in many ways.  Is it better to protect kids or to explain the truth to them?

I was in a crowded public area with a friend last week when I saw a woman in a really short skirt.  I kind of nudged my friend and looked toward the woman and my friend didn't see her.  I whispered to her what I was looking at (she skirt was really short) and my friend still didn't see her.  I tried a few other descriptors: the woman with short hair, the woman with brown shoes, etc.  Then I realized what I didn't say.  I didn't say that it was the black woman.  That would have pointed her out right away. Aside from why it was so important to me to point this woman out (it wasn't that important, but once I had said it, for some reason, I wanted to make my point), I thought later about why I was so hesitant to point out the woman's race.  I was willing to use just about every other descriptor, but for some reason if felt wrong to say "the black woman."  I have noticed this at school too.  The kids were very direct.  "Who hit you?"...

I wrote another blog for Teaching Tolerance that you can find here .  It describes an eye-opening experience I had in my second year of teaching about how drastically segregation/separation can affect children.  I'd love it if you read it!  Even more exciting is the fact that they want me to blog for them regularly! One more note: If you read this blog on the actual website and not through RSS or Facebook, you may have noticed a "Donate" button to the right.  This is a tip jar. I write this blog because of my passion for justice and my desire to ignite that passion in others. Unfortunately, passion don't pay the bills. If you appreciate my work here, please donate!  I will also be sharing more valuable teaching tips and strategies in the future (things I wish someone had told me), so if that helps you and you'd like to express your gratitude, every little bit helps me devote more time to writing about these topics.  Thank you! Facebook doesn't always ...

I wish the answer was yes. I had a conversation recently with a friend about why the police always took so long to respond to calls at our school... like attempted kidnapping .  I was so angry and so confused why none of the people around me were angry - they all seemed resigned to it.  The custodian explained to me. She said, "Oh, honey, they don't care about us?  We all just n-----s to them."  I think the acceptance was harder for me than the actual problem of the slow response time.  The fact that these kids and their families were so used to being treated like this that they didn't even think to question it any more.. .that's the problem. I wrote the post below two years ago but nothing's changed.  I wish it would. Wednesday, July 08, 2009 WHEN are We Going to Stop... ...teaching kids who aren't white that they are worth less than white kids? Minorities not allowed in a Philadelphia club's pool Black dolls priced less than white do...

I had a blog published in Teaching Tolerance!  Very exciting.  (Although I don't usually start sentences with "so," so you can tell there was editing.) Read it here .  It explains the origin of the blog's name. One year ago: Being Light Skinded Three years ago: What's Going On Five years ago: Bedtime

Many white people are not aware of how greatly the white standard of beauty has affected the black community.  In my opinion, hundreds of years of racism - legislated and otherwise - have made it so that even within the black community, the whiter you look (skin color, hair texture, facial features), the more beautiful you are. I didn't know this was a problem until I started teaching in Oakland.  I heard black kids say over and over to other black kids that they were "burnt-up looking," "too black," "African," "a burnt cookie," and more.  All of those things were definitely insults.  The first time I heard one kid call another "a burnt-up cookie," I couldn't believe it.  I had somehow thought that racism was only white people against black.  It's way deeper than that. Four years ago: More Old Faces Five years ago: Un-Wired                      ...

I had a realization when I went to pick up my Little Sister at her housing development (projects) this weekend.  There is very little difference between the Section 8 housing projects in Oakland and the segregated South or South Africa under apartheid.  I've been there on weekends, on weekdays, in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night.  I have never ever seen another white person.  Not one.  I have not even seen a Latino or Asian person.  I have only seen African-American people there - visitors or residents. I think I would have noticed earlier if I hadn't been so used to being the only white person when I was teaching.  I still have the feeling sometimes of being in a group and thinking, "Oh my goodness, everyone here is white except for me!  Wait a minute, I'm white too!"  It sounds silly but it's a fairly common occurrence for me.  It's fairly disconcerting to realize how very segregated our city can still be.  In th...

I'm in New York visiting my brother and sister-in-law, so here's some reading for all of you. An article about how black boys are doing in school (some very interesting points). Teacher credentialing programs should be totally changed around . Happy Black Friday!  Try not to buy too much stuff. Three years ago: No News and No Clothes Four years ago: Vacation is Over                          Rainy Day Routine

I'm going to suggest that the makers of my face powder change the name to "Vampire White."  Those of you who know me know that I am on the white side of white.  If you've been reading my blog, you know that the neighborhood where I was teaching had a distinct lack of white people.  Many of the kids had never interacted with white people except for the teachers at the school.  This led to some interesting conversations. This is another Halloween story.  There was a girl, named "Mary," who was a tall African-American girl, beautiful, athletic, and smart.  I had never had Mary in my class but she came to visit me most days. Mary had beautiful dark brown skin and, on this particular Halloween, was dressed as a vampire.  I was helping several kids with their makeup.  Most of them wanted to be kitties so I was doing kitty noses and whiskers with my eyeliner.  It was a cheap eyeliner and they had no Halloween costumes, so it was a worthwhile sac...

