Black Lives Matter teacher activists have been a big part of the problem

About 2,000 Seattle teachers wore “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts to their schools yesterday in a call for racial equity. Unfortunately, too many of these very teachers have been part of the problem in the resulting racial inequity.

Black students in Seattle are about four times more likely than white students to get suspended. In grades 3 through 10, half of Seattle’s African-American students met reading proficiency standards. These are just two problems African-American students face, but both of these could have been handled, in large part, by teachers.

Teachers were the ones kicking the students out of class, sending them to inevitable suspensions. Too many teachers pass kids who need more attention.

This isn’t to say the struggles of too many African-American students are only a result of their teachers or even the schools. There are many issues that should be discussed and there are a ton of hard-working teachers who put in hours beyond their normal work days in order to help kids succeed.

But yesterday’s BLM stunt is just that — a stunt. One that doesn’t recognize the role these very teachers played in the unfortunate realities of their African-American students. Perhaps they were more interested in fighting charter schools than spending time working on their own classrooms with students who need the most help?

I know there’s been some progress, and teachers during their last strike said they wanted to create conditions where students of color weren’t disproportionately impacted by suspensions; Suspensions that the very teachers caused.

Why isn’t there some acknowledgment that they were part of the problem and that now they want to help positively impact the lives of students with concrete plans? Instead, you’ll hear that lack of support from the districts is the problem. In other words, everything and everyone except the teachers have been the problem. And if you criticize a teacher, you’ll face their wrath. How dare you go after heroic teachers! They’re underpaid and undervalued. They may be underpaid, but they’re not undervalued. And they’re not above criticism.

Wear your shirts all you want. But, perhaps while in that shirt, look in a mirror and ask yourselves if a symbolic protest and rally will actually benefit these students in tangible ways. Wearing a shirt is not going to help these students. Embracing controversial activist movements may not move the needle. Concrete plans and follow-through will.

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