untitled

Walking into my school
is like taking a step back to
50 60 even 70 years ago.

You see,
my students still live in a time when they are
s e p a r a t e
but unequal,
when books are a myth,
when red lines keep them
in chains
in fear
and invisible from the rest of society.

Walking into my school
it's as if the civil rights movement never happened.

My kids have heard that some man once
HAD A DREAM
Trust me--
they've heard the speech. seen his picture.
But they have
never
learned that they, too, can dream.

They know the difference between white and black.
White is power.
Black is powerless.
White is wealth.
Black is poverty.
White kids go to good schools in good neighborhoods.
Black kids go to bad schools in the ghetto.

They've told me this much.

I wish I could say that my school broke all the stereotypes you've heard.
That I could say,
"At my school, we have a library."
"At my school, our children are taught to think, not to do."
That
"At my school, a 13-year-old boy who goofs off in class is actually
challenged
by his teacher through academics
instead of thrown into a meeting with administrators who tell him that if he keeps it up,
he's going to prison."

Most of all, I wish I could say,
"At my school, children are taught to
h o p e
instead of living up to society's misinformed expectations."

But I can't.

Just like I couldn't have
50 60 even 70 years ago.