I've recently seen this graphic around the web, and heard a few people say that it's a great example of how Oakland is a "rainbow of diversity."  I wish I could insert the graphic here, but it won't work, so please take a minute to look at it.  The different colors represent different ethnicities.  If you don't recognize Oakland, it's on the right side of the bay and has a blue section (African-American) at the northwest end and a blue section at the southeast end.  Green and orange (Asian and Latino) are in the middle and red (Caucasian) in the hills. I guess that it is a rainbow of diversity in that there are separate stripes of color.  But it's not integrated.  It's not diverse.  The city as a whole is diverse, but the neighborhoods are not.  It reminds me of a time that someone told me that one of the high schools was "really diverse."  Someone else looked at her strangely, and said "Um, all black isn't diverse.  It's...

Everyone is talking about whether or not they agree with Obama and what the midterm elections show as far as if people like him or not... I just want to share again why it is so important that we now have a black president.  So here it is, from two years ago: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 A Black President I am so excited. First, let me say that I did not vote for Barack Obama because he is black. I voted for him because I thought he was the better candidate, and will make the better president. I think he will help how the rest of the world sees the United States. I don't think he is the Messiah and I'm sure I will be disappointed in him at times during the next 4 (or 8) years. However, I think this is the right direction for America to go in and I am thrilled because of the person we have elected, while still being unbelieving. However. While a lot of me wants to rant about how I can be a Christian and still be a Democrat, how liberal is not a bad word, how ...

How big do you think Africa is?  As big as the United States?  As big as China?  Check this out - if you are like most Americans, you have grossly underestimated it your whole life.  Africa has a slightly larger area as the United States, China, India, Japan, the UK, Spain, Mexico, Peru, France, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Italy, Nepal, Greece, and Bangladesh, all put together.  There are over 50 countries in Africa (depends slightly on who you're talking to because of some disputed territory).  Somewhere around 2,000 languages are spoken in Africa.  African is not a language.  If you were surprised by any of those facts, you're not alone. I worked at a school that was about 50% black (African-American is a tricky term as not all black people are African-American, and, as I'm about to explain, many of the kids I know don't want "African" to be a word having anything to do with them.)  At this school, calling ...

Many of us can remember accidentally calling a teacher "Mom" at some point during our school years.  In high school, a girl in my US history class called our teacher "Mr. Roosevelt" because she was studying so hard for the AP test.  It's embarrassing from that point of view, but hilarious from the teacher's point of view.  Some of the things I've been called instead of "Teacher" or my name include: Mama Daddy Auntie Granny Mama, I mean Teacher! Ms. Simmons ("you both have glasses, I can't tell you apart!"  Ms. Simmons is Black.  I am white.) the name of every white teacher in the school because "it's like you's twins" Auntie Bertha Uncle Larry While Uncle Larry is my favorite (it kind of stopped the whole class in their tracks),  Auntie Bertha was also pretty amusing.  I had met Auntie Bertha.  She is a LARGE very dark-skinned Black woman who was probably in her 60s.  I was a tall thin (at that point) ...

When I was teaching, I learned that the community around the school l- specifically the black community - had a lot of problems and a lot of really amazing qualities.  This is all highly generalized, so please understand that I know that, and I know I'm not talking about everyone.  Family structure can be qualified as both negative and positive, I think.  There are so many missing fathers that it's a bit of a cliche.  I was always glad that Father's Day came after school was out because it was so hard for the kids.  Many of the mothers were quite young when they had children.  Many of them have children with all different fathers. There are also some really wonderful parts to this particular black community.  The women in the family are generally incredible.  The extended family tends to be a strong one - at least in a matriarchal sense.  Many of my students had mothers, aunties, grannies, great-aunts, and even great-grandmothers who were i...

1. "My mama says I need to bring energy drinks to school so I can have more energy!" 2. "I don't need no Kleenex." 3. "I don't have a bedtime cause I'm grown." 4. "My mama says I'm only in trouble cause you don't like black people. 5. [ looking at a display of an exploded meth lab ] "Hey!  That's my uncle's house!" 6. "The pee just came out!  I didn't know it was coming." 7. "He WANTED me to hit him!" 8. "But it was only a little bit of a stick and I really thought it would go over her head, honest!"* and finally... 9. "Teacher, I don't feel so good..." ... "Hey, look, I can see what I ate for lunch!  Cool!" *Thanks, Linda!

I stumbled across this blog just when the author was talking about her frustrations with her son's teacher.  She has written some very thought-provoking posts, and I would strongly, STRONGLY recommend reading this one.  Please.  It is thoughtful and she has the unique perspective of being a parent of a public school student as well as a former public school teacher in the inner city. Let me preface this quote that I am going to share with saying that I have worked with many fantastic teachers.  I know teachers who are extremely gifted, dedicated, respectful, and just all-around wonderful.  One of my eight principals was incredible (and continues to be incredible, just in another district).  Most of the teachers I know spend lots of their own money, bring the children food when they need it, spend hours and hours and hours of unpaid time on preparation in order to do the best for their kids.  And, to these teachers, the students ARE "their kids." ...

Interesting food for thought